Staying Well: Women's health risks decrease after quitting smoking - Flint, Michigan Columns, Letters & Opinion - The Flint Journal – MLive.com: "Women who smoke are at an increased risk for various health problems, including cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early menopause. Female smokers are 59 percent more likely to begin menopause before the age of 45.
Women who smoke during pregnancy have an increased risk of preterm delivery and delivering a baby with low birth weight for gestational age.
There are immediate and long-term benefits for women who quit smoking. According to information obtained from the National Cancer Institute, levels of carbon monoxide in the blood begin to decline within a few hours of quitting smoking.
Decreased levels of carbon monoxide allow more oxygen to circulate through the heart and lungs which helps blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.
Within 5-15 years of quitting, stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker. The production of phlegm decreases after a few weeks of quitting causing reduced amounts of coughing and wheezing.
Lung function begins to improve after a few months.
Women who quit smoking may also reduce the risk of infertility. Pregnant women who quit smoking may reduce the risk of preterm delivery and having a baby with abnormally low birth weight."
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Women's Health Plans Advancing - Health - redOrbit
Women's Health Plans Advancing - Health - redOrbit: "Plans for a regional women's health service spanning Whanganui and MidCentral Health came a step closer yesterday.
The MidCentral District Health Board's hospital advisory committee voted on a raft of recommendations to build the service, including recruitment of a regional clinical director and project manager to make it happen.
The plans have been developing since late 2006 when the first staffing crisis at Whanganui Hospital saw birthing mothers transferred to Palmerston North for acute care.
While driven by what MidCentral Health lead obstetrician and gynaecologist Digby Ngan Kee describes as a dire shortage of specialists, he says the combined service handling up to 3000 births a year would be big enough to attract new staff."
The MidCentral District Health Board's hospital advisory committee voted on a raft of recommendations to build the service, including recruitment of a regional clinical director and project manager to make it happen.
The plans have been developing since late 2006 when the first staffing crisis at Whanganui Hospital saw birthing mothers transferred to Palmerston North for acute care.
While driven by what MidCentral Health lead obstetrician and gynaecologist Digby Ngan Kee describes as a dire shortage of specialists, he says the combined service handling up to 3000 births a year would be big enough to attract new staff."
Abortion a threat to women's health
Abortion a threat to women's health -- baltimoresun.com: "Adolescent girls who have abortions are twice as likely to suffer depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation as girls who carry their children to term or who never become pregnant. The numbers for young adult women are less dramatic, but post-abortive women consistently remain more likely to suffer from these problems than their peers.
In spite of this, politicians such as Mr. Obama are often praised as pro-woman when they oppose laws that would require women to be informed about the risks of abortion.
Furthermore, even in this era of supposed 'safe, legal abortions,' the fact remains that women continue to die on the operating table. Since Roe vs. Wade, more than 120 women have died from complications from legal abortions.
Yet politicians are often lauded as champions of women's rights when they push for laws that deny mothers the right to know that their daughters are seeking this potentially deadly procedure or decried as anti-woman when they seek to regulate it."
In spite of this, politicians such as Mr. Obama are often praised as pro-woman when they oppose laws that would require women to be informed about the risks of abortion.
Furthermore, even in this era of supposed 'safe, legal abortions,' the fact remains that women continue to die on the operating table. Since Roe vs. Wade, more than 120 women have died from complications from legal abortions.
Yet politicians are often lauded as champions of women's rights when they push for laws that deny mothers the right to know that their daughters are seeking this potentially deadly procedure or decried as anti-woman when they seek to regulate it."
Higher risk for indian women
Bloomberg.com: Science: "Indian women who are physically and sexually abused by their husbands are four ties more likely to have HIV than other wives, according to a study that adds to evidence of a link between abuse and the spread of AIDS.
The study of 28,139 married Indian women, 35 percent of whom reported being physically abused and 7.7 percent sexually abused by their spouses, suggests that AIDS prevention should focus more on mistreatment of women, researchers said. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
India's AIDS epidemic is the third largest of any country in the world, and infections among women are rising, the authors said. Health officials should target wives who are forced to have unsafe sex, along with their husbands, for preventive measures, said study author Jay Silverman, an associate professor of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
``Sexual abuse of adolescent girls and women is driving the HIV epidemic in India and around the world,'' he said yesterday in a telephone interview. ``We need to make it a major priority for prevention.''"
The study of 28,139 married Indian women, 35 percent of whom reported being physically abused and 7.7 percent sexually abused by their spouses, suggests that AIDS prevention should focus more on mistreatment of women, researchers said. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
India's AIDS epidemic is the third largest of any country in the world, and infections among women are rising, the authors said. Health officials should target wives who are forced to have unsafe sex, along with their husbands, for preventive measures, said study author Jay Silverman, an associate professor of society, human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
``Sexual abuse of adolescent girls and women is driving the HIV epidemic in India and around the world,'' he said yesterday in a telephone interview. ``We need to make it a major priority for prevention.''"
Center a one-stop for women's health care
Center a one-stop for women's health care: "Health care providers at Atrium Medical Center have come up with a way to encourage women to be proactive about their health.
The Wilbur & Mary Jean Cohen Women's Center is now a one-stop shop where patients can get mammograms, gynecology exams, bone density tests, health screenings, family planning and services for new moms.
Janet Majors, director of Women's Services, said the center is an assist to women with busy lives.
'A lot of women work and have kids and family and don't schedule annual exams because they're too busy,' Majors said. 'Here, they can have all their tests done in one day.'
The Women's Center was established at Middletown Regional Hospital in 2006 and expanded in 2008 when the hospital moved to Atrium Medical Center."
The Wilbur & Mary Jean Cohen Women's Center is now a one-stop shop where patients can get mammograms, gynecology exams, bone density tests, health screenings, family planning and services for new moms.
Janet Majors, director of Women's Services, said the center is an assist to women with busy lives.
'A lot of women work and have kids and family and don't schedule annual exams because they're too busy,' Majors said. 'Here, they can have all their tests done in one day.'
The Women's Center was established at Middletown Regional Hospital in 2006 and expanded in 2008 when the hospital moved to Atrium Medical Center."
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