Women who suffer from migraines may take at least some comfort in a recent, first-of-its-kind study that suggests a history of such headaches is associated with a significantly lower risk of breast cancer. Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center report these findings in the November issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
"We found that, overall, women who had a history of migraines had a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not have a history of such headaches," said Li, a breast-cancer epidemiologist and associate member of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division.
In particular, migraine history appeared to reduce the risk of the most common subtypes of breast cancer: those that are estrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive. Such tumors have estrogen and/or progesterone receptors, or docking sites, on the surface of their cells, which makes them more responsive to hormone-blocking drugs than tumors that lack such receptors.
The biological mechanism behind the association between migraines and breast cancer is not fully known, but Li and colleagues suspect that it has to do with fluctuations in levels of circulating hormones.
"Migraines seem to have a hormonal component in that they occur more frequently in women than in men, and some of their known triggers are associated with hormones," Li said. "For example, women who take oral contraceptives - three weeks of active pills and one week of inactive pills to trigger menstruation - tend to suffer more migraines during their hormone-free week," he said. Conversely, pregnancy - a high-estrogen state - is associated with a significant decrease in migraines. "By the third trimester of pregnancy, 80 percent of migraine sufferers do not have these episodes," he said. Estrogen is known to stimulate the growth of hormonally sensitive breast cancer.
While this study represents the first of its kind to look at a potential connection between migraines and breast cancer, Li and colleagues have data from two other studies that in preliminary analyses appear to confirm these findings, he said.
"While these results need to be interpreted with caution, they point to a possible new factor that may be related to breast-cancer risk. This gives us a new avenue to explore the biology behind risk reduction. Hopefully this could help stimulate other ideas and extend what we know about the biology of the disease."
For the study, the researchers combined data from two population-based, case-control studies of 3,412 Seattle-area postmenopausal women, 1,938 of whom had been diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,474 of whom had no history of breast cancer, who served as a comparison group. Information on migraine history was based on self-report and was limited to migraines that had been diagnosed by a physician or other health professional.
The National Cancer Institute funded the research, which also involved researchers from the Hutchinson Center's Human Biology Division and the University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Neurology.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers, including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
вторник, 25 октября 2011 г.
вторник, 18 октября 2011 г.
Shedding New Light On The Causes Of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome And Its Effect On Brothers
Researchers have found evidence that chronic disease in either a mother or father can create unfavourable conditions in the womb that are associated with the development of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in daughters. In another study, researchers found that brothers of women with PCOS and insulin resistance are themselves at greater risk of developing insulin resistance or diabetes, suggesting that factors associated with the condition can be passed down to sons as well as daughters.
The two studies were presented to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.
Associate Professor Michael Davies told a news briefing: "We already know from clinical studies of women with reproductive problems that foetal growth restriction is associated with the development of PCOS symptoms in daughters, and that problems during pregnancy and in the way the mother adapts to the metabolic challenge of pregnancy can indicate the future cardiovascular health of both the mother and the child. What we don't know is whether giving birth to a daughter who later develops PCOS is associated with increased, long term cardiovascular disease risk in the mother. Nor do we know whether conditions underlying chronic disease in the father increases the risk of PCOS in the daughter."
Prof Davies, co-director of the Research Centre for the Early Origins of Health and Disease at the University of Adelaide (Australia), looked at records for all female babies who were born and survived between 1973-1976 at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide. He and his colleagues interviewed the daughters to build up a picture of their health and any history of chronic disease in their parents. So far, 998 (63%) have responded, and Prof Davies reported preliminary data up to mid-1975 to the conference.
Sixty-two daughters (6.2% of the group) had a pre-existing diagnosis of PCOS. Mothers of these women tended to have elevated blood pressure during pregnancy. Daughters were nearly eight times as likely to have PCOS if their mothers had it, and they had a slightly higher risk if their mothers smoked during pregnancy. Mothers were 1.6 times as likely to have high blood pressure in later life if their daughters developed PCOS. If their fathers had heart disease or stroke, the daughters also had a higher risk of PCOS: double and three times the risk respectively. A history of diabetes in either parent was not significant.
