Until recently, the option to breastfeed after birth was not offered to women with nipple piercings. While there may have been assumed implications to breastfeeding when pierced, limited documentation exists.
Now, there exist organizations that promote breast-feeding for those women and teach nurses how to deal with them on an individual basis. "The challenge for perinatal nurses becomes how to intervene to maximize opportunities for breastfeeding success in women with nipple piercings," says Dr. Armstrong. While nurses are now encouraged to offer breastfeeding as an option, there are still reservations regarding the results.
In the past, breastfeeding supporters have said it is safe for pierced women to breastfeed, but noted there could be serious risks involved in doing so. Infants can aspirate on the jewelry and the metal of the jewelry can cause trauma to an infant's lips, palate, tongue and gums, according to an article in the June/July issue of AWHONN Lifelines presenting findings from research about women's breastfeeding success when the nipple is pierced.
"Careful history taking and physical assessment of the breasts at (prenatal) time affords the opportunity for nurses to provide pierced women with factual information about nipple piercing and breastfeeding," says lead author Myrna L. Armstrong. By considering the piercing as an integral part of the breastfeeding decision process, prenatal nurses can help foster breastfeeding success.
Dr. Myrna L. Armstrong, EdD, RN, FAAN, is a professor in the Health Sciences Center School of Nursing at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. She has been involved in a program of research with patient education examining various elements of body art since 1990.
About AWHONN Lifelines
AWHONN Lifelines is the official clinical practice management magazine of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). Lifelines presents the practical application of evidence and innovation within the most important women's health, obstetric and neonatal topics, such as cardiovascular, reproductive and perimenopausal health, cancers in women, nutrition, aging well, normal and high-risk labor and birth, and newborn care. Lifelines is read by more than 23,000 clinical and advanced practice nurses and other health care professionals involved in providing optimum nursing care for women and their newborns.
For more information, please visit:
blackwellpublishing/jognn
awhonn
суббота, 2 июня 2012 г.
суббота, 26 мая 2012 г.
ACOG Statement On Revised US Preventive Services Task Force RecommendationsOn Breast Cancer Screening
In response to today's US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) statement that recommends against routine mammography screening for women in their 40s and recommends screening only once every two years for women ages 50 to 74, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) maintains its current advice that women in their 40s continue mammography screening every one to two years and women age 50 or older continue annual screening. The USPSTF revised recommendations are published in the November 17, 2009, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. (Read more.)
As the organization representing the nation's ob-gyns who provide health care exclusively for women, ACOG welcomes these new review data on breast cancer screening. However, the implications of the USPSTF's recommendations for both women and physicians are not insignificant and require that ACOG evaluate both the data and the USPSTF's interpretations in greater detail. All women, along with their physicians, should individually assess the benefits and as well as the risks of mammography screening.
The USPSTF also recommends against clinicians teaching women how to perform breast self-exams (BSE). At this time, ACOG's position is that ob-gyns should continue to counsel women that BSE has the potential to detect palpable breast cancer and can be performed.
ACOG strongly supports shared decision making between doctor and patient, and in the case of screening for breast cancer, it is essential.
Source
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
As the organization representing the nation's ob-gyns who provide health care exclusively for women, ACOG welcomes these new review data on breast cancer screening. However, the implications of the USPSTF's recommendations for both women and physicians are not insignificant and require that ACOG evaluate both the data and the USPSTF's interpretations in greater detail. All women, along with their physicians, should individually assess the benefits and as well as the risks of mammography screening.
The USPSTF also recommends against clinicians teaching women how to perform breast self-exams (BSE). At this time, ACOG's position is that ob-gyns should continue to counsel women that BSE has the potential to detect palpable breast cancer and can be performed.
ACOG strongly supports shared decision making between doctor and patient, and in the case of screening for breast cancer, it is essential.
Source
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
суббота, 19 мая 2012 г.
Don't take HRT just to ward off cardiovascular disease
Doctors should not recommend that post-menopausal women start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) just to prevent
cardiovascular events. Also, women at particular risk of blood clots should be discouraged from using HRT to prevent
cardiovascular events.
