Acupuncture and Women’s Health

Acupuncture has been used in Eastern countries to address women’s health issues but is not readily adopted in the U.S. especially by the medical establishment. A new study reports preliminary data indicating that acupuncture may improve menstrual health and overcome delays in becoming pregnant. There are experimental data indicating that acupuncture can influence female reproductive functioning, although the actual mechanisms involved are not yet clarified.

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Addressing the Jargon of Health Care

Melissa Simon, MD, and member of the Women’s Health Research Institute’s Leadership Council wrote a powerful opinion piece about the language and socio-economic barriers in health care. Dr.

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Preserving Oocyte Reserve

Today we welcome Dr. So-Youn Kim from Dr. Woodruff’s Lab at Northwestern University as our guest blogger. Dr. Kim will review a recent article published by Dr. John C. Schimenti in Science 2014.

ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS PRESERVING OOCYTE RESERVE

By: So-Youn Kim, PhD

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Wage gender gap: action needed!

President Obama was right in his recent State of the Union address to call it an “embarrassment” that women are paid only 77 cents compared to men in 2014.

It’s possible, but we have a long way to go and we can’t do it without you.

Help do something about it today by sharing this image illustrating the gender-based wage discrepancy:

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What To Do When Your Head Hurts

Most of us get headaches from time to time. Some are mild. Others cause throbbing pain. They can last for minutes or days. There are many different types of headaches. How you treat yours depends on which kind you have.

Headaches might arise because of another medical condition, such as swollen sinuses or head injury. In these cases, treating the underlying problem usually relieves headache pain as well. But most headaches—including tension headaches and migraines—aren’t caused by a separate illness.

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Communication: From Professionals to the Public

Screen Shot 2014-02-18 at 10.23.36 AM We live in a digital age where more information is available at our fingertips than ever before. We now have access to information in a matter of seconds that used to take weeks to locate through time intensive literature reviews at the library. Chapter 12 of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines is devoted to the unique set of challenges presented through these new and varying methods of communication.

Original Article

Earlier Menopause with Smoking

New research proves yet another reason for women to quit smoking: smoking may cause earlier signs of menopause. Heavier smokers may enter menopause up to nine years earlier compared to nonsmokers.

In the United States, the average age for menopause is 51. Previous studies have already showed that smoking can hasten menopause by one to two years, regardless of race or genetic background. New research shows that menopause can happen much quicker specifically in white female smokers who are carriers of two different gene variants.

Original Article