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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for February 24, 2010 - י' אדר תש"ע
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Popping a couple of pain pills helped Laurie J. Besden study night after night. They helped her pass the Pennsylvania bar exam. They helped her get more done in a day than many of her colleagues. Then they helped her land in jail.
Besden doesn’t seem like any drug addict you’d picture. She’s smart, motivated — and an overachiever. But she’s one of an alarming number of women who have turned to prescription pills to get ahead — or even just to keep up.
Almost 6 percent of American women, that’s 7.5 million adult women, report using prescription medicines for a boost of energy, a dose of calm or other non-medical reasons, according to the latest numbers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
While street drug use has been declining in recent years, prescription drug abuse has been up since the 1990s. The trend has been most striking in women because unlike with most drugs, which are more commonly abused by men, women are just as likely to abuse prescription drugs, says Susan R.B. Weiss, chief of NIDA’s Science Policy Branch.
Blame what some are calling the superwoman syndrome. Overworked, overwhelmed and overscheduled women juggling families, friends and careers are turning to stimulants, painkillers and anti-anxiety meds to help launch them through endless to-do lists.
“Women load their lives with so much that they get in over their heads, and some turn to prescription pills to cope,” says Talia Witkowski, a psychologist in Los Angeles.
Witkowski, 30, began abusing her prescription attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs in high school, and has been clean for three years.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education, Health Sciences, Women's Health on February 24, 2010 - י' אדר תש"ע at 11:34 am
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By Michelle Allison
Let’s start with this: I identify as fat because, well, I’m fat, and also because I don’t think being fat is necessarily a bad thing─it’s just a thing.
But calling myself a nutritionist feels like a fantastic act of audacity. I’m still technically a student, though I’ve completed the work core to my nutrition degree and am now taking a psychology minor.
I initially got interested in nutrition by going on a diet to lose weight when I was 21. I did it to feel better about myself, because I hated my body, hated being fat. What I told everyone, naturally, was that I was losing weight for the good of my health.
Except I didn’t get healthy. I was constantly injured from overexercising, and I came down with a virus that developed into really nasty pneumonia that I couldn’t seem to shake.
What kept me on the diet was the intoxicating sense that, for the first time in my life, I was following the rules. I was doing it right. I was compliant. I was a model eater and exerciser. My habits were above reproach.
In the end, I lost 30 pounds and gained a bunch of disorder behaviors. And I hated my body more intensely than before. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health, Recent Posts, Women's Health on August 30, 2009 - י' אלול תשס"ט at 5:48 am
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In the study on mice corroles, the Israel-US team was able to shrink breast cancer tumors at doses five times lower than standard chemo treatments (based on a drug called doxorubicin). Also, the corroles could be injected straight into the bloodstream and not into the tumor, making the treatment, if developed clinically, easier to administer.
By Karin Kloosterman, Israel 21C, June 10, 2009
With the alarming incidence of breast cancer in America — one in eight women can expect to get it sometime in their life — new solutions for women, their mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters and friends, cannot come fast enough.
An Israeli-American research team has stumbled onto a new and interesting find – a non-radiation based therapy that may provide relief for an aggressive and hard to treat breast cancer cell known as HER2+, but which could also have wider applications for treating all kinds of cancer.
Breast cancer alone is the most common form of cancer among US women, and the second leading cause of death after lung cancer. About 200,000 women in the US alone had breast cancer in 2008, and about 40,000 will die from it each year.
Prof. Zeev Gross, from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has played no small role in the new research paper that shows positive results for the new non-radiation based therapy based on the chemical compound gallium corroles.
Published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Israel-US team, including scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, were able to show positive pre-clinical results on the new treatment that homes in on HER2+.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Recent Posts, Science, Women's Health on June 12, 2009 - כ' סיון תשס"ט at 10:37 pm
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Arts and Crafts group at Yad Sarah provides crucial social and emotional support
Press Release, Yad Sarah, February 8, 2009
(Jerusalem, Israel) For some, it happened in a moment. For others, it progressed over a period of years. All were once active and productive citizens. Today, their deficits in motor and language skills interfere with their ability to function in society. So they all come to Yad Sarah several times per week for a comprehensive, holistic approach to rehabilitation therapy. Besides the standard clinical services such as occupational, physical, and speech therapy, there are additional programs to provide the crucial social and emotional supports. An integral part of this program is the Arts and Crafts workshop. Every Monday morning the participants get three hours of recreation, therapy, and socialization. But that’s not all they get. “Coming to Yad Sarah gives them joy and purpose in life,” says Devorah Zwick, a volunteer at the program.
The group consists of about 15 women with varying degrees of neurological disabilities, brought on by strokes, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or various other disorders. They all have difficulties with fine motor and communication skills. According to speech pathologist Elana Kravitz, who was trained in New York and immigrated to Israel, “Their weaknesses in communication skills may vary from mild difficulties with verbal recall and verbal synthesis to more severe dysarthrias, apraxias, and aphasias.” That is, many have difficulty, producing coherent and intelligible speech, though their cognitive skills are usually age appropriate. Though the women are also receiving clinical services from occupational and speech therapists, the arts and crafts program provides them with additional opportunities to improve visual motor coordination and fine motor skills in a recreational and social setting. The latter also provides significant emotional support and mental health benefits. According to Irit Nahaloni, Director of the Day Rehabilitation Center, “Their participation in community activities is important. Instead of staying home with minimal socialization, the women have become part of an active community. Their ability to produce something that is creative and useful improves their feelings of self-worth. Their participation in community activities helps them realize that they can still be productive and their social life isn’t over yet.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts, Women's Health, Yad Sarah on February 8, 2009 - י"ד שבט תשס"ט at 10:49 am
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Exercising 30 to 60 minutes a day may offer needed protection, experts say.