Post-menopausal women are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than younger women. There are sound biological
arguments why giving post-menopausal women extra oestrogen might protect them from CVD, and various uncontrolled studies
appear to confirm this idea. However, the question of whether HRT has a long-term benefit for women at risk of CVD is
unresolved.
To answer this, Cochrane Review Authors drew on data from 10 large, well run studies. Pooling the results they were able to
compare the effects of giving HRT to 12,353 women, with giving placebos to 11,930 other women.
They concluded that giving HRT does not protect post-menopausal women from CVD. In addition, women who have specific risks
that may make them prone to suffer from blood clots should be discouraged from taking HRT at all.
Review title: Gabriel S?nchez et al: Hormone replacement therapy for preventing cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal
women. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2005 Issue 2.
The Cochrane Library newsletter, 2005, issue 2
The best single source of reliable evidence about the effects of health care
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
interscience.wiley
cardiovascular events. Also, women at particular risk of blood clots should be discouraged from using HRT to prevent
cardiovascular events.
Post-menopausal women are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than younger women. There are sound biological
arguments why giving post-menopausal women extra oestrogen might protect them from CVD, and various uncontrolled studies
appear to confirm this idea. However, the question of whether HRT has a long-term benefit for women at risk of CVD is
unresolved.
To answer this, Cochrane Review Authors drew on data from 10 large, well run studies. Pooling the results they were able to
compare the effects of giving HRT to 12,353 women, with giving placebos to 11,930 other women.
They concluded that giving HRT does not protect post-menopausal women from CVD. In addition, women who have specific risks
that may make them prone to suffer from blood clots should be discouraged from taking HRT at all.
Review title: Gabriel S?nchez et al: Hormone replacement therapy for preventing cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal
women. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2005 Issue 2.
The Cochrane Library newsletter, 2005, issue 2
The best single source of reliable evidence about the effects of health care
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
interscience.wiley
суббота, 12 мая 2012 г.
New Research Findings May Enable Earlier Diagnosis Of Uterine Cancer
Cancer is a genetic disease. It occurs when changes take place in the genes that regulate cell division, cell growth, cell death, cell signalling and blood vessel formation - either due to mutations caused by external factors such as smoking or radiation - or due to inherited changes. This interaction between defective genes and environmental factors means that cancer is an extremely complex disease. Cancer of the uterus, or endometrial carcinoma, is no exception.
Cancer of the uterus is the commonest gynaecological malignancy in the West and accounts for between five and six per cent of all cancers in Swedish women. However, the symptoms are often vague, and we know little about the genetic factors that lead to the appearance and development of this form of cancer. It is therefore vital that these genes are identified, as this could enable doctors to make the diagnosis much more quickly and easily, allowing the development of more effective cancer treatment.
In her study, Sandra Karlsson, a researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, has used inbred rats to locate the defective genes that cause uterine cancer. Like monozygotic (identical) twins, these inbred rats are genetically almost identical, which makes it much easier to study the influence of the environment in which they live.
"More than 90 per cent of the female rats in the study spontaneously developed uterine cancer. By using advanced techniques to analyse gene expression in the tumours, we succeeded in identifying a gene signature that could be used as a future diagnostic test for human uterine cancer," says Sandra Karlsson.
The signature is made up of three genes. One of them protects the cell against oxygen free radicals. These free radicals are naturally and continuously produced in the cell, but excess amounts, which can damage the cell and the body's DNA, are associated with over 200 diseases, from arteriosclerosis and dementia to rheumatism, cerebral haemorrhage and cancer. The studies carried out by Sandra Karlsson on human malignant tumours have confirmed that changes in this gene are present in early as well as late stage cancer.
"This shows that the identified gene has an important role in the origin and development of uterine cancer," says Sandra Karlsson.
The thesis Gene Expression Patterns in a Rat Model of Human Endometrial Adenocarcinoma was publicly defended on the December 19th. Supervisor - Professor Karin Klinga Levan.
