Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in OBGYN & Women's Health for February 2007. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Photomodulation Reduces Radiation-Induced Dermatitis
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy have a lower-level dermatitis reaction if they are treated immediately after radiotherapy with light-emitting diode (LED) phototherapy, according to study findings published in the February issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
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HPV Affects 25 Million Women in United States
TUESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- One-quarter of American women between the ages of 14 and 59 are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a report published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Nearly half of sexually active women in their early 20s are infected.
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Liposuction Breast Reduction Surgery Evaluated in Study
TUESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Breast reduction surgery with liposuction may produce excellent results with a decreased risk of the scarring associated with traditional excisional breast reduction surgery, according to a report published in the February issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Black patients in particular may benefit from the procedure because of the greater risk of scarring with traditional procedures.
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Strenuous Long-Term Exercise Lowers Breast Cancer Risk
TUESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Women who perform strenuous recreational exercise over the long term have a lower risk of in situ and invasive breast cancer, and are less likely to develop estrogen receptor-negative invasive cancers than women who are more sedentary, researchers report in the Feb. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Drug Industry-Funded Breast Cancer Research Rising
MONDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The proportion of pharmaceutical industry-sponsored breast cancer research has increased over time, and makes up about 60 percent of published studies, according to an analysis of 1993-2003 data published online Feb. 26 in Cancer. Such studies are more likely than non-industry research to be positive, single-arm and focus on metastatic disease.
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Children of Single Women Less Likely to Be Fully Vaccinated
MONDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Even with the same insurance and continuity of care, children of women who have never been married have lower immunization coverage than do children of married women, researchers report in the February supplement of Pediatrics.
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Breast-Feeding May Affect Child Development
MONDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women who initiate and continue breast-feeding may help reduce their child's risk of having a delay in language and motor skill development, according to a study in a supplement to the February issue of Pediatrics.
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Fetal Mortality Twice as High for U.S. Blacks Than Whites
THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Although U.S. stillbirths declined by 1.4 percent per year from 1990 to 2003 among all ethnic and racial groups, fetal mortality for black women is still more than double that for white women, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Higher Endothelial Dysfunction in Women with Pre-Diabetes
THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Women who develop pre-diabetes have more endothelial dysfunction, fibrinolysis/thrombosis and hypertension than men who develop pre-diabetes, according to study findings published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.
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Natural Family Planning Method As Effective As Pill
THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- When used correctly, a natural family planning contraception method that consists of recording cervical secretion patterns and body temperature and then calculating the fertile period can be as effective as a hormonal contraceptive, according to a report published online Feb. 20 in Human Reproduction.
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Higher Rate of Premature Births Seen in Blacks
THURSDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Black women are three to four times more likely to deliver prematurely, especially between 20 and 28 weeks, than white women, researchers report in the February issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Herpes Simplex Virus Therapy Reduces HIV-1 RNA Levels
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- In women who are co-infected with HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), HSV suppressive therapy significantly reduces genital and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels, according to research published in the Feb. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Tamoxifen Cuts Risk of ER-Positive Breast Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Tamoxifen provides a long-term reduction in the risk of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer among high-risk women, even after they stop taking it, according to two placebo-controlled trials published in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Transfusion Linked to Post-Surgical Clot Risk in Women
TUESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Female colorectal cancer patients who receive allogeneic blood transfusions during or after resection are at an elevated risk for in-hospital venous thromboembolism compared to those who do not, according to a report in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery.
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Benefits of Annual Checkups Seem to Outweigh Risks
TUESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- One or more well visits per year may benefit patients by encouraging them to undergo routine screening tests and by reducing their health worries in general, according to a review in the Feb. 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Cholesterol Increases Ischemic Stroke Risk in Women
TUESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Women with high cholesterol who are otherwise healthy have more than double the risk of ischemic stroke as healthy women with low cholesterol, according to a report in the Feb. 20 issue of Neurology.
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Estrogen Receptor Gene Has No Effect on Heart, Stroke Risk
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The estrogen receptor α (ESR1) IVS1-397T/C polymorphism has no impact on the risk of cardiovascular disease, hip fracture, most reproductive cancers or lipoprotein response to hormone replacement therapy, according to a study published online Feb. 19 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. However, there is a modest increase in breast cancer risk associated with the TT genotype.
