New research suggests that young women who currently smoke and who have smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years or more have a much higher risk for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer – the most common form of the disease – compared with women who have smoked for a shorter period of time. This […]

Medical associations widely recommend that women visit their obstetricians and primary care doctors shortly after giving birth, but slightly fewer than half make or keep those postpartum appointments, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers. The researchers found that women with pregnancy complications were more likely to see a doctor post-delivery, but overall, visit […]

Research led by investigators from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health suggests that women who have a vitamin D deficiency in the first 26 weeks of pregnancy are more likely to develop severe preeclampsia. This is according to a study recently published in the journal Epidemiology. Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication that […]

Researchers in Australia have found that breast stem cells and their “daughters” have a longer life than previously believed. This newly discovered longer lifespan suggests that these cells could carry damage or genetic defects earlier in life that eventually lead to cancer decades later. The researchers, from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, have published […]

Aerobic exercise is known to prevent type 2 diabetes, and muscle-strengthening alone or in combination with aerobic exercise improves diabetic control among those with diabetes. Although men who weight train have been found to have an associated reduced risk of developing diabetes, whether such an association exists for women has not been established. In this week’s PLOS […]

In a large study of women’s health, postmenopausal women who followed a healthy lifestyle were at a third lower risk of death, including a 20% smaller chance of dying from cancer, than women who did not follow guidance on diet, weight, physical activity, and alcohol intake. “While it is well recognized that tobacco cessation is […]

Mortality rates are two times higher in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh claim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease that affects the joints in the body. The organization also states that patients with RA have […]

For many women, the path to good health is not an easy one, with plenty of roadblocks along the way. Procrastination, family obligations, work demands, and lack of time and energy are a few culprits that can stop the best of health resolutions in their tracks. To help women in their quest for better living, […]

Women with moderate to severe menstrual cramps may find relief in a class of erectile dysfunction drugs, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State College of Medicines Richard Legro. Primary dysmenorrhea, also called PD, is the most common cause of pelvic pain in women. The current treatment is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen. However, […]