Prof Davies said: "These findings suggest a new pathway for the development of PCOS. We think that factors associated with the pre-existence of cardiovascular dysfunction in the mother or the father, and which operate during pregnancy, may create adverse conditions for the foetus, which alter the metabolic profile of offspring, leading to insulin resistance and reproductive consequences, such as PCOS, for daughters. A family history of diabetes is, therefore, not essential to observe an insulin resistance-related disease in offspring."
He said it was still unclear exactly how the cardiovascular risk in the father affected the daughter. "We firstly need to consider the potential role of a common environment; for instance, that families with high levels of obesity (and therefore cardiovascular disease) will also tend to have heavy daughters who are thereby more likely to be affected by PCOS. However, the paternal effect that we saw was independent of the daughter's weight, maternal age, socioeconomic status, maternal smoking, and country of birth, which suggests either a direct genetic effect on the daughter, or an effect of paternal genetic factors that are expressed during pregnancy."
Dr Verena Mattle told the news briefing that her study was the first to show that brothers of women who had PCOS and insulin resistance were themselves more likely to develop insulin resistance or even diabetes or dyslipidaemia (a disruption in the levels of lipids (or fats) in the blood).
"Until now, it was not clear whether the male relatives of women with PCOS were at increased risk for the metabolic disorders associated with PCOS," said Dr Mattle, who is chief resident at the University Clinic of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproduction Medicine in Innsbruck (Austria).
Dr Mattle and her colleagues conducted oral glucose tolerance tests on 15 brothers of sisters with PCOS and insulin resistance (group 1). They also performed a serum analysis to determine lipid levels. As a control, nine brothers of sisters with PCOS but without insulin resistance were included in the study (group 2).
The researchers found that in the first group eight brothers showed an insulin resistance, one was diagnosed with diabetes and six had a normal glucose tolerance test. All nine affected brothers had a body mass index (BMI) between 19-31 kg/m2 and had elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The six unaffected brothers had a BMI between 23-29, and none had high levels of cholesterol or triglycerides. In the second group, no insulin resistance was diagnosed. BMI was between 18-27 and two brothers had elevated cholesterol levels. Although there was a trend towards higher BMI in the first group, Dr Mattle said there was no statistically significant difference in BMIs between the two groups.
Dr Mattle said: "These results mean that we should pay attention to the health not only of women with PCOS but also to their brothers as they seem to have an increased risk for the medical problems that make up the metabolic syndrome, such as insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our findings are also in accordance with the hypothesis that not only is PCOS is a heritable disease, but that factors associated with it, such as insulin resistance, can be passed down to the next generation of either sex."
She said that it could not be the case that the high BMI by itself could have caused the insulin resistance and diabetes in the affected brothers. "There must be a correlation between PCOS and insulin resistance because we could only find brothers with insulin resistance in the group that had sisters with PCOS and insulin resistance, but we couldn't find brothers with insulin resistance in the group that had sisters with PCOS and no insulin resistance. It is known that about 50% of women with PCOS are insulin resistant and also that lean PCOS patients are insulin resistant. The BMI of insulin-resistant and non-resistant brothers were not statistically different."
Dr Mattle and her colleagues are continuing to test brothers of women with PCOS for insulin resistance and lipid levels to collect more data from a larger group. "At this stage we would hesitate to say that a genetic inheritance is definitely playing a role in the increased risk of insulin resistance and other, related conditions in these brothers. We need to explore the possible effect of conditions in the womb and also the role of the environment. However, we think our data strongly support the view that brothers of women with PCOS and insulin resistance may have an increased risk of insulin resistance, diabetes and other, adverse metabolic conditions," she concluded
Source:
Mary Rice
European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology
The two studies were presented to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.
Associate Professor Michael Davies told a news briefing: "We already know from clinical studies of women with reproductive problems that foetal growth restriction is associated with the development of PCOS symptoms in daughters, and that problems during pregnancy and in the way the mother adapts to the metabolic challenge of pregnancy can indicate the future cardiovascular health of both the mother and the child. What we don't know is whether giving birth to a daughter who later develops PCOS is associated with increased, long term cardiovascular disease risk in the mother. Nor do we know whether conditions underlying chronic disease in the father increases the risk of PCOS in the daughter."