Source: Sandra Karlsson
University of Gothenburg
Cancer of the uterus is the commonest gynaecological malignancy in the West and accounts for between five and six per cent of all cancers in Swedish women. However, the symptoms are often vague, and we know little about the genetic factors that lead to the appearance and development of this form of cancer. It is therefore vital that these genes are identified, as this could enable doctors to make the diagnosis much more quickly and easily, allowing the development of more effective cancer treatment.
In her study, Sandra Karlsson, a researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, has used inbred rats to locate the defective genes that cause uterine cancer. Like monozygotic (identical) twins, these inbred rats are genetically almost identical, which makes it much easier to study the influence of the environment in which they live.
"More than 90 per cent of the female rats in the study spontaneously developed uterine cancer. By using advanced techniques to analyse gene expression in the tumours, we succeeded in identifying a gene signature that could be used as a future diagnostic test for human uterine cancer," says Sandra Karlsson.
The signature is made up of three genes. One of them protects the cell against oxygen free radicals. These free radicals are naturally and continuously produced in the cell, but excess amounts, which can damage the cell and the body's DNA, are associated with over 200 diseases, from arteriosclerosis and dementia to rheumatism, cerebral haemorrhage and cancer. The studies carried out by Sandra Karlsson on human malignant tumours have confirmed that changes in this gene are present in early as well as late stage cancer.
"This shows that the identified gene has an important role in the origin and development of uterine cancer," says Sandra Karlsson.
The thesis Gene Expression Patterns in a Rat Model of Human Endometrial Adenocarcinoma was publicly defended on the December 19th. Supervisor - Professor Karin Klinga Levan.
Source: Sandra Karlsson
University of Gothenburg
суббота, 5 мая 2012 г.
New York Times Editorials React To Reproductive Health-Related Issues In Health Reform Law
The New York Times recently published two editorials pertaining to the federal health reform law (PL 111-148).
~ Abortion: "In the fierce debate over health care reform, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops charged that the legislation didn't do enough to restrict insurance coverage of abortions," while several "Catholic nuns and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals, looked at the same bill and concluded that it would have no effect on abortion financing," the Times writes. Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg, Pa., is now "punishing" nuns who signed a letter in support of the reform bill, the editorials states, adding that Brandt "has decreed that 'any religious community' that signed the letter would be forbidden to use the diocese's offices, parishes or newspaper to promote programs that encourage young people to consider the religious life." Brandt alleges that the nuns took "a public stance in opposition to the church's teaching on human life," according to the editorial. The nuns "saw the bill as a powerfully positive step, because it provided health insurance to millions of people without it, and hundreds of millions of dollars for the care of pregnant women," the editorial states. It concludes that the nuns who signed the letter "showed courage and compassion when they spoke out for reform. It makes no sense at all to try to punish them or thwart their efforts to find new sisters who would care for the sick and dying and lead exemplary Catholic lives" (New York Times, 5/1).
~ Rescissions: "Americans are already starting to see benefits of health care reform," a Times editorial states. Although the "new law requires health insurance companies -- starting in September -- to end their most indefensible practice: rescinding coverage after a policyholder gets sick," several insurers and their trade associations in recent days "have rushed to announce that they will end rescissions immediately," according to the editorial. Those announcements follow the release of an "investigative report by Reuters" that found that WellPoint, one of the nation's largest insurers, targeted women with breast cancer "for fraud investigations that could lead to rescissions," the editorial states. "WellPoint fiercely denied singling out breast cancer patients for scrutiny" but "acknowledged using computer algorithms to search for a range of conditions that applicants would likely have known about at the time they applied," according to the Times. This is "very good news for the thousands of people who each year pay their premiums but lose their coverage just when they are likely to run up big medical bills," the Times writes (New York Times, 5/3).
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.
© 2010 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
суббота, 28 апреля 2012 г.
