Healthy Living

2008’s Top 20 Medical Breakthroughs for Women

December 1, 2008
medical-breakthroughs-woman

Lisa Spindler
By Curt Pesmen
From Health magazine

We’re ready. A cure for cancer. A safe, long-term weight-loss pill. A dark chocolate that cures what ails us. These are the modern medical breakthroughs we’ve been waiting for. OK, only the chocolate has actually made it onto our list of advances this year.

That’s all right, though—there are 19 other milestones from the front lines of women’s medicine that will make news and change lives. There’s no cure for cancer, but there are several promising developments in cancer treatment and diagnosis, including targeted radiation for breast cancer. There’s no miracle weight-loss pill, but researchers hope that by manipulating the hormone leptin they’ll be able to help those who do lose weight keep it off.

And to make things even more exciting, a Viagra-inspired sex lotion for women has created a big buzz in the lab (and in test bedrooms nationwide). We knew there was a reason we loved science.

Next page: Obesity

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Safest Lubricants and How Meds Affect Your Libido

October 24, 2008
From Health magazine

Q: I’ve heard that vaginal lubricants carry health risks. Should I worry if I use them?
A: Vaginal lubricants have been linked to fertility problems and vaginal infections, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re at risk. If you’re trying to get pregnant, definitely steer clear because these products can render sperm immotile, which can decrease your chances of conception. Read More

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Great Sex: Add a Little Adventure

October 19, 2008
sex-advice-couple-bed

(Istockphoto)
From Health magazine

Q: Sex with my husband is starting to feel like a routine. How can I get him to try new things?

A: First, realize that men have delicate egos and never want to hear that they’re not God’s gift to women in bed. Still, you should talk to your husband—just do it outside the bedroom and in a loving way. Take a look at the role you play, too. Have you tried initiating more surprising sex? Read More

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Quiz Answers: Sex and Teens

October 16, 2008

You’ve taken the quiz; now here are the answers.

1. Which of the following can play a role in causing cervical cancer?

All of the above

Almost all cervical cancer tumors contain one of five high-risk types of HPV, which are strongly linked to cervical cancer. But a weakened immune system—as may be caused by HIV—can also lead to the disease. Smoking can prolong periods of HPV infection, during which cervical cells become abnormal and potentially cancerous. Even secondhand smoke can increase the risk of cells becoming cancerous. In women who don’t smoke, cervical cell changes are more likely to go away on their own.

Get More Advice for Your Daughter

2. True or false: Your teenage daughter must get your permission before her doctor can prescribe the Pill.

False

She has a right to privacy when it comes to her reproductive medical care, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, even if she is under 18. So if you want to know what birth control decisions your daughter is making, you’ll have to talk to her, not her doctor.

3. The best time for a girl or woman to get the HPV vaccine is:

Before she becomes sexually active

The vaccine works best before there is any chance of a sexually transmitted HPV infection. However, it is also approved for girls as young as 9 and recommended for women up to 26 who did not receive it when they were younger.

Next page: By the time they graduate from high school, 61% of teens will have had sex

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Who’s Most at Risk for STDs?

October 16, 2008

Your STD risk is not about who you are, but what you do.
(MASTERFILE)
By Louise Sloan

Certain sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV, syphilis, and gonorrhea, are more prevalent in some communities than others, but it’s really not about who you are; it’s about what you do and who you do it with (and who they’ve done it with).

The other reason it’s so hard to know just who is most at risk for STDs these days is that the infections are so widespread—and often so invisible. “Many of the people who are transmitting sexually transmitted disease are not symptomatic, so it’s often the person who has normal looking genitals that poses the risk,” says Myron Cohen, MD, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

“Most people [with herpes] don’t have herpes lesions,” echoes Anne Foster-Rosales, MD, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Golden Gate. “Same thing with HPV: It’s an invisible virus.”

Yet 20% of the U.S. population 12 years and up has genital herpes, and “pretty much everyone who’s sexually active is going to get HPV,” says H. Hunter Handsfield, MD, an AIDS and STD expert at Battelle Research and the University of Washington, in Seattle.

Chlamydia is another very common STD with a low profile—this one with devastating effects on women. And of course there’s HIV, an incurable STD that is fatal without treatment.

If you are in a monogamous partnership and you have both tested negative for HIV and other STDs, you’re at very low risk. But your partner may not be as monogamous as you think, and there are some diseases your partner may not realize he or she is carrying.

The bottom line: If you practice safer sex, your risk goes down.

Related Links:

How to Finally Fix Your Menstrual Problems
How HPV Causes Cervical Cancer and Abnormal Pap Smears
What You Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine, and Why It’s Controversial
What Should I Do if the Condom Breaks?
Birth Control Is Safer Than Ever
What Is Safer Sex?
Why These Energy Boosters Are Poor Substitutes for Sleep
For Big Drinkers, Talking About Sex and STDs May Be a Wash
Social Smokers Aren’t Hooked on Nicotine, Just Smoking
Do I Have a Drinking Problem?
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For Big Drinkers, Talking About Sex and STDs May Be a Wash

October 16, 2008
Video

“How much are you drinking, and do you get to the point where you lose control?” (2:16)

Sex therapist Sari Cooper urges her clients to be sure they’re making choices about sex with a level head.