Prof Davies, co-director of the Research Centre for the Early Origins of Health and Disease at the University of Adelaide (Australia), looked at records for all female babies who were born and survived between 1973-1976 at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide. He and his colleagues interviewed the daughters to build up a picture of their health and any history of chronic disease in their parents. So far, 998 (63%) have responded, and Prof Davies reported preliminary data up to mid-1975 to the conference.
Sixty-two daughters (6.2% of the group) had a pre-existing diagnosis of PCOS. Mothers of these women tended to have elevated blood pressure during pregnancy. Daughters were nearly eight times as likely to have PCOS if their mothers had it, and they had a slightly higher risk if their mothers smoked during pregnancy. Mothers were 1.6 times as likely to have high blood pressure in later life if their daughters developed PCOS. If their fathers had heart disease or stroke, the daughters also had a higher risk of PCOS: double and three times the risk respectively. A history of diabetes in either parent was not significant.
Prof Davies said: "These findings suggest a new pathway for the development of PCOS. We think that factors associated with the pre-existence of cardiovascular dysfunction in the mother or the father, and which operate during pregnancy, may create adverse conditions for the foetus, which alter the metabolic profile of offspring, leading to insulin resistance and reproductive consequences, such as PCOS, for daughters. A family history of diabetes is, therefore, not essential to observe an insulin resistance-related disease in offspring."
He said it was still unclear exactly how the cardiovascular risk in the father affected the daughter. "We firstly need to consider the potential role of a common environment; for instance, that families with high levels of obesity (and therefore cardiovascular disease) will also tend to have heavy daughters who are thereby more likely to be affected by PCOS. However, the paternal effect that we saw was independent of the daughter's weight, maternal age, socioeconomic status, maternal smoking, and country of birth, which suggests either a direct genetic effect on the daughter, or an effect of paternal genetic factors that are expressed during pregnancy."
Dr Verena Mattle told the news briefing that her study was the first to show that brothers of women who had PCOS and insulin resistance were themselves more likely to develop insulin resistance or even diabetes or dyslipidaemia (a disruption in the levels of lipids (or fats) in the blood).
"Until now, it was not clear whether the male relatives of women with PCOS were at increased risk for the metabolic disorders associated with PCOS," said Dr Mattle, who is chief resident at the University Clinic of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproduction Medicine in Innsbruck (Austria).
Dr Mattle and her colleagues conducted oral glucose tolerance tests on 15 brothers of sisters with PCOS and insulin resistance (group 1). They also performed a serum analysis to determine lipid levels. As a control, nine brothers of sisters with PCOS but without insulin resistance were included in the study (group 2).
The researchers found that in the first group eight brothers showed an insulin resistance, one was diagnosed with diabetes and six had a normal glucose tolerance test. All nine affected brothers had a body mass index (BMI) between 19-31 kg/m2 and had elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The six unaffected brothers had a BMI between 23-29, and none had high levels of cholesterol or triglycerides. In the second group, no insulin resistance was diagnosed. BMI was between 18-27 and two brothers had elevated cholesterol levels. Although there was a trend towards higher BMI in the first group, Dr Mattle said there was no statistically significant difference in BMIs between the two groups.
Dr Mattle said: "These results mean that we should pay attention to the health not only of women with PCOS but also to their brothers as they seem to have an increased risk for the medical problems that make up the metabolic syndrome, such as insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Our findings are also in accordance with the hypothesis that not only is PCOS is a heritable disease, but that factors associated with it, such as insulin resistance, can be passed down to the next generation of either sex."
She said that it could not be the case that the high BMI by itself could have caused the insulin resistance and diabetes in the affected brothers. "There must be a correlation between PCOS and insulin resistance because we could only find brothers with insulin resistance in the group that had sisters with PCOS and insulin resistance, but we couldn't find brothers with insulin resistance in the group that had sisters with PCOS and no insulin resistance. It is known that about 50% of women with PCOS are insulin resistant and also that lean PCOS patients are insulin resistant. The BMI of insulin-resistant and non-resistant brothers were not statistically different."