China's Henan Province Bans Sale Of Drugs For Medical Abortion
China's Henan province on Monday banned the sale of drugs for medical abortions in coordination with the province's efforts to maintain gender balance among infants, Xinhua/China Daily reports. People who violate the law could receive fines of between $385 and $2,564 and risk having their illegal profits seized by the state, and a pregnant woman who undergoes an abortion illegally could face a fine of $256. According to Xinhua/China Daily, local government sources said the ban could be seen as a measure to support regulations prohibiting sex-selective abortion in the province. Under those regulations, which took effect on Monday, abortion is permitted only if the fetus has a serious hereditary disease or severe birth defect, if continuation of gestation will damage the health or life of the pregnant woman, or if the pregnant woman is divorced or widowed (Xinhua/China Daily, 1/3). A 2000 census found that the ratio of infant boys to infant girls in Henan was about 118 boys for every 100 girls. The worldwide ratio is about 107 boys to 100 girls (BBC News, 1/3). According to the Henan Population and Family Planning Commission, the direct cause of the imbalance was gender identification with "advanced technology" and abortions of female fetuses (Xinhua/China Daily, 1/3). Sex-selective abortion is banned nationwide, but physicians who help people determine a fetus' sex for nonmedical reasons generally face only administrative penalties (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/3/06).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
суббота, 21 апреля 2012 г.
Pre-eclampsia Kidney Disease Link
Pre-eclampsia is a complication in pregnancy occurring in approximately eight percent of all pregnancies. It is characterised by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. It generally develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Medical doctor and researcher Bjoern Egil Vikse from the Department of Medicine at University of Bergeb is the first author of an upcoming article in the March issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Vikse explains that there were two reasons for becoming involved in this work. The first was that a collegaue had previously found a strong correlation between pre-eclampsia and a later incidence of cardiovascular disease. The second is that UiB researchers have a unique research tool. They have access to two large databases: one is a birth registry; the other is a kidney biopsy registry. This enables them to use large, well-documented data pools in their work.
The Birth Registry provided Vikse with data from 1967 and the Kidney Biopsy Registry dates from 1988.
Unexpectedly strong correlation
Vikse and his colleagues first compared data from the two registries to see if there was a correlation between the children of mothers who had experienced pre-eclampsia and incidence of kidney disease in these children. They found no correlation.
They then compared the two databases for a possible correlation between the incidence of pre-eclampsia and later incidence of kidney disease in the mothers and found an unexpectedly strong result.
"We were amazed that the correlation was so strong," says Vikse. The data showed that pre-eclampsia alone was responsible for the mothers having a 3.3% increased risk of developing kidney disease later. If, in addition, the child had a low birth weight, the risk increased to a 4.8% increased risk with low birth-weight and a dramatic17% increased risk with very low birth-weight.
Another unexpected finding was that the increased risk was not associated with any particular kidney disease: all kidney diseases had a similar increased risk.
"You would expect the risk increase to be linked to a particular disease," explains Vikse. "It was most unusual to find that this was not the case."
Future directions
Vikse explains that the researchers will now try to characterise the correlation further as well as checking for correlations with other medical conditions such as kidney failure. Studies into the development of both pre-eclampsia and kidney disease are also needed to see if there are any similarities between the mechanisms by which both medical conditions develop.
According to Vikse, there are also more far-reaching consequences as well. This result suggests that information about having experienced a pregnancy with pre-eclampsia should be included in a woman's medical history record. Such women need to be followed up for the rest of their lives because of their increased risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease.