Related Links:

How to Finally Fix Your Menstrual Problems
How HPV Causes Cervical Cancer and Abnormal Pap Smears
What You Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine, and Why It’s Controversial
What Should I Do if the Condom Breaks?
Birth Control Is Safer Than Ever
Who’s Most at Risk for STDs?
What Is Safer Sex?
Why These Energy Boosters Are Poor Substitutes for Sleep
Social Smokers Aren’t Hooked on Nicotine, Just Smoking
Do I Have a Drinking Problem?
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How to Protect Yourself From HPV and Cervical Cancer

October 16, 2008

It’s hard to avoid the virus, but tests can prevent its worst consequences.
(ISTOCKPHOTO)
By Louise Sloan

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is nicknamed “the common cold of STDs” because if you’re a sexually active adult, you’ve probably contracted several of the 100 different types out there—more than 30 of which are sexually transmitted—and you probably had no idea. A new vaccine promises to make the virus much more scarce in the future, but HPV is still the number one cause of cervical cancer and genital warts.

Pap smears are a must for all women
“HPV really is harmless to the vast majority of people,” says H. Hunter Handsfield, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and a nationally recognized STD expert. “It’s like having staph or strep on our skins,” he says, “pretty universal, unavoidable, and usually not harmful.” But several strains can lead to cervical cancer, so all women should have yearly Pap smears to screen for cancerous changes.

Genital warts can be pesky and unattractive, and removing them can be painful, but they are more of a cosmetic effect of HPV than a true health risk, experts say.

Introducing the Gardasil vaccine
Gardasil, the HPV vaccine introduced in 2006, protects against the two strains of the virus that are most likely to cause cancer, as well as the two strains of the virus that are the culprits in most cases of genital warts.

The CDC recommends that girls be immunized against HPV at age 11 or 12, before they are sexually active, but girls and women ages 9 to 26 are approved to get the vaccine, in hopes they haven’t yet caught the cancer-causing strains of the virus.

Also use condoms to prevent HPV
Using condoms or other latex or plastic barriers can help prevent HPV infection, although they are not completely effective because the virus can be present on areas of the skin not covered by the latex. The best prevention available, other than abstinence, is believed to be the HPV vaccine.

Related Links:

How to Finally Fix Your Menstrual Problems
How HPV Causes Cervical Cancer and Abnormal Pap Smears
What You Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine, and Why It’s Controversial
What Should I Do if the Condom Breaks?
Birth Control Is Safer Than Ever
Who’s Most at Risk for STDs?
What Is Safer Sex?
Why These Energy Boosters Are Poor Substitutes for Sleep
For Big Drinkers, Talking About Sex and STDs May Be a Wash
Social Smokers Aren’t Hooked on Nicotine, Just Smoking
Do I Have a Drinking Problem?
Make Over Your Snacks
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What You Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine, and Why It’s Controversial

October 16, 2008

Gardasil is recommended for girls, but boys and women can get it too.
(AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
By Louise Sloan

Almost everyone carries the human papillomavirus (HPV), and it’s usually pretty harmless. But a few strains are the main cause of cervical cancer. Gardasil, the HPV vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006, guards against two of these strains, plus two other strains that are responsible for most genital warts.

Since most adults have already been exposed to HPV, the vaccine is recommended for girls who haven’t become sexually active yet. (The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccination at age 11 or 12, but Gardasil is approved for girls as young as 9.)

So far, so good. But the introduction of this new vaccine has stirred up a small fuss.

Get More Advice for Your Daughter

The controversy
Perhaps the main fear of the vaccine’s opponents is that it might encourage adolescent promiscuity.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington and a nationally recognized STD expert, believes most parents are all for it, however. “It can prevent cancer?” he says, parroting the most common parental concern. “Well, duh, give my kid the shot.”

Still, questions come up all the time because the vaccine is so new. Here are a couple of the most common:

1. Should boys get the HPV vaccine?
Men rarely get cancer from HPV, but they do pass the virus to their female partners, and they do get genital warts from HPV as well. In Europe and the U.K., Gardasil is licensed for use in both boys and girls, although so far only Austria’s public health program actually recommends vaccinations for both.

The reason it’s not generally recommended for boys in the U.S. is because it hasn’t been approved for use in boys. General thinking may be, too, that it’s more cost-effective, from a public-health standpoint, to vaccinate girls only. And insurance companies won’t cover vaccines that aren’t recommended. Gardasil retails at around $375 for the three-dose course.

Next page: What about women over 26?

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What Should I Do if the Condom Breaks?

October 16, 2008

Try these morning-after solutions for STD exposure and pregnancy risk.
(SHO YOSHIDA/GAZIMAL/GETTY IMAGES)
By Nick Burns

Accidents happen: In moments of passion, a condom worn incorrectly (or past its expiration date) can break or slip off, putting you at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and—if you’re a woman—pregnancy.

Morning-after HIV prevention
After such an accident, you and your partner should get tested for STDs, including HIV, as soon as possible. If you have been exposed to the HIV virus, ask for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), a morning-after treatment for HIV that may prevent infection. The treatment is a monthlong course of HIV (antiretroviral) medications that are most effective if you start them right away—but may still work up to 72 hours after exposure. Side effects can include extreme nausea and fatigue. Read More

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Birth Control Is Safer Than Ever (and Sometimes It’s Even Good for You)

October 16, 2008

All pills have risks, and some people shouldn’t take hormones.
(VEER)
By Louise Sloan

Times have changed since women going on birth control risked the pelvic infections of the Dalkon Shield or hormones dosed perilously high. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) have been redesigned to be very safe. The contraceptive sponge is almost risk free—though there are more effective ways to prevent pregnancy. Condoms are safe for everyone and are the only form of birth control that protects against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). And the Pill is so safe and effective these days that it is available over-the-counter in some countries. Read More

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