Dr Mattle and her colleagues are continuing to test brothers of women with PCOS for insulin resistance and lipid levels to collect more data from a larger group. "At this stage we would hesitate to say that a genetic inheritance is definitely playing a role in the increased risk of insulin resistance and other, related conditions in these brothers. We need to explore the possible effect of conditions in the womb and also the role of the environment. However, we think our data strongly support the view that brothers of women with PCOS and insulin resistance may have an increased risk of insulin resistance, diabetes and other, adverse metabolic conditions," she concluded
Source:
Mary Rice
European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology
вторник, 11 октября 2011 г.
U-M Study: Why Dishing Does You Good
A University of Michigan study has identified a likely reason: feeling emotionally close to a friend increases levels of the hormone progesterone, helping to boost well-being and reduce anxiety and stress.
"This study establishes progesterone as a likely part of the neuroendocrine basis of social bonding in humans," said U-M researcher Stephanie Brown, lead author of an article reporting the study findings, published in the current (June 2009) issue of the peer-reviewed journal Hormones and Behavior.
A sex hormone that fluctuates with the menstrual cycle, progesterone is also present in low levels in post-menopausal women and in men. Earlier research has shown that higher levels of progesterone increase the desire to bond with others, but the current study is the first to show that bonding with others increases levels of progesterone. The study also links these increases to a greater willingness to help other people, even at our own expense.
"It's important to find the links between biological mechanisms and human social behavior," said Brown, is a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and an assistant professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School. She is also affiliated with the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Hospital. "These links may help us understand why people in close relationships are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who are socially isolated."
Progesterone is much easier to measure than oxytocin, a hormone linked to trust, pair-bonding and maternal responsiveness in humans and other mammals. Oxytocin can only be measured through an invasive spinal tap or through expensive and complex brain imaging methods, such as positron emission tomography scans. Progesterone can be measured through simple saliva samples and may be related to oxytocin.
In the current study, Brown and colleagues examined the link between interpersonal closeness and salivary progesterone in 160 female college students.
At the start of the study, the researchers measured the levels of progesterone and of the stress hormone cortisol in the women's saliva, and obtained information about their menstrual cycles and whether they were using hormonal contraceptives or other hormonally active medications.
To control for daily variations in hormone levels, all the sessions were held between noon and 7 p.m.
The women were randomly assigned to partners and asked to perform either a task designed to elicit feelings of emotional closeness or a task that was emotionally neutral.
In the emotionally neutral task, the women proofread a botany manuscript together.
After completing the 20-minute tasks, the women played a computerized cooperative card game with their partners, and then had their progesterone and cortisol sampled again.
The progesterone levels of women who had engaged in the emotionally neutral tasks tended to decline, while the progesterone levels of women who engaged in the task designed to elicit closeness either remained the same or increased. The participants' cortisol levels did not change in a similar way.
Participants returned a week later, and played the computerized card game with their original partners again. Then researchers measured their progesterone and cortisol. Researchers also examined links between progesterone levels and how likely participants said they would be to risk their life for their partner.
"During the first phase of the study, we found no evidence of a relationship between progesterone and willingness to sacrifice," Brown said. "But a week later, increased progesterone predicted an increased willingness to say you would risk your life to help your partner."
According to Brown, the findings are consistent with a new evolutionary theory of altruism which argues that the hormonal basis of social bonds enables people to suppress self-interest when necessary in order to promote the well-being of another person, as when taking care of children or helping ailing family members or friends.
The results also help explain why social contact has well-documented health benefits---a relationship first identified nearly 20 years ago by U-M sociologist James House.
"Many of the hormones involved in bonding and helping behavior lead to reductions in stress and anxiety in both humans and other animals. Now we see that higher levels of progesterone may be part of the underlying physiological basis for these effects," Brown said.
Source:
Diane Swanbrow
University of Michigan
"This study establishes progesterone as a likely part of the neuroendocrine basis of social bonding in humans," said U-M researcher Stephanie Brown, lead author of an article reporting the study findings, published in the current (June 2009) issue of the peer-reviewed journal Hormones and Behavior.
A sex hormone that fluctuates with the menstrual cycle, progesterone is also present in low levels in post-menopausal women and in men. Earlier research has shown that higher levels of progesterone increase the desire to bond with others, but the current study is the first to show that bonding with others increases levels of progesterone. The study also links these increases to a greater willingness to help other people, even at our own expense.