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Women Less Likely to Have Post-MI Angioplasty
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Although the higher myocardial infarction mortality rates in women are partially attributable to age, a new study suggests that even after age-adjustment, women with acute myocardial infarction have higher in-hospital mortality rates than men, which is due in part to a lower likelihood of percutaneous coronary intervention. The findings were published online Feb. 19 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Heart Disease Prevention Guidelines Updated for Women
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The American Heart Association has updated guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women, which will be published in a report in the Mar. 13 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Oral Estrogen, But Not Patch, Boosts Clot Risk with HRT
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Oral, but not transdermal, estrogen is associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy, and VTE risk is also influenced by the progestogen derivative used, according to the results of a study published in the Feb. 20 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Prehypertension Risky for Postmenopausal Women
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Prehypertension is common in postmenopausal women and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke and myocardial infarction, researchers report in the Feb. 20 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Supplements Do Not Increase Female Cardiovascular Risk
MONDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Calcium and vitamin D supplements do not increase the risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction or stroke in postmenopausal women, according to a report in the Feb. 20 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Growth Factors May Raise Leukemia Risk in Breast Cancer
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as chemotherapy support in women with breast cancer about doubles the risk of developing some leukemias, although the absolute risk is small, according to a study in the Feb. 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome Affects Women at Work
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Although both men and women with irritable bowel syndrome report that gastrointestinal symptoms affect their daily work performance, women report more problems with workplace learning, decision authority and long-term sick leave than men, according to the results of a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
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Low Fish Intake in Pregnancy May Reduce IQ in Offspring
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Women who consume less than 340 grams of seafood (three portions) per week during pregnancy may have offspring at elevated risk for suboptimal IQ, fine motor skill development, communication, and other social and developmental outcomes compared to women who consume more fish, according to a report published Feb. 17 in The Lancet. U.S. government agencies recommend that pregnant women limit seafood consumption to 340 g per week.
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Breast Cancer Patients Benefit From Exercise Program
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- A supervised group exercise program can have beneficial effects on breast cancer patients' physical and psychological function, according to a report in the Feb. 16 issue of BMJ.
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Breast-Feeding Associated with Upward Social Mobility
THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Individuals who were breast-fed as children are 41 percent more likely to move up in socioeconomic class compared with bottle-fed children, according to study findings published online Feb. 14 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
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Cardiovascular Risk Algorithms Developed for Women
TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have developed and validated two global cardiovascular risk assessment algorithms for women that reclassify around half of women currently at intermediate risk into lower or higher risk categories, according to study findings published in the Feb. 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Switch to Newer Drugs Cuts Breast Cancer Mortality
TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer may have a reduction in mortality risk if they switch from tamoxifen to aminoglutethimide or anastrozole after two to three years of therapy, rather than stay on tamoxifen for several more years, according to a report published online Feb. 12 in Cancer.
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Brief Intervention Cuts Alcohol Use in Pregnant Women
MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who consume alcohol are more likely to abstain if they are given a brief talk about the dangers of alcohol consumption to the fetus, and tend to have higher birth weight infants than their counterparts who do not have any intervention, researchers report in the February issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Nuchal Thickening Alone Not Linked to Adverse Outcome
MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Children who had nuchal translucency thickening during the first trimester, but a normal karyotype and no structural abnormalities, are clinically and developmentally normal during the first two years of life, according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Obstetricians on Call for Longer Hours Than Residents
FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Call systems for practicing obstetricians vary widely, with many obstetricians being on-call for long hours and most lacking recovery periods after being on call, according to the results of a Wisconsin study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Ethnic-Specific Endometrial Cancer Risk Needs More Study
FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Ethnic differences in endometrial cancer risk do not seem to be explained by differences in risk factors among different ethnicities, according to a report in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths on Rise, Particularly in Women
FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Accidental poisoning among teenagers and adults has increased in the United States, mostly due to drug overdoses, and is now the second-leading cause of unintentional death after motor-vehicle accidents, according to new data in the Feb. 9 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Nitroglycerin Patch May Cut Neonatal Morbidity, Mortality
THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- In women in preterm labor, transdermal nitroglycerin may reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality by reducing the risk of birth before 28 weeks, according to the results of a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Outpatient Education Improves Knowledge of Osteoporosis
THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Providing clinic patients with written information about osteoporosis is an effective way for orthopedic surgeons to improve women's knowledge of the disease, according to the results of a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
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Weight at Age 18 Linked to Later Gestational Diabetes
THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Women who are obese or overweight at age 18 are more likely to develop gestational diabetes compared to women who are not, although weight cycling does not appear to increase the gestational diabetes risk, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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Many Doctors Say OK to Discuss Moral Qualms with Patient
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A majority of physicians believe they have the right to discuss moral or ethical objections to a treatment with a patient, 14 percent don't believe they have an obligation to inform patients of all the options and 29 percent don't think they need to refer them to an amenable physician, according to an article published in the Feb. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Clomiphene Helps Infertility Due to Polycystic Ovary
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Clomiphene is significantly more effective than metformin in treating infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, but with a higher risk of multiple pregnancies, researchers report in the Feb. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Intensive Care of Some Dying Newborns Not Recommended
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Decisions about halting or not initiating intensive care for some high-risk newborns should involve full communication between physicians and parents who should play an active role in making choices that are in the child's best interests, according to a policy statement in the February issue of Pediatrics.
