Rosiglitazone For Type 2 Diabetes Does Not Increase Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease Or Death But Increases Heart Failure And Fractures In Women

Using rosiglitazone (Avandia) in combination with standard diabetes treatments (metformin or a sulfonylurea) to lower blood glucose in type 2 diabetics does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or death. However, the study confirms that using rosiglitazone more than doubles the risks of heart failure, and also increases the risk of fractures, mainly in women. The findings of the RECORD study are published in an Article Online First and in an upcoming edition of

Black Women More Likely To Have Vitamin D Deficiency, Bacterial Vaginosis, Study Finds

Black women are nearly three times as likely as white women to have a vitamin D deficiency, which is linked with an increased risk of the vaginal infection bacterial vaginosis, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the New York Times reports. Black women likely have lower levels of vitamin D because the higher amount of pigment in their skin prevents the body from absorbing the vitamin.

For the study, researchers led by Lisa Bodnar, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, examined 209 white pregnant women and 260 black pregnant women at a Pittsburgh clinic. More than half of the women had low levels of vitamin D, the study found. Women whose vitamin D levels were 50 nanomoles or less had a 26% increased risk of BV, while women whose vitamin levels were less than 20 nanomoles had a 65% increased risk of the infection. About 52% of black women had the infection, compared with 27% of white women, the study found (Bakalar, New York Times, 5/26). The study found that 93% of women with BV had low vitamin D levels and that BV prevalence decreased as vitamin levels increased.

Women With Gestational Diabetes During Pregnancy Have A Substantial And Persistently Elevated Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes Post-Birth

Women who develop gestational diabetes (GD) during pregnancy have a seven-and-a-half times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes post-birth, which lasts throughout their lifetime. However, there is no agreed policy on the long-term follow up of these women and many do not return for the currently recommended 6-week post-birth diabetes check. An Article in this week’s diabetes special issue of The Lancet says that the strength of the association suggests that both disorders have an overlapping cause-and this should act as an incentive for women to attend the recommended post-birth check. This attendance could be an opportunity to provide advice on diet and exercise, and treatments to delay or prevent onset of diabetes-as well as alerting these women to symptoms of future diabetes, and to alert general practitioners responsible for their long-term care.

Chemotherapy Chosen By More Older Women With Early Stage Breast Cancer

A new study examining treatment decision-making by older women with early stage breast cancer shows that 45 percent of women would choose to get chemotherapy after surgery — a figure higher than the national average of women getting the additional treatment.

“This was an unexpected finding,” says the study’s lead investigator, Jeanne Mandelblatt, MD, MPH, associate director for population sciences at GUMC’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of oncology and medicine at GUMC. “While these numbers are in contrast with the uniformly high use of chemotherapy in younger early-stage breast cancer patients, they suggest that older women are learning more about their disease and may be weighing the risks and benefits more thoroughly.”

Okla. Senate Approves Bill Requiring Reporting Of Detailed Data On Women Seeking Abortions

The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed the Statistical Reporting on Abortion Act (H.B. 1595) that would require doctors performing abortions to provide the Oklahoma State Department of Health with detailed information about women seeking the procedure, including their age, race, marital status, number of previous pregnancies and reasons for seeking an abortion, the AP/Oklahoman reports. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Todd Lamb (R), passed by a vote of 34-10, with with all “no” votes cast by Democrats. It would require abortion providers to gather information from “37 sections of questions,” which the health department would use to produce an annual report. The bill also would prohibit abortions based on the sex of the fetus.

Flomax for women

Question:

My friend took 2 doses of Flomax for a kidney stone, to relax the ureter to help her pass it. She is now in the hospital with numbness and tingling that began in her feet and hands, and has worked its way up her extremeties, and now into her chest and face. she can no longer walk, or get out of bed without a lift. She has also lost fine motor control and can no longer feed herself without assistance. Can this all stem from the Flomax?

Latin American HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group Launches Magazine For Women

The Inter Press Service on Monday examined a new magazine published by the Latin American branch of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. The magazine — called “No Estas Sola,” or “You Are Not Alone” — focuses on providing HIV-positive women in Latin America with information about the virus, stigma, their rights and empowerment. Maria Mansilla, the editor in charge of the publication, said, “What we are trying to do through the magazine is to break with the weepy approach, where there is only room for complaints or for the scientific-medical perspective.” The magazine is a quarterly publication that is distributed in the 20 Latin American countries where ICW Latina has national chapters. Daniel Barberis, media officer for ICW Latina, said the magazine could be published more frequently in the future.

Investments In Women, Girls ‘Guaranteed To Show Enormous Returns,’ Sen. Kerry Writes In Opinion Piece

President Obama’s announcement last week of a new White House Council on Women and Girls “was just the latest sign of an encouraging trend” of increased attention to women’s issues, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) — chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former Democratic presidential nominee — writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. Kerry adds that the State Department’s plan to name an ambassador-at-large for women’s issues and his creation of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on global women’s issues means that “women across the world have more champions in American government than ever before.” Kerry writes that the “wave of women’s advocates arrive in Washington not a moment too soon,” adding that “[i]t’s up to all of us to ensure that this economic crisis does not become a global women’s crisis, too.” He continues, “[W]e must now make sure that women workers aren’t pushed aside as businesses downsize and that daughters aren’t taken out of school as families search for extra income,” noting that in many developing countries, women and girls are “asked to bear the brunt of the hardship.” Oftentimes women in these countries have to “contend not only with an economic crisis, but also with discrimination,” he says. They become “pushed outside the formal economy, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation” and “susceptible to predatory human traffickers — a human rights abuse that can and must be prevented,” Kerry says.

Breast Cancer Risk Rapidly Declined After Women Stopped Taking Postmenopausal Combined Hormone Therapy

Women who stopped taking the postmenopausal hormone combination of estrogen plus progestin experienced a marked decline in breast cancer risk which was unrelated to mammography utilization change, according to a study from the Women’s Health Initiative led by a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) investigator.

The study, based on data from the Women’s Health Initiative, will be published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Resting Heart Rate Can Predict Heart Attacks In Women

A simple measurement of resting pulse predicts coronary events in women independently of physical activity and common risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

Previous studies have shown that resting heart rate predicts coronary events in men. But, for women, the relationship between heart rate and coronary events or stroke remains uncertain.

So researchers in the USA assessed resting heart rate in 129,135 postmenopausal women with no history of heart problems. Risk factors that might be expected to affect heart rate, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, smoking and alcohol intake were taken into account at the start of the study. The women were monitored for an average of 7.8 years, during which time all hospital stays and coronary events were recorded.