"It's important to find the links between biological mechanisms and human social behavior," said Brown, is a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and an assistant professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School. She is also affiliated with the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Hospital. "These links may help us understand why people in close relationships are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who are socially isolated."
Progesterone is much easier to measure than oxytocin, a hormone linked to trust, pair-bonding and maternal responsiveness in humans and other mammals. Oxytocin can only be measured through an invasive spinal tap or through expensive and complex brain imaging methods, such as positron emission tomography scans. Progesterone can be measured through simple saliva samples and may be related to oxytocin.
In the current study, Brown and colleagues examined the link between interpersonal closeness and salivary progesterone in 160 female college students.
At the start of the study, the researchers measured the levels of progesterone and of the stress hormone cortisol in the women's saliva, and obtained information about their menstrual cycles and whether they were using hormonal contraceptives or other hormonally active medications.
To control for daily variations in hormone levels, all the sessions were held between noon and 7 p.m.
The women were randomly assigned to partners and asked to perform either a task designed to elicit feelings of emotional closeness or a task that was emotionally neutral.
In the emotionally neutral task, the women proofread a botany manuscript together.
After completing the 20-minute tasks, the women played a computerized cooperative card game with their partners, and then had their progesterone and cortisol sampled again.
The progesterone levels of women who had engaged in the emotionally neutral tasks tended to decline, while the progesterone levels of women who engaged in the task designed to elicit closeness either remained the same or increased. The participants' cortisol levels did not change in a similar way.
Participants returned a week later, and played the computerized card game with their original partners again. Then researchers measured their progesterone and cortisol. Researchers also examined links between progesterone levels and how likely participants said they would be to risk their life for their partner.
"During the first phase of the study, we found no evidence of a relationship between progesterone and willingness to sacrifice," Brown said. "But a week later, increased progesterone predicted an increased willingness to say you would risk your life to help your partner."
According to Brown, the findings are consistent with a new evolutionary theory of altruism which argues that the hormonal basis of social bonds enables people to suppress self-interest when necessary in order to promote the well-being of another person, as when taking care of children or helping ailing family members or friends.
The results also help explain why social contact has well-documented health benefits---a relationship first identified nearly 20 years ago by U-M sociologist James House.
"Many of the hormones involved in bonding and helping behavior lead to reductions in stress and anxiety in both humans and other animals. Now we see that higher levels of progesterone may be part of the underlying physiological basis for these effects," Brown said.
Source:
Diane Swanbrow
University of Michigan
вторник, 4 октября 2011 г.
Blogs Comment On Plan B Court Decision, Pope's Visit To Africa, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.
~ "Controlling the Means of Reproduction: An Interview with Michelle Goldberg," Mandy Van Deven, RH Reality Check: The blog entry includes excerpts from an interview with Michelle Goldberg, "long-time critic" of reproductive health policies under the administration of former President George W. Bush and author of a new book titled "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World." In the book, Goldberg "illustrates how U.S. policies act as a catalyst for or an impediment to women's rights worldwide and puts forth a convincing argument that women's liberation worldwide is key to solving some of our most daunting problems," Van Deven writes. According to Goldberg, women's "intimate lives have become inextricably tied to global forces," and when writing the book, she found how U.S. movements were "branching out into global issues." She said, "In a way, the American antiabortion movement has had more of an impact abroad than at home. The Supreme Court has limited the movement's scope for action here, so Republican presidents have rewarded their base by giving them tremendous influence over international policy on women's health -- an area few Americans pay attention to." She continues that her "book is about the realm of reproductive and women's rights. ... Giving women more control over their bodies and their lives is one of the most important things you can do to fight poverty. One of the things I hope this book does is show how that works." Van Deven concludes the interview by asking Goldberg to explain how issues like female circumcision, abortion and sex education and their "societal context" affect "a woman's ability to freely make her own choice." Goldberg responds, "The problem is not that women are having too many children; it's that, in many places, they lack access to contraception and are having more children than they say they want ... One of the dilemmas I tried to bring forward in the book is that sometimes the ideal of choice, venerated by Western feminists like me, conflicts with the goals of women's rights advocates on the ground" (Van Deven, RH Reality Check, 3/23).
