Harvard Women's Health Watch articles from October 2003

Harvard Women's Health Watch archives from October 2003

Hemochromatosis: When blood is too iron-rich.
October 1, 2003... Not every woman has iron-poor blood. For the nearly half a million women who have the opposite problem, too much iron can be downright dangerous. Although it's not widely known, 1 in 200 people has a genetic disorder called...

In Brief - Antidepressants protect brain from depression-related shrinkage.
October 1, 2003... Previous research has found that the hippocampus - a region of the brain crucial to learning and memory - is smaller in people who suffer from recurrent bouts of depression. A study of women with histories of clinical depression suggests that...

Cancer - Partial-breast irradiation: Less may be more.
October 1, 2003... In the past few decades, breast cancer surgery has become less invasive. It's starting to look as though radiation therapy may go that way as well. The current standard of care for small and early-stage breast cancers is to treat the whole...

Vaccine Update - News about flu vaccines.
October 1, 2003... Getting an influenza (flu) shot is usually pretty routine, but as of 2003 you have a couple of new things to consider. Because of shortages in 2001 and 2002, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had recommended in early...

By the Way, Doctor - What do you think of compounded hormones?
October 1, 2003... Q Most of your hormone articles are about Premarin, made from the urine of pregnant horses, combined with Provera, an artificial progesterone. My pharmacist compounds a natural cream for me, using hormones identical to mine, and I swear by it....

By the Way, Doctor - Is hair analysis useful?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Q I've read that hair analysis can tell me a lot about my health. Is this true? A In this procedure, a lock of hair is clipped and sent to a laboratory to be tested for its mineral content. The results are often used as a basis for...