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.

Image Source: webmd.com

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.

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.

Image Source: healthylifect.com

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.