~ "The Morning After Pill Controversy," Cristina Page, Huffington Post blogs: A court ruling on Monday that FDA's justification for age restrictions on Plan B emergency contraception lacked credibility because it was politically based "could not have been more dismissive of the Bush administration's maneuverings," Page writes. The judge ruled that the Bush administration "had politicized a once-respected regulatory agency, the FDA, for bending the law to its right wing purposes" by imposing the age restriction on nonprescription access to EC, Page continues. She writes, "The court's condemnation was comprehensive and brutal, all but labeling the Bushies political criminals." The U.S. district court on Monday "finally got the anti-contraception genie, and some of the bullying lawless politics of the Bush era, back in the bottle, at least for now," Page adds, concluding, "As for the public's trust, that'll take a little longer to fix" (Page, Huffington Post blogs, 3/24).
~ "Dish Respect: The Political Crackdown on IVF Embryo Screening," William Saletan, Slate's Human Nature: Saletan writes that the state senator who authored a proposed Georgia bill (S.B. 169) that would restrict in vitro fertilization is wrong in claiming that the revised bill simply restricts the creation of human embryos for scientific research. Saletan urges readers to "read the bill, not the spin." According to Saletan, the language of the bill "does not, as advertised, require that IVF be" used for "creating children." He says that the bill actually requires that IVF be used "for the treatment of infertility," adding that the "two phrases are not equivalent." According to Saletan, "[s]ometimes IVF is done to create children for couples who are technically or even clearly fertile" but where health conditions like kidney disease might prevent them from carrying a pregnancy. The bill, as written, "would prohibit this," and it is likely that it will be revised to allow this. However, the "more interesting question" posed by the revision is "what will happen to the use of IVF for creating children when there's no question of infertility at all." Saletan continues, "That use is the screening of embryos for unwanted genes: preimplantation genetic diagnosis." The Georgia bill is "just the beginning" of a nationwide project "to regulate the emerging industry of embryo production," Saletan writes. The bills to restrict IVF will "make exceptions for infertility but not PGD," he continues, concluding, "The battles, then, will be fought over which uses of PGD are acceptable. And these fights will be every bit as ugly as the preceding fights over abortion" (Saletan, Slate's "Human Nature," 3/20).
~ "Talkin' About the Pope and Hope," Tamar Abrams, Huffington Post blogs: Pope Benedict XVI's "recent pronouncements during his travels in Africa that condoms and abortions are morally wrong have filled me with religious indignation," Abrams writes. She continues she has witnessed the "increasing number of married women with AIDS in Kenya" and spoken with Kenyan women "who longed for access to contraceptives so they could better care for the children they already had." She writes, "Even so, I probably wouldn't take on the Pope ... except for "recent media reports that the Vatican's top bioethics official spoke out against the excommunication of the two Brazilian doctors who performed an abortion on a nine-year-old girl. Abrams continues that the official's stance is "a pro-choice stand," adding, "Abortion is not a black-and-white issue for me." She writes, "That's why the pro-choice position has always seemed to me to be the reasoned" stance, adding, "It allows individuals to make decisions and encourages each of us to define for ourselves what is reasonable and acceptable." She concludes that if Benedict "truly listens to the people of Africa and other continents and opens his eyes to their hopes for their own lives -- I have faith he may begin to understand the healing power of condoms and the life-affirming necessity for legal, safe abortions" (Abrams, Huffington Post blogs, 3/21).
~ "Time To Give a Neglected Contraceptive a Little More Love," Kathleen Reeves, RH Reality Check: A recent article published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology "takes a fresh look at the emergency contraception we often forget about -- IUDs," Reeves writes. The authors of the article report that few women surveyed knew much about IUDs, she writes, adding that she is "not surprised by their ignorance" as she was unaware IUDs could be used as EC. According to Reeves, the copper IUD, which is effective for up to 12 years, can be effective in preventing pregnancy if inserted up to five days after unprotected sex. "At that point I wondered, 'Why would you go for such a long-lasting contraceptive when you're just looking for emergency contraception?'" Reeves writes, adding, "But this makes a lot of sense. Though some women who seek emergency contraception may have had a one-time malfunction, many others may be looking for a form of contraception that works for them." The IUD "has always been an important option for women who can't tolerate birth control pills or who'd rather not use hormonal birth control because of family health history," Reeves writes, concluding, "Bravo to this report for pointing to a neglected contraceptive choice that may be, for many women, just what the doctor ordered" (Reeves, RH Reality Check, 3/23).
