Sexual & Reproductive Health Matters - SRHmatters.org

Isn’t it odd how the mere action of finger tapping, keying in those same 26 letters over and over again in endless variations, seems to whip up a rabid appetite by 11 A.M.? No wonder offices are stocked with more candy than pencils. And what’s with modern desk-chair design? Sit in one at the beginning of the day and you’re down for the duration. Not all of us spend more than half our waking hours (count them) rooted to office furniture, cultivating obesity. Some of us work on our feet all day, drumming up varicose veins; others live off airplane trays, grabbing sleep between time zones—none of it exactly health promoting. Job stress alone is known to cause heart disease,depression, and musculoskeletal problems. And levels of stress-related illnesses are nearly twice as high for working women as for men, because of factors such as continuing discrimination, sexual harassment, and the burden of home demands, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Even those of us in dream jobs find ourselves hydroplaning between career and Other Life (family, friends, culture, reading, sex, leisure), afraid that if we slow down anywhere we’ll skid out of control.

Source: http://www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Find-Happiness-at-Work-Stress-Relief-Lluminari

Children who are breastfed for four months or more develop fewer behaviour problems, Oxford researchers say.

The study, involving 10,000 mothers and their babies and in journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, says that may be because of the make-up of breast milk.

Or, it says, breastfeeding may lead to better mother-baby interaction.

Breastfeeding is already associated with other health benefits for babies, including lower rates of infection and less obesity in later life.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13336986

A blood test can pick up about a third of mothers-to-be who have no symptoms but will go on to develop full-blown disease after giving birth, they say.

Early detection could have major implications for the health of mothers and babies, they told the European Congress of Endocrinology.

UK midwives say more evidence is needed of the merits of screening.

The study, led by Dr Eliska Potlukova of Charles University in Prague, followed almost 200 women through early pregnancy and beyond.

About half of these had no symptoms of thyroid problems but had tested positive for a marker in the blood that suggests they may be at future risk.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13265144

Previous studies have indicated a link between obesity and dementia.

But a study 8,534 of Swedish twins, in the journal Neurology, suggests just being overweight is also a risk factor.

About one out of every 20 people above the age of the 65 has dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society said a healthy lifestyle could reduce the risk.

Those with a body mass index (BMI) - which measures weight relative to height - greater than 30, who are classified as obese, were 288% more likely to develop dementia than those with a BMI between 20 and 25, according to the study.

The clinically overweight, who have a BMI between 25 and 30, were 71% more likely.

Dr Weili Xu, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, told the BBC: “We found in this study that being overweight is also a risk for dementia later in life.”

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13213755

Thirsty? You might want to consider a steaming cup of tea. In a survey of existing research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors report that not only does tea rehydrate and quench your thirst as well as water does, it comes with additional health benefits too.

“Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water,” Dr. Carrie Ruxton, a nutritionist and the lead author of the study told the BBC. “Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it’s got two things going for it.” (More on Time.com: See the top 10 bad beverage ideas)

Those antioxidants — specifically flavanoids — can reduce damage done to cells through everyday living, so researchers believe these same compounds may help to ward off heart attacks and some types of cancer. Reported the BBC:

They found clear evidence that drinking three to four cups of tea a day can cut the chances of having a heart attack.

Some studies suggested tea consumption protected against cancer, although this effect was less clear-cut.

Other health benefits seen included protection against tooth plaque and potentially tooth decay, plus bone strengthening.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/14/study-tea-is-healthier-than-water/#ixzz1KcxjxfIy

Source: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/14/study-tea-is-healthier-than-water/

By Dr. Scott Haig

If you’re experiencing your first really bad backache, you’re probably panicking a little about the pain and its implications — what if it’s cancer? What if it never goes away? My first piece of advice is, relax. Low back pain is very common, and 95% of the time, it’s neither permanent nor serious. Following are 10 essential things to know about dealing with a bad back.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/#ixzz1KcvcF6nH

Source: http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/

Women who are using a newer version of birth control that contains the hormone drospirenone have a higher risk of serious blood clot, according to two studies published in the online version of the British Medical Journal.

Drospirenone is found in birth control pills such as Ocella, Yasmin and Yaz.

The studies found that drospirenone has two to three times more risk of blood clots compared with birth control pills containing an older form of a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel. Dr Susan Jick, lead authors said that these findings “provide further evidence that levonorgestrel pills appear to be a safer choice” pertaining to blood clots.

Drug makers dispute the findings, saying the studies are flawed.

The research, led in the U.S. by Jick from the Boston University School of Medicine, used information from United States medical claims data and a United Kingdom research database.

In the U.S., the study reported that in one year, there are 30.8 blood clots per 100,000 women using the birth control containing drospirenone. That rate was lower with 12.5 blood clots for the older birth control pills using levonorgestrel.

“What’s important is that the risk is quite low,” Jick said. “30 in 100,000 women is not very many blood clots. It is not that common, but it does happen more in drospirenone than levonorgestrel.”

In the U.K., the yearly rates for blood clots were 23 clots per 100,000 women using the drospirenone pill and 9.1 for levonorgestrel.

“There is a risk no matter which oral contraceptive you choose to take,” Jick said. “The risk appears higher in drospirenone, than levonorgesterel. Users should just be aware when they’re making a choice that there is a higher risk than the other.”

