Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Interventional Radiology: From Sidelines To Mainstream For Patients
The Society of Interventional Radiology hailed the extension of an

Buy lamisil to treat nail fungus.
Health Industry Officials Offer $2 Trillion Savings Plan To The White House
"Health industry officials delivered a plan to the White House Monday documenting how they"ll attempt to save $2 trillion over a decade through measures like reducing hospitalizations and cutting down on paperwork," the Associated Press reports. "Health insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug-makers and others were under pressure to make good on a pledge they made last month to curb their own costs to help President Barack Obama achieve his health care overhaul goals." Their three big areas of savings: $150 billion to $180 billion would come from more efficient use of health care services, $350 billion to $850 billion from better management of chronic diseases, and $500 billion to $700 billion through administrative improvements such as standardizing claim forms (Werner, 6/1).
News of the day
Blogs Comment On Health Reform Legislation, Maternal Mortality, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ ""Operation Rescue" Founder Warns of "Violent Convulsions" if Health Bill Doesn"t Ban Abortions," Ian Millhiser, Think Progress: Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry is "probably the first public figure to raise terrorism as a potential response to a health bill which allows Americans to keep the same access to reproductive care that they currently enjoy," Millhiser writes in a blog post responding to Terry"s warning "that his supporters may engage in violent acts of terrorism unless Congress prohibits abortion services from being covered in the new health reform legislation." According to Millhiser, Terry recently said that there are some people ""who will be tempted to acts of violence"" and that ""history will hold those in power responsible for the violent convulsions that follow"" the legislation. Millhiser writes that many conservative policymakers are "pushing a poison pill amendment" to Congress" reform bill that would prohibit the coverage of abortion services in plans offered within a national health insurance exchange. He notes that 71% of U.S. residents oppose an amendment that would "cut off women"s access to reproductive care" (Millhiser, Think Progress, 7/20).~ "Gestation Is a Life-Changing Experience for Women," Jessica Grose, XX Factor: Grose"s post responds to Francis Kissling"s recent Salon opinion piece discussing the ""new pro-lifers."" According to Grose, this movement "seeks to make bearing and raising children easier, and reducing abortion that way." She continues, "It almost sounds reasonable to pro-choice Kissling, except for one thing: making bearing children "easier" doesn"t acknowledge how gestation can change a woman"s life." According to Kissling, the ""new pro-lifers barely acknowledge the difficulties of childbirth,"" and the movement ""denies the reality that even in modern Western culture, in the high-tech U.S., every woman who agrees to be pregnant still risks dying if the pregnancy goes awry."" Kissling also wrote that the ""new antiabortionists want to use their rosy view of pregnancy as the frame for public policy, and that is where they become indistinguishable from the old antiabortion movement. For both groups, women are passive participants in gestation."" Grose writes that "many of the new pro-lifers don"t support efforts to bring contraception to women who don"t have access to it," an issue that is "likely to come back in a big way in the next few months as the administration"s new health plan is debated" (Grose, XX Factor, 7/20).~ "Thanks, Abstinence-Only Education!" Feministing: "Thanks to a decade of misinformation and masquerading as sex education, teens are having the same amount of sex, using contraception less and getting pregnant more," a Feministing blog entry states. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that trends in reproductive and sexual health of U.S. teens and young adults ""have flattened, or in some instances may be worsening."" According to the blog entry, "We"re reaping what we"ve sowed." Although President Obama"s 2010 budget proposal includes cuts in abstinence-only education funding, "de-funding these programs is not enough," the blog says. It adds, "We have to undo the damage that"s been done to young people and support real solutions." The blog concludes, "The purity-pushers are not going anywhere, but this is about more than politics, ... it"s about our health and futures" (Feministing, 7/20).~ "Human Rights Resolution Spotlights Disparities in Maternal Health Care in the U.S.," Ximena Andion Ibanez et al., RH Reality Check: A "vast majority" of pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths are "preventable and can therefore be understood to reflect widespread indifference to the rights of the world"s poorest women," Ibanez writes in a blog post co-authored by Center for Reproductive Rights Deputy Director Laura Katzive and Michelle Movahead, an attorney at the ce
Diagnostics

Gender Difference In Heart Failure

Striking differences in the risk factors for developing heart failure (HF) and patient prognosis exist between men and women. Men and women may also respond differently to treatment, raising concerns about whether current practices provide the best care and reinforcing the urgency for sex-specific clinical trials for HF, according to a review article published in the August 4, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Current practice is to treat heart failure similarly in men and women," said Eileen Hsich, M.D., director of the Women"s Heart Failure Clinic at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "Yet, our review of published reports suggests compelling sex differences, not only in terms of how and when heart failure develops, but also possible responses to treatments and how the disease impacts quality of life." The data show that HF - a life-threatening condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood throughout the body - affects women at an older age and often with a stronger heart compared to men. Hypertension and valvular disease are more likely the culprits for HF in women, whereas men are more likely to have coronary artery disease (CAD) as the underlying cause. And while women live longer with the disease, they also tend to have lower quality of life than men due to greater physical limitations with exercise, more HF-related hospital stays and depression. "The reasons why survival is better for women remain unclear, but it may be due to differences in the underlying disease," said Dr. Hsich. "Our findings also raise questions as to whether certain diagnostic tests or criteria need to be changed to better reflect how HF presents in female versus male patients." For example, "normal" values for brain natriuretic peptide - a biomarker that is being used more frequently to identify patients with symptoms of HF and stratify patients by risk - are higher for women versus men and abnormal values with a BNP > 500 pg/ml may be a stronger predictor of death in women with HF than in men. There is also evidence that sex-specific differences may result when performing a cardiopulmonary stress test, which is often used to evaluate patients for heart transplantation. Women with HF tend to have a better prognosis for any given peak oxygen consumption value when compared to men, yet the cut-off values to determine need for heart transplantation are the same for both sexes. The potential benefits of certain HF therapies both in terms of reducing morbidity and mortality appear to be different among women. "We found that some of the available medications may not be as effective in women, while other therapies, for example, beta blockers, aldosterone antagonists and pacemakers, may be very beneficial," said Dr. Hsich, although she cautions that these finding should in no way prompt women to deviate from what their doctor recommends. "We need to remember that the therapy women are receiving must be working because they are living longer," she added. "Still, we need to gain a better understanding of HF in women so that we know whether we are providing the best possible care." A critical challenge remains enrolling women in clinical trials and inspiring researchers to conduct sex-specific studies. "This is a disease that affects women just as much as men, yet it remains poorly understood and women are still underrepresented in studies," said Dr. Hsich, adding that major multicenter HF trials in the last decade on average only included 28 percent women. "It is really important for women to speak up and not wait for their doctor to approach them about participating in a clinical trial. In doing so, we can help ensure that future advances in HF treatments are applicable to women and supported by sound research." Notes: Approximately 2.7 million women have HF, which accounts for 35 percent of the total female cardiovascular mortality. Dr. Hsich and co-author, Ileana Pina, M.D., Case Western Reserve University, performed a systematic review of the literature and also contacted the lead investigators of the major CV trials to request sex-specific data if it was not provided in their original publication. Dr. Hsich reports no conflicts of interest. Amanda Jekowsky American College of Cardiology


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009