www.uib.no/info/english
RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY
P.O Box 2700,
St.Hanshaugen,
N-0131,
Oslo,
forskningsradet.no
About the RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY>/b>
The Research Council of Norway plays a vital role in developing and implementing the country''s national research strategy. It acts as: * a government adviser, identifying present and future needs for knowledge and research; * a funding agency for independent research programmes and projects, strategic programmes at research institutes, and Norwegian participation in international research programmes; * a co-ordinator, initiating networks and promoting co-operation between R&D institutions, ministries, business and industry, public agencies and enterprises, other sources of funding, and users of research. The Executive Board of the Research Council of Norway is responsible for the Council''s policy at the national level. Six research boards, one for each research division, submit annual strategic plans and budgets to the main Executive Board for final approval. Important research priorities according to the Research Council are: * basic research * marine research * information and communication technology * health research * energy and climate research * biotechnology * petroleum research * material science Approximately one third of Norway''s public sector research investment is channelled through the Research Council. The remainder is transferred directly from the ministries to the relevant research institutions. In 1999, Norway spent a total of NOK 20 billion on R&D, of which public sector allocations accounted for roughly NOK 8.5 billion. In 2003 the Research Council of Norway has a budget of NOK 4,4 billion.
Medical doctor and researcher Bjoern Egil Vikse from the Department of Medicine at University of Bergeb is the first author of an upcoming article in the March issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Vikse explains that there were two reasons for becoming involved in this work. The first was that a collegaue had previously found a strong correlation between pre-eclampsia and a later incidence of cardiovascular disease. The second is that UiB researchers have a unique research tool. They have access to two large databases: one is a birth registry; the other is a kidney biopsy registry. This enables them to use large, well-documented data pools in their work.
The Birth Registry provided Vikse with data from 1967 and the Kidney Biopsy Registry dates from 1988.
Unexpectedly strong correlation
Vikse and his colleagues first compared data from the two registries to see if there was a correlation between the children of mothers who had experienced pre-eclampsia and incidence of kidney disease in these children. They found no correlation.
They then compared the two databases for a possible correlation between the incidence of pre-eclampsia and later incidence of kidney disease in the mothers and found an unexpectedly strong result.
"We were amazed that the correlation was so strong," says Vikse. The data showed that pre-eclampsia alone was responsible for the mothers having a 3.3% increased risk of developing kidney disease later. If, in addition, the child had a low birth weight, the risk increased to a 4.8% increased risk with low birth-weight and a dramatic17% increased risk with very low birth-weight.
Another unexpected finding was that the increased risk was not associated with any particular kidney disease: all kidney diseases had a similar increased risk.
"You would expect the risk increase to be linked to a particular disease," explains Vikse. "It was most unusual to find that this was not the case."
Future directions
Vikse explains that the researchers will now try to characterise the correlation further as well as checking for correlations with other medical conditions such as kidney failure. Studies into the development of both pre-eclampsia and kidney disease are also needed to see if there are any similarities between the mechanisms by which both medical conditions develop.
According to Vikse, there are also more far-reaching consequences as well. This result suggests that information about having experienced a pregnancy with pre-eclampsia should be included in a woman's medical history record. Such women need to be followed up for the rest of their lives because of their increased risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease.
www.uib.no/info/english
RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY
P.O Box 2700,
St.Hanshaugen,
N-0131,
Oslo,
forskningsradet.no
About the RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY>/b>
The Research Council of Norway plays a vital role in developing and implementing the country''s national research strategy. It acts as: * a government adviser, identifying present and future needs for knowledge and research; * a funding agency for independent research programmes and projects, strategic programmes at research institutes, and Norwegian participation in international research programmes; * a co-ordinator, initiating networks and promoting co-operation between R&D institutions, ministries, business and industry, public agencies and enterprises, other sources of funding, and users of research. The Executive Board of the Research Council of Norway is responsible for the Council''s policy at the national level. Six research boards, one for each research division, submit annual strategic plans and budgets to the main Executive Board for final approval. Important research priorities according to the Research Council are: * basic research * marine research * information and communication technology * health research * energy and climate research * biotechnology * petroleum research * material science Approximately one third of Norway''s public sector research investment is channelled through the Research Council. The remainder is transferred directly from the ministries to the relevant research institutions. In 1999, Norway spent a total of NOK 20 billion on R&D, of which public sector allocations accounted for roughly NOK 8.5 billion. In 2003 the Research Council of Norway has a budget of NOK 4,4 billion.
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