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter, November 2, 2008
SUNDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) — Obesity can wreck a person’s health for many reasons. But for women, too much weight tacks on an additional danger: Studies have linked obesity and breast cancer in a variety of ways.
Doctors aren’t sure why this link exists and are trying to figure out what ties weight gain to breast cancer. But they are more and more convinced the link is there, and they are urging women to watch their weight and increase their exercise to help stave off what is the most common cancer among females, nonmelanoma skin cancer aside.
“There are a lot of factors we need to figure out,” said Dr. Jennifer A. Ligibel, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “There are a lot of things we don’t know.”
An estimated 182,500 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society, and about 40,480 women will die from the disease this year. Currently, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Women's Health on November 3, 2008 - ה' חשון תשס"ט at 7:19 am
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New research suggests a direct interaction between cigarette smoke carcinogens and the human papillomavirus that may lead to increased risk of cervical cancer.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2008) — For the first time researchers from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine suggest a direct interaction between cigarette smoke carcinogens and the human papillomavirus that may lead to increased risk of cervical cancer. They report their findings in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of Virology.
Cervical cancer is the third leading cancer type in women worldwide. Over 90% of the cases presented have been linked to human papillomavirus (HPV). Many women unknowingly carry HPV and the virus naturally regresses on its own over time. HPV will only progress into cervical cancer in a small percentage of women, but past studies have proposed cigarette smoking to be a likely influence.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Women's Health on January 25, 2008 - י"ח שבט תשס"ח at 6:44 am
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From HealthNewsDigest.com, Dec 24, 2007
Top Five Women’s Health Stories of 2007 as Selected by the Society for Women’s Health Research
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Society for Women’s Health Research announced its top five women’s health stories of 2007 today. The list covers advances of particular interest to women and new sex-specific treatments.
“The medical news in 2007 show how important it is that researchers continue to focus on women’s health and sex differences,” said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization. “We applaud the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation for forging a national consensus on ovarian cancer symptoms. And we commend cardiologists working to answer questions about sex differences in heart disease. We look forward to more advances in 2008.”
The top women’s health stories of 2007 as determined by the Society for Women’s Health Research are:
1. First Consensus on Ovarian Cancer Symptoms
The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) announced in June the first national consensus on ovarian cancer symptoms. Ovarian cancer has been long considered a silent killer because of the perceived lack of warning signs. According to GCF, ovarian cancer is the fifth deadliest cancer among U.S. women killing 15,000 annually. There is a 90 percent cure rate when women are diagnosed in Stage I of the disease. The announcement and promotion of the consensus statement should lead to earlier diagnosis and earlier intervention for many women.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Recent Posts, Women's Health on December 25, 2007 - ט"ז טבת תשס"ח at 6:19 pm
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Those of childbearing age risk neural tube defects in babies without it, study says
THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) — There are racial and ethnic differences among U.S. women of childbearing age in the intake of folic acid, which can prevent serious neural tube defects that affect the brain and spinal cord.
That finding is published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Special Education, Women's Health on May 11, 2007 - כ"ג אייר תשס"ז at 12:14 pm
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In the fight against breast cancer, researchers are discovering the benefits of regular exercise before and after the dreadful diagnosis
By Carolyn M. Kaelin, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S., and Francesca Coltrera
Newsweek, March 26, 2007 Issue
Four times a week, Anne Rinn, 28, a psychology professor in Bowling Green, Ky., whose mother died of breast cancer, goes to kickboxing, aerobics or Pilates classes. Liz Usborne, a 64-year-old breast-cancer survivor, lobs tennis balls over the net and circuit-trains at a women’s gym near her home in Bonita, Calif. The thread binding them? Concern about getting—or surviving and thriving after—breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society estimates that this year, 241,000 women will learn they have breast cancer and 40,000 women will die of it. Fortunately, a growing list of effective therapies developed during the past decade has helped extend lives, one reason that deaths from breast cancer have been dropping slowly since 1990. Living among us are more than 2 million women who have undergone breast-cancer treatments. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Women's Health on March 23, 2007 - ד' ניסן תשס"ז at 11:19 am
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Premature birth, the leading cause of infant deaths in the U.S., is on the rise. What researchers are learning about why babies are born early, and what women need to know to have a healthy pregnancy.
By Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert, Newsweek, March 5, 2007
March 5, 2007 – Late last month, a teeny tiny preemie named Amillia Taylor was discharged from a Miami children’s hospital. Her story made headlines because no baby born earlier than 22 weeks gestation had ever before survived long enough to be discharged. Stories like hers are uplifting reminders that miracles do happen.
But it should also be a reminder that no pregnant woman can count on miracles. Despite Amillia’s spectacular survival, experts don’t expect to send home any other babies born at 21 or 22 weeks anytime soon. After all, Amillia’s triumph was not achieved because doctors found a way to further lower the line of viability, which has been hovering for more than two decades between 23 and 24 weeks gestation. (This is the point at which most babies’ lungs first develop the capacity to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide on their own). It happened because Amillia’s maturation was astoundingly (and unexplainably) accelerated. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Recent Posts, Special Education, Women's Health on March 6, 2007 - ט"ז אדר תשס"ז at 9:56 am
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