Women's Health Weekly articles from May 2002

Women's Health Weekly archives from May 2002

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy can increase breast cancer risk.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gaining more than 50 pounds during pregnancy, and not losing the excess weight postpregnancy, could triple a woman's risk of developing breast cancer after menopause, according to a study conducted by...

Infants exposed to cocaine prenatally have significant cognitive deficits.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and developmental delays during the first two years of life, according to an article in the April 17, 2002, issue...

Medicare allowing more biopsy options.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medicare beneficiaries will have more options to having breast cancer diagnosed under expanded coverage announced by the U.S. government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it will...

Link to uncircumcised males found.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Women whose sex partners are circumcised may be less likely to get cervical cancer, a study suggests. Cervical cancer is caused by the same virus responsible for genital warts. The study in...

New laser procedure targets stretch marks.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Promising clinical research using the excimer laser is underway for the repigmentation of aged, white, disfiguring stretch marks. The study, conducted by David J. Goldberg, MD, director of laser...

Study: Glaucoma the leading cause of blindness among a sample of U.S. Hispanics.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among a population-based sample of U.S. Hispanics, according to a new study to be published in the April 2002 issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of...

FDA okays generic Mircette; company to launch it under Kariva trademark.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Barr Laboratories, Inc., (BRL) announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval for its application to manufacture and market a generic version of Organon, Inc.'s,...

Beta blockers boost survival advantage for women.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Beta blockers benefit women as much as men, according to one of the largest studies to examine gender differences in treating heart failure, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American...

Pregnant minority women have high rates of depression.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than half of pregnant blacks and Hispanics may be depressed, according to a new study that also suggests that stressful life events and poverty may be contribute to the relatively high rates among...

High-protein diet along with calcium and vitamin D increases bone mineral density.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Previous studies have suggested different effects of high- or low-protein diets on urinary loss of calcium and bone health. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,...

Medicare expands coverage of PET.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced Medicare will cover positron emission tomography (PET), a high-tech diagnostic tool, in the management of care for patients with...

Scientists find a way to detect which breast abnormalities may develop into cancer.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Royal Liverpool University Hospitals in the U.K. have found a way of testing whether certain abnormalities in a woman's breast are likely to go on to develop into breast cancer. They...

Study pinpoints mechanism behind tamoxifen side effect.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified the underlying mechanism that causes one of the unwanted side effects of tamoxifen. The study, published in Science...

Swedish trials suggest modest benefit for screening mammography.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New data with longer follow-up from four Swedish trials published in the Lancet (2002;359(9310):904-905) suggest there may be a modest benefit from screening mammography for women age 55 years or over....

Novel genetic factors predict increased inherited cancer risks.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study reported at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists 33rd Annual Meeting points to genetic factors associated with women's increased risk for developing cancers. The study utilizes both...

New report issues latest findings on women's mental health.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 19 million Americans suffer from depression yearly and women are twice as likely as men to experience a major depressive episode. Depression may occur at any age during a woman's life,...

Pheromone Sciences files for FDA marketing approval.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pheromone Sciences (CDNX) announced that it has filed a 510K application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking U.S. marketing approval for its lead product, the PSC...

Effects of predictive testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer on women.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- One in 10 women opted to have prophylactic mastectomy and nearly half opted to have their ovaries removed in the year following genetic tests that showed they were at risk of hereditary breast and...

Breast screening shows that HRT can halve artery hardening.(hormone replacement therapy)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hormone replacement therapy can halve breast artery hardening (calcification), and it's an effect that can be picked up during a breast screen, reveals a study in the Journal of Medical Screening. ...

New research confirms safety and efficacy of RemiFemin.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study published in the current issue of The Journal of Women's Health and Gender-Based Medicine shows that the commercially available dose of RemiFemin Menopause, an exclusive extract of black cohosh...

Results of a phase III clinical trial using Estrasorb released.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novavax, Inc., (NVAX) presented the results of a randomized, double-blind, phase III, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Estrasorb in postmenopausal women at the Society for Gynecologic...

Exercise encouraged during pregnancy.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pregnancy and birth make big changes in a woman's life, and doctors want women to consider adding one more. They are encouraging women to exercise, figuring soon-to-be or new mothers may be more...

Labor-inducing folklore alive and well among pregnant women.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In spite of an avalanche of modern medical advances in obstetrics, old wives' tales about pregnancy and labor still run rampant, especially tales on how to get labor going as the due date nears. The...

Scientist qualifies swimming pool chlorine risk to pregnant women.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research by Dr. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen published in the April 2002 Occupational and Environmental Medicine highlights an area of potential risk to pregnant women through exposure to the by-products of...

Unigene's joint venture launches calcitonin product in China.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Unigene Laboratories, Inc., (UGNE) announced that it expects sales of injectable calcitonin by its joint venture with the Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group to commence on April 1, 2002. The joint...

New monoclonal antibody shown to fight tumors in animal model.(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center have demonstrated that a recently developed monoclonal antibody, TRA-8, when used in conjunction with...