Antiabortion-rights Blog
~ "Americans United for Life Condemns Ruling Increasing Minors' Access to Dangerous Plan B," Matthew Eppinette, Americans United for Life blog: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York's recent ruling to allow over-the-counter access to Plan B for 17-year-old girls is "incomprehensible" and allows "a minor to walk into any pharmacy and obtain this drug without medical oversight or parental involvement," Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life said. According to Eppinette, the court ordered the drug to be available to girls age 17 "under the same conditions it is currently available to adult women and to do so by April 21, 2009." In addition, the court's ruling "will not permit the FDA to undertake another internal review of the drug's safety record or to receive evidence on the increased need to protect minors from dangerous medications and even sexual abuse." Denise Burke, AUL vice president of legal affairs, said, "Increasingly easy access to Plan B may have severe and unintended consequences such as the continued exploitation and sexual abuse of young girls," adding, "It is all too easy for this unsafe drug to be used by sexual predators and even the victims themselves to hide the abuse from parents and the authorities" (Eppinette, Americans United for Life blog, 3/23).
Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
~ "Controlling the Means of Reproduction: An Interview with Michelle Goldberg," Mandy Van Deven, RH Reality Check: The blog entry includes excerpts from an interview with Michelle Goldberg, "long-time critic" of reproductive health policies under the administration of former President George W. Bush and author of a new book titled "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World." In the book, Goldberg "illustrates how U.S. policies act as a catalyst for or an impediment to women's rights worldwide and puts forth a convincing argument that women's liberation worldwide is key to solving some of our most daunting problems," Van Deven writes. According to Goldberg, women's "intimate lives have become inextricably tied to global forces," and when writing the book, she found how U.S. movements were "branching out into global issues." She said, "In a way, the American antiabortion movement has had more of an impact abroad than at home. The Supreme Court has limited the movement's scope for action here, so Republican presidents have rewarded their base by giving them tremendous influence over international policy on women's health -- an area few Americans pay attention to." She continues that her "book is about the realm of reproductive and women's rights. ... Giving women more control over their bodies and their lives is one of the most important things you can do to fight poverty. One of the things I hope this book does is show how that works." Van Deven concludes the interview by asking Goldberg to explain how issues like female circumcision, abortion and sex education and their "societal context" affect "a woman's ability to freely make her own choice." Goldberg responds, "The problem is not that women are having too many children; it's that, in many places, they lack access to contraception and are having more children than they say they want ... One of the dilemmas I tried to bring forward in the book is that sometimes the ideal of choice, venerated by Western feminists like me, conflicts with the goals of women's rights advocates on the ground" (Van Deven, RH Reality Check, 3/23).
~ "The Morning After Pill Controversy," Cristina Page, Huffington Post blogs: A court ruling on Monday that FDA's justification for age restrictions on Plan B emergency contraception lacked credibility because it was politically based "could not have been more dismissive of the Bush administration's maneuverings," Page writes. The judge ruled that the Bush administration "had politicized a once-respected regulatory agency, the FDA, for bending the law to its right wing purposes" by imposing the age restriction on nonprescription access to EC, Page continues. She writes, "The court's condemnation was comprehensive and brutal, all but labeling the Bushies political criminals." The U.S. district court on Monday "finally got the anti-contraception genie, and some of the bullying lawless politics of the Bush era, back in the bottle, at least for now," Page adds, concluding, "As for the public's trust, that'll take a little longer to fix" (Page, Huffington Post blogs, 3/24).