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Misoprostol Causes Heavier Bleeding Than Curettage
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women who receive misoprostol are three times as likely to have large declines in hemoglobin level compared with women treated with curettage after early pregnancy failure, according to the results of a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Chemokine Scavenger Protects Against Miscarriages
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The receptor that plays a key role in the degradation of inflammatory chemokines, called D6, helps reduce the rate of miscarriages in mice, according to a report published online Feb. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Overweight Women at Risk for Incontinence in Middle-Age
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of women aged 42 to 52 experience urinary incontinence at least once a month, researchers report in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Compared with incontinence in old age, the same condition in mid-life tends to be milder and excess body weight and diabetes are risk factors.
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Genetic Mutations Linked to Postmenopausal Blood Clots
TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Five single nucleotide polymorphisms, three of which have not been previously reported, have been linked to the incidence of venous thrombosis in postmenopausal women, according to a report published in the Feb. 7 Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Peak VO2, Heart Failure Survival Score Predicts Survival
TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Peak exercise oxygen consumption (VO2) and the Heart Failure Survival Score (HFSS) can predict survival in women with congestive heart failure, finds a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
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U.S. Caesareans, Unmarried Mothers at Record Highs
TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The number of unmarried women and women over 30 giving birth, and the number of Caesarean deliveries, are at or near record highs, according to the Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: 2005, published in the February issue of Pediatrics.
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FDA Approves Test to Predict Breast Cancer Metastasis
TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a test that can detect a genetic signature in breast tumor samples that is associated with a greater risk of metastasis over a five- to 10-year period. MammaPrint, a microarray that detects the activity of 70 different genes, is the first in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay (IVDMIA) device approved for marketing in the United States.
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Hypertension in Pregnancy Linked to Coronary Calcification
MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have pregnancy-induced hypertension are 57 percent more likely to develop coronary calcification later in life compared with women who do not, according to a study published online Feb. 5 in Hypertension.
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Prematurity a Risk with Short Conization-to-Pregnancy Gap
MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Women who become pregnant within three months of cervical conization have a higher risk of preterm delivery than women who defer pregnancy a longer period of time, researchers report in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Prenatal Test Relies on Fetal DNA in Maternal Blood
FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Free fetal DNA can be distinguished from maternal DNA in maternal plasma using single nucleotide polymorphisms, according to a study published online Feb. 2 in The Lancet. The technique could be used in a diagnostic test for chromosomal abnormalities such as trisomy 21.
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Few Cardiovascular Trials Report Sex-Specific Results
FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Only about one-quarter of cardiovascular clinical trials report sex-specific results compared with about half of trials sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which mandates reporting of such results, according to a report in the February issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
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Pelvic Organ Prolapse Linked to Forceps Delivery
FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have had a forceps delivery are more than three times as likely to have major levator ani defects leading to pelvic organ prolapse than women who have not had forceps delivery, researchers report in a study published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Mammogram Results Poorly Communicated to Black Women
THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Black women may benefit less from routine mammography than white women because they are inadequately informed about mammogram results, particularly abnormal results, researchers report in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Menstrual Cycle May Affect Reward System Brain Activity
THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- The phases of the menstrual cycle seem to affect how the brain responds to reward activity, according to a report published online Jan. 31 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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