Working while pregnant more than quadruples risk of preeclampsia.(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Women who work during pregnancy are almost five times as likely to develop preeclampsia, concluded research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. In preeclampsia abnormally high...

Walking aids older women's arterial elasticity, helping heart.(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With advancing age, large arteries like the aorta and carotid lose their elasticity making it harder for them to expand and relax with each heart beat. Increase in the stiffness of these arteries can...

Pilot study may offer promise of a marker.(for early-stage ovarian cancer)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Each year, there are more than 27,000 new cases of ovarian cancer and 14,000 deaths due to this deadly disease. Sadly, preventative measures cannot help decrease these numbers in ovarian cancer...

New mutated gene identified.(breast cancer)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have identified a gene that when mutated can lead to an elevated but modest risk of breast cancer. The altered gene, called CHEK2 or CHK2, can double the estimated 13% lifetime risk of...

Three regional health plans institute coverage for hc2 HPV DNA test.(Digene's Hybrid Capture 2 HPV DNA Test)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Digene Corporation (DIGE) announced that three regional health plans have approved and instituted formal coverage policies to include testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), using Digene's Hybrid...

Reports posted on abortion pill.(mifepristone)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A 21-year-old woman had a heart attack 3 days after using the abortion pill mifepristone, but there is no way to know if the pill played a role, health officials say. In a letter to doctors, the...

Genistein-containing supplements may stop tamoxifen.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Isoflavone-enhanced dietary supplements containing genistein may negate the tumor-fighting effects of tamoxifen, a commonly prescribed medication for women battling estrogen-dependent breast cancer,...

Study suggests link between longer duration of breastfeeding and increased intelligence.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- How long a baby is breastfed may be associated with the child's intelligence level later in life, according to an article in the May 8, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association....

Herceptin's side effects.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Around 30% of breast tumors contain cells that overexpress a protein called HER2/neu or ErbB2. The chemotherapy drug, Herceptin, blocks this protein and, as such, is highly effective in treating these...

HPV plus Pap every 2 years can add years to life, is cost-effective.(human papillomavirus)(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Screening for the human papillomavirus (HPV) virus, which increases the risk of cervical cancer, along with using Pap tests every 2 years appears to save additional years of life at reasonable costs,...

Scientists discover gene in human egg that may be necessary for female fertility.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fertility researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered a gene present in the human egg that may be essential for early embryo development. ...

Factor in breast milk stimulates vascularization of newborn intestinal tract.(erythropoietin )(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A hormone found in human breast milk may be partially responsible for neovascularization of the newborn gastrointestinal tract. Because human...

NHF praises Congresswoman for calling attention to bleeding disorders in women.(National Hemophilia Foundation, Cynthia McKinney)(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) praised Congresswomen Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) for responding to its call to help raise awareness nationwide about undiagnosed bleeding disorders in women by...

AstraZeneca receives FDA approval for Faslodex.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to AstraZeneca (AZN) for their new breast cancer drug Faslodex (fulvestrant) Injection for treatment of hormone receptor positive...

Long-term survival results favor chemotherapy before surgery for locally advanced disease.(breast cancer)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Long-term survival results from a breast cancer treatment study begun in 1992 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center strongly favor chemotherapy...

Digene enters contract with U.S. Army for Hybrid Capture 2 HPV DNA Test.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Digene Corp. (DIGE) announced that the United States Army is adopting testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), using the company's Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) HPV DNA Test, in its worldwide cervical cancer...

Agent induces apoptosis to kill cancerous and precancerous cervical cells.(difluoromethylornithine)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A new agent now being tested in phase II clinical trials of patients with cervical cancer kills not only cancerous cells but also precancerous cells by...

College of American Pathologists applauds new Pap test guidelines.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The College of American Pathologists (CAP) applauds the announcement of new consensus guidelines for the management of abnormal Pap tests. As a participant of last year's consensus conference, when...

Educational interventions boost participation in screening.(for cervical cancer)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study of Chinese-American women suggests that direct mailing of culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials and home visits by outreach workers can increase participation in...

Woman's fertility starts declining in late twenties.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A woman's fertility starts declining as early as her late 20s - not in her 30s as was previously thought, according to a study published in the European journal Human Reproduction. The finding...

Matria reports first quarter earnings of 26 cents per share excluding severance costs.(Matria Healthcare Inc.)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Matria Healthcare, Inc., (MATR) announced that revenues for the first quarter of 2002 grew 6% to $65.2 million, compared with first quarter of 2001 revenues of $61.4 million. First quarter of 2002...

Trichomoniasis risk similar for infected, healthy women.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Women infected with HIV develop trichomoniasis at rates comparable to those seen in seronegative women, researchers in the United States report. ...

King Pharmaceuticals Acquires Ortho-Prefest.(marketing agreement with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc.)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (KG) announced that the company and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, have signed a definitive agreement for King to acquire Ortho-Prefest...

FDA completes review of Estrasorb NDA.(Brief Article)
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novavax, Inc., (NVAX) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its review of the Estrasorb new drug application (NDA). During the review process, no issues regarding...