New moms get enough sleep, just not good sleep
(Reuters Health) – Contrary to popular belief, new mothers may often get a decent amount of sleep in their babies’ first few months — but it’s not a good-quality sleep, a new study suggests.
The study, which followed a group of new moms, found that on average, the women got just over 7 hours of sleep per night during their babies’ first four months. That is within what’s generally recommended for adults, and, based on past studies, more than the average American gets.
On the other hand, the study found, that sleep is also frequently disrupted — with the women typically being awake for a total of two hours overnight.
The finding may not sound surprising, especially to parents. But the study does challenge a central assumption about new mothers’ typical sleep patterns, according to lead researcher Dr. Hawley E. Montgomery-Downs, an assistant professor of psychology at West Virginia University in Morgantown.
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For persistent fibroids, a less invasive option
(Reuters Health) – A procedure that stops the blood supply to fibroids could be a safe and effective alternative to hysterectomy for women whose fibroid symptoms won’t go away, according to a new study.
But some who get uterine artery embolization – which is less invasive, cheaper, and easier to recover from than a hysterectomy – might still eventually need a hysterectomy to relieve their symptoms, the results of the study in 150 women show.
Uterine fibroids are generally benign tumors that grow in the walls of the uterus. In an embolization procedure, a catheter filled with small particles is used to block off the vessels that supply blood to the fibroids. In a hysterectomy, fibroids are surgically removed from the body – along with the rest of the uterus. Embolization is performed by a radiologist, while hysterectomy is done by a patient’s gynecologist.
“Hysterectomy has the major advantage of really getting rid of the fibroids forever without any doubt, whereas embolization sometimes gets rid of the fibroids,” Dr. Klim McPherson, an obstetrician at the University of Oxford in the UK who was not involved with the study, told Reuters Health.
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Bad hot flashes? Try dropping a few pounds
(Reuters Health) – Overweight women who suffer from bothersome hot flashes may find some relief by losing some weight, hints a new study published today.
In the study, women who participated in a program that encouraged them to exercise more and eat less improved their hot flashes more that a group with little weight-loss coaching.
“We’re pretty excited to have this evidence that … women who lose weight can improve their symptoms,” study chief Dr. Alison Huang of the University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters Health.
At least 2 out of 3 women in the United States suffer from hot flashes at some point during menopause, and studies have shown that heavier women get more severe and more frequent hot flashes, Huang and colleagues note in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Huang and her colleagues followed a group of 338 overweight and obese women who were participating in a study for women with incontinence – which is not related to menopause symptoms, Huang said, and so shouldn’t have affected the results.
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What your hair color says about you
Our hair is our most noticeable trait — and we obsess over it accordingly. But even though we spend lots of time enhancing and re-enhancing our tresses, we probably haven’t considered something pretty cool: What’s underneath all the glosses and highlights can be a health barometer of sorts.
If you’re a blonde…
Protect your peepers. Women have a higher risk than men of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye condition that can cause blindness. And fair-haired females are especially prone to AMD, says Svetlana Kogan, M.D., founder of Doctors at Trump Place in New York City. A diet rich in the natural compounds lutein and zeaxanthin — found in kale, spinach, and snow peas — can help fend it off. Kogan suggests munching on one cup of the green veggies every day.
Cover up. Melanin gives skin its color and helps shield it from harmful UV rays, says dermatologist Joel Schlessinger, M.D., president emeritus of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. Thing is, blondes produce less of the stuff, which leaves their skin (and especially their scalps) at a higher risk for melanoma. Buy a full-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen that shields against harmful UVA and UVB rays. And don’t neglect your head: “Blondes should always wear a hat when they’re in direct sunlight,” says Schlessinger.
If you’re a brunette…
Hold on to your hair. More than half of the 30 million American women with visible hair loss are brunettes. That could be because they have less hair to begin with: “Brown tresses are generally coarser and thicker than blonde or red strands, and your body produces fewer of them,” Schlessinger says. So when brown hair follicles die, they leave behind more noticeable thin patches. Stave off sparse coverage by eating right. Low iron can contribute to hair loss, so start swallowing 18 milligrams a day; one cup of fortified oatmeal will provide your daily fill.
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Recalibrated Formula Eases Women’s Workouts
If you are a woman who exercises, get ready to do some math.
Last week, researchers at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago announced a new formula for calculating a woman’s maximum heart rate, a measure commonly used by athletes to pace themselves and monitor their progress. In a study of nearly 5,500 healthy women, scientists discovered that a decades-old formula for calculating heart rate is largely inaccurate for women, resulting in a number that is too high.
The news may be a vindication to many women who have struggled to keep up with lofty target heart rates espoused by personal trainers and programmed into treadmill displays.
The commonly used formula subtracts a person’s age from 220. But based on the data collected in the Chicago study, the right formula for calculating a woman’s maximum heart rate is a little more complicated: 206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age.
The findings are significant because many runners, cyclists and other exercisers obsessively monitor their heart rates by taking their pulse and rely on the old formula to gauge the intensity of the workout. The typical goal is to stay within 65 to 85 percent of the estimated maximum heart rate, depending on whether the athlete is trying to build aerobic capacity or increase endurance.
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Gates Foundation gives $1.5 bln for women’s health
(Reuters) – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.5 billion on Monday in a joint push with the United Nations to improve the health of women and children, while launching a lobbying effort to get governments and other non-profit groups on board.
The program aims to cut across the “silos” of health initiatives focused on one thing — AIDS, for example, or nutrition — and get broader initiatives into place.
“That is in addition to grants that we already make in vaccines, diarrhea, malaria,” Melinda Gates told reporters.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would try to focus the Group of 20 meeting in Toronto later this month on the subject, adding the goal is to raise $15 billion.
“We may need an additional $45 billion by 2015,” Ban said.
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