~ "Dish Respect: The Political Crackdown on IVF Embryo Screening," William Saletan, Slate's Human Nature: Saletan writes that the state senator who authored a proposed Georgia bill (S.B. 169) that would restrict in vitro fertilization is wrong in claiming that the revised bill simply restricts the creation of human embryos for scientific research. Saletan urges readers to "read the bill, not the spin." According to Saletan, the language of the bill "does not, as advertised, require that IVF be" used for "creating children." He says that the bill actually requires that IVF be used "for the treatment of infertility," adding that the "two phrases are not equivalent." According to Saletan, "[s]ometimes IVF is done to create children for couples who are technically or even clearly fertile" but where health conditions like kidney disease might prevent them from carrying a pregnancy. The bill, as written, "would prohibit this," and it is likely that it will be revised to allow this. However, the "more interesting question" posed by the revision is "what will happen to the use of IVF for creating children when there's no question of infertility at all." Saletan continues, "That use is the screening of embryos for unwanted genes: preimplantation genetic diagnosis." The Georgia bill is "just the beginning" of a nationwide project "to regulate the emerging industry of embryo production," Saletan writes. The bills to restrict IVF will "make exceptions for infertility but not PGD," he continues, concluding, "The battles, then, will be fought over which uses of PGD are acceptable. And these fights will be every bit as ugly as the preceding fights over abortion" (Saletan, Slate's "Human Nature," 3/20).
~ "Talkin' About the Pope and Hope," Tamar Abrams, Huffington Post blogs: Pope Benedict XVI's "recent pronouncements during his travels in Africa that condoms and abortions are morally wrong have filled me with religious indignation," Abrams writes. She continues she has witnessed the "increasing number of married women with AIDS in Kenya" and spoken with Kenyan women "who longed for access to contraceptives so they could better care for the children they already had." She writes, "Even so, I probably wouldn't take on the Pope ... except for "recent media reports that the Vatican's top bioethics official spoke out against the excommunication of the two Brazilian doctors who performed an abortion on a nine-year-old girl. Abrams continues that the official's stance is "a pro-choice stand," adding, "Abortion is not a black-and-white issue for me." She writes, "That's why the pro-choice position has always seemed to me to be the reasoned" stance, adding, "It allows individuals to make decisions and encourages each of us to define for ourselves what is reasonable and acceptable." She concludes that if Benedict "truly listens to the people of Africa and other continents and opens his eyes to their hopes for their own lives -- I have faith he may begin to understand the healing power of condoms and the life-affirming necessity for legal, safe abortions" (Abrams, Huffington Post blogs, 3/21).
~ "Time To Give a Neglected Contraceptive a Little More Love," Kathleen Reeves, RH Reality Check: A recent article published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology "takes a fresh look at the emergency contraception we often forget about -- IUDs," Reeves writes. The authors of the article report that few women surveyed knew much about IUDs, she writes, adding that she is "not surprised by their ignorance" as she was unaware IUDs could be used as EC. According to Reeves, the copper IUD, which is effective for up to 12 years, can be effective in preventing pregnancy if inserted up to five days after unprotected sex. "At that point I wondered, 'Why would you go for such a long-lasting contraceptive when you're just looking for emergency contraception?'" Reeves writes, adding, "But this makes a lot of sense. Though some women who seek emergency contraception may have had a one-time malfunction, many others may be looking for a form of contraception that works for them." The IUD "has always been an important option for women who can't tolerate birth control pills or who'd rather not use hormonal birth control because of family health history," Reeves writes, concluding, "Bravo to this report for pointing to a neglected contraceptive choice that may be, for many women, just what the doctor ordered" (Reeves, RH Reality Check, 3/23).
Antiabortion-rights Blog
~ "Americans United for Life Condemns Ruling Increasing Minors' Access to Dangerous Plan B," Matthew Eppinette, Americans United for Life blog: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York's recent ruling to allow over-the-counter access to Plan B for 17-year-old girls is "incomprehensible" and allows "a minor to walk into any pharmacy and obtain this drug without medical oversight or parental involvement," Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life said. According to Eppinette, the court ordered the drug to be available to girls age 17 "under the same conditions it is currently available to adult women and to do so by April 21, 2009." In addition, the court's ruling "will not permit the FDA to undertake another internal review of the drug's safety record or to receive evidence on the increased need to protect minors from dangerous medications and even sexual abuse." Denise Burke, AUL vice president of legal affairs, said, "Increasingly easy access to Plan B may have severe and unintended consequences such as the continued exploitation and sexual abuse of young girls," adding, "It is all too easy for this unsafe drug to be used by sexual predators and even the victims themselves to hide the abuse from parents and the authorities" (Eppinette, Americans United for Life blog, 3/23).
Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
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