REPOST: Top Threats to Female Reproductive Health

What risks can threaten the female reproductive system? This Yahoo.net article has the details.

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Sometimes women encounter reproductive health risks. Below are some examples of what can threaten the female reproductive system.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) include human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), human papillomavirus (HPV, or genital warts), hepatitis B, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and genital herpes, wrote KidsHealth.org.

When left untreated, STDs can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, causing scarring or blocking of the fallopian tubes and cervical changes, said LaterBaby.org.

Toxic shock syndrome is an uncommon but life-threatening illness caused by toxins released into the body during a bacterial infection, stated KidsHealth.org. It can produce high fever, diarrhea, vomiting and shock.

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According to LaterBaby.org, smoking can have a serious impact on female reproductive health by interfering with the body’s ability to create estrogen. It can also cause eggs to be more prone to genetic abnormalities; is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage; and has been linked to early onset of menopause.

In addition, smoking has been tied to increases in the likelihood of cervical cancer and pelvic infections.

Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to female reproductive health problems including irregular ovulation, amenorrhea, and the abnormal development of the endometrial lining, wrote LaterBaby.org.

LaterBaby.org added that illegal drugs may be universally damaging to female reproductive health. There are even risks to fertility and female reproductive health associated with some legal and over-the-counter drugs. For example, some prescription medications can interfere with ovulation.

Research has shown that exposure to environmental pollutants may pose the greatest threat to reproductive health, warned National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Exposure to lead is associated with reduced fertility, while mercury exposure has been linked to birth defects and neurological disorders.

Exposure to toxins has been linked to other female reproductive health problems such as irregular periods, hormone changes, endometriosis and higher miscarriage rates in pregnant women, wrote LaterBaby.org.

A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to endocrine disruptors, chemicals that appear to disrupt human hormonal activity, may contribute to problems with fertility, pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction, said NIEHS.

Minnesota Medicine said that since physiological changes take place in the female body during pregnancy, intensive job-related physical demands have been associated with an increased risk for miscarriage.

In addition, a growing body of research has linked heavy lifting, prolonged standing, working the night shift, and working long hours during pregnancy with impaired fetal growth and preterm delivery.

Biological hazards can also threaten female reproductive health. Minnesota Medicine wrote that infectious agents such as parvovirus B19, rubella, CMV, toxoplasmosis, and varicella are known reproductive hazards.

They may result in miscarriage, low birth weight, congenital deafness, cataracts, cardiac defects and mental retardation.

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More topics on women's health can be read on this Dr. Shelley Sue Binkley blog site.

To reduce C-sections, women are urged to spend more time in labor

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Caesarean section is recommended when vaginal delivery poses a risk for the mother or the baby. In the U.S., about a third of births are done by C-section, and most of those are performed on first-time mothers.

Although caesarean delivery is a widely accepted procedure across the country, what has been a cause for concern for The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the rapid increase in the number of caesarean births from 1996 to 2011. There has been a 60 percent jump in C-sections since the 1990s even “without clear evidence of concomitant decrease in maternal or neonatal morbidity or mortality.” And this all too frequent recourse to C-sections prompted ACOG to release new guidelines to reduce caesarean deliveries among first-time mothers.

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Childbirth by its very nature carries risks for the mother and the baby regardless of delivery method. Although caesarean delivery could be a life-saving procedure especially in cases such as placenta previa, a condition wherein the placenta develops in the lowest part of the uterus and partially or completely blocks the cervix, or uterine rupture, which is a fatal complication, its use among women with relatively problem-free pregnancies poses greater risk of maternal morbidity and mortality than vaginal delivery.

What the guidelines now suggest is that first-time mothers be allowed to push for at least three hours. And if they are given epidural, mothers could push even longer. They also recommend techniques that aid vaginal delivery such as the use of forceps. Moreover, the rules stress that early labor should also be given more time, with the start of active labor redefined to cervical dilation of six centimeters rather than four.

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Changes could be tough to embrace, but if they translate to safer childbirth and better overall health for women, then they could be easily received.

Shelley Binkley is a Michigan-based obstetrician-gynecologist specializing on miscarriage, post-partum depression, and pregnancy-related obesity, among others. Receive updates on women’s and reproductive health by subscribing to this Facebook page.

REPOST: Moderate Exercise May Cut Women's Stroke Risk

Women may avoid suffering from stroke through moderate exercises like brisk walking. Learn about this new study from this NIH.gov article.

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THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Brisk walking, tennis and other types of moderate exercise may lower a woman's stroke risk by one-fifth, a new study says.

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Being more active also offset the increased stroke risk linked with using hormone replacement therapy to treat the symptoms of menopause, the study found.

The researchers looked at the number of strokes that occurred among nearly 133,500 women in the California Teachers Study, which ran from 1996 to 2010.

Women who said they did moderate physical activity in the three years before enrolling in the study were 20 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who were inactive. The findings were to be presented Thursday at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in San Diego.

"I was surprised that moderate physical activity was most strongly associated with a reduced risk of stroke," study author Sophia Wang, a professor in the department of population sciences in the Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., said in a stroke association news release.

"More strenuous activity, such as running, didn't further reduce women's stroke risk. Moderate activity, such as brisk walking, appeared to be ideal in this scenario," she added.

The researchers also found that postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy were 30 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who never used hormone therapy, but moderate exercise helped reduce this increased risk. And after women stopped taking hormone therapy, their risk began to fall.

The findings show that women need to include physical activity into their daily routine, Wang said.

"You don't have to do an extreme boot camp. The types of activities we're talking about are accessible to most of the population," and include power walking and recreational tennis, she noted.

While 87 percent of the women in the study were white, the results likely apply to women in other racial/ethnic groups, Wang added.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

And the study only found an association between exercise and reduced stroke risk. It did not prove cause-and-effect.

SOURCE: American Stroke Association, news release, Feb. 13, 2014
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Specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Shelley Sue Binkley, MD forwards women’s reproductive health through her practice. Follow this Facebook page to know more about her.

A site for discourse on women's health issues

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In striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle, people have better chances of succeeding when they take time to learn more about their bodies and the effect of their actions on them. Dr. Shelley Binkley’s healthewoman.org is a website that teaches this basic lesson to women who wish to learn how they can maximize their health and fitness for a long and productive life.

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The life expectancy of women has improved greatly over the centuries. Not only are women expected to live longer, many can also enjoy a better quality of life by choosing healthy lifestyles, maintaining good habits, and keeping up with regular consultations with health professionals. To ensure that the advancements of health science are not wasted, women need to understand more about how the body functions and how it reacts to the food that they take in and the activities that they do.

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Dr. Binkley’s website serves as a good resource for women to learn more about sex-specific health issues. It has content on various topics such as general health, fertility and pregnancy, menopause, and hormonal shifts. Meanwhile, Dr. Binkley also encourages website visitors to contribute to the discussion by asking questions and sharing as much of their experience as they can. This helps in the formation of new articles and opens new avenues of learning that may otherwise be unavailable to other women.

Visit this Dr. Shelley Binkley Facebook page to find more resources about women’s health.