Bayer, the maker of Yaz, challenged the study’s methodology and the databases used, saying that they “provide less reliable conclusions than are available from existing scientific evidence.”

“Given the already large and robust scientific body of evidence, in Bayer’s opinion, these studies do not change the overall assessment about the safety of Bayer’s oral contraceptives.” The company said that the blood clot risk of using contraceptives that contain drospirenone is the same as those in the older birth control pills.

According to Bloomberg News, 6,850 lawsuits were pending in the U.S. as of February 1 over alleged injuries and deaths as a result of the use of Yasmin, Yaz, or generic versions of the drugs.

Physicians cautioned against making knee-jerk reactions to the findings:

– Dr. Jill Rabin, chief of ambulatory care, obstetrics and gynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York told WebMD, “These are strong studies, but they will not change the way I practice except that this information will be part of my conversation with patients,”

Source: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/22/blood-clot-risk-higher-in-newer-birth-control-pills-study-finds/

A new study in the journal Pediatrics says high school students who are extremely obese engage in high-risk behaviors at rates similar to peers who maintain a healthy weight.

“Not only are they at health risk, but they also are typical teens and they’re struggling with the same things that potentially other teens are struggling with,” said senior study author Meg Zeller, from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who also is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

“We need to be talking about safe sex, drugs and alcohol with every teen and not assuming that this population is somehow not engaging in those behaviors,” she said.

Researchers looked at data from a nationwide survey conducted in 2007 by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. They compared 410 extremely obese high school students with 8,669 of their peers who had a healthy weight. The measurement was the student’s Body Mass Index, or BMI- a measurement which takes into account height, weight and gender.

An adolescent who had a BMI greater than or equal to the 99th percentile was considered extremely obese; those who had a BMI in the fifth to 84th percentile had a healthy weight.

The survey included specific questions about smoking cigarettes, the use of drugs or alcohol, sexual behaviors and thoughts of suicide.

The results showed the two groups had similar experiences, with few exceptions.

Zeller said the most surprising results involved sexual behavior.

“Our findings would suggest that teen girls who are extremely obese are less likely to have had sex- (that) was not surprising, but what was concerning was the fact that if they were sexually active, or had been sexually active, that it was more likely to be under the influences of substances,” she said. “So it really paints this picture of vulnerability for this sub-population of teen girls and it really makes us question what their social interactions are really like.”

In addition, both males and females in the extremely obese group were more likely to report having tried cigarettes. Extremely obese females were more likely to currently smoke and use smokeless tobacco.

Zeller noted that the study is part of research on bariatric surgery among these young people.

Source: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/25/extremely-obese-teens-take-risks-as-peers-do/

Women who are using a newer version of birth control that contains the hormone drospirenone have a higher risk of serious blood clot, according to two studies published in the online version of the British Medical Journal.

Drospirenone is found in birth control pills such as Ocella, Yasmin and Yaz.

The studies found that drospirenone has two to three times more risk of blood clots compared with birth control pills containing an older form of a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel. Dr Susan Jick, lead authors said that these findings “provide further evidence that levonorgestrel pills appear to be a safer choice” pertaining to blood clots. FULL POST

Source: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/category/sex/

“All happy couples are the same. Which is to say they are just boring.” –Tolstoy

Dana Adam Shapiro’s new film, Monogamy, is more a study of break ups and divorce than it is of committed relationships. He became intrigued in the demise of relationships as he watched many of his contemporaries and close friends divorcing. He conducted over fifty interviews over two years that became the foundational research for his film, which added the intrigue of a private investigation to keep the plot moving.

Shapiro notes that, “All the people I interviewed are sort of flawed anti-heros–which is the part that Theo (his main character) plays in the movie. They are not necessarily “good people”– they’re simply people trying to be good.” More accurately, they are people who, after their relationship has ended, can bear witness to and articulate how badly they did. One interviewee said, “ I never once thought about my wife or my marriage first until it was over.” Another woman recounted not just the final affair that ended her marriage but the years of dishonesty and falsehood that lead up to it.

Tolstoy’s idea that making a marriage work or that they all work in the same way is ridiculous. Just as most breakups are different variations on the same theme and often stem from the failure of one or both partners to step up to their best selves, relationships that work and endure contains the same variations of opposite themes; that both people in the relationship are actively engaged in becoming their best selves and committed to bringing that to their relationship.

Just as divorce is not a story of bad luck, lasting relationships are not the result of good luck. The truth is that there is no other context in life which offers the potential to create either the best or the worst of us. Many people unwittingly become dedicated to the most negative aspect of their personalities and to the degree that they develop little insight, take these traits out on their relationship. Certainly, the interpersonal drama that this anti-hero practices is enough to fill a life time of relationships. But just because it is common does not make it the story worth emulating.

Still even with the cultural myths of the near impossibility of enduring relationships we remain a people dedicated to searching for them. There is no other culture in the world that seeks out romantic relationships at the pace that we do or make the choice to try again with such frequency.

Learning to love is a life-long pursuit and many of the people who leave relationships grow into the people they wish they were when they started. Relationships and all of their pitfalls are still the most important and life-changing circumstances that define our life. When it is all said and done, it is the only really meaningful markers we have to remember our lives. Who we loved, who loved us back and how we learned to be the best of ourselves is never a boring tale.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/monogamys-bad-rap.html#ixzz1JUienQUK

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/monogamys-bad-rap.html