August 4th, 2011 by ChristopherChangMD in News, Research
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Female models may be tall and beautiful, but they are also at markedly increased risk of developing cancer. The New York Times reported on a fascinating research article regarding height of a women and risk of cancer.
Specifically, for every four-inch increase in height over 5 feet 1 inch, the risk that a woman would develop cancer increased by about 16 percent, especially for:
• Colon Cancer (RR per 10 cm increase in height 1.25, 95% CI 1.19—1.30)
• Rectal Cancer (1.14, 1.07—1.22)
• Malignant Melanoma Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*
June 21st, 2011 by Jennifer Wider, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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Women are the fastest growing segment in the US military, already accounting for approximately 14 percent of deployed forces. According to statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 20 percent of new recruits and 17 percent of Reserve and National Guard Forces are women. As the number of women continues to grow in the military, so does the need for health care specifically targeted to their unique concerns.
Historically, lower rates of female veterans have used the VA system. “Research has shown that women didn’t define themselves as veterans in the past, and this is changing,” said Antonette Zeiss, PhD, a clinical psychologist and Acting Chief for Mental Health Services at the VA Central Office in Washington, DC.
Now, “Women are among the fastest growing segments of new VA users with as many as 44 percent of women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan electing to use the VA compared to 11 percent in prior eras,” said Sally Haskell, MD, Acting Director of Comprehensive Women’s Health, at the VA Central Office.
This change is due in large part to Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)*
June 3rd, 2011 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Opinion
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The Health Tech 2011 Conference, held earlier this month in Boston, featured presentations from startup CEOs in the health and wellness space. The conference had nothing to do with gender issues or leadership per se. Yet the Twitter feed from the conference (#ciht11) contained this:
@ml_barnett By my count, only 3 of 27 speakers are women. RT @taracousphd: where are the female entrepreneurs? It’s healthcare!!!
taracousphd and @ml_barnett reminded us of a painful fact. There aren’t many female CEOs in Health IT. Why is this?
Women certainly aren’t short on content knowledge in health care. In fact, they dominate men in this area. More than 40% of all practicing physicians and 50% of all medical school graduates are women. Women earn nearly 3 times more PhDs in psychology (useful content knowledge for startups in the space covered by Health Tech 2011). Nearly 94% of nurses and 74% of physical therapists are women, and they rule the workforce in public health, social services and pharmacy as well.
The problem–and it’s a big one–has to do with the ‘IT’ part of ‘Health IT.’ In 2008, only 6% of Fortune 500 technology companies had female CEOs and 13% had women corporate officers of any kind, according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Among tech startups that raised venture capital in 2009, only 4.3% were led by female chief executives. A recent Business Week list of the ‘best young entrepreneurs in tech’ included 45 people, only 3 of which were women.
Among the many explanations for the gender disparity among chief executives in IT, the 4 that make the most sense to me are these: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
April 15th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Opinion, Research
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I’ve spent some time thinking about this survey. I couldn’t find any better information on the survey than the press release from the University of the West of England (UWE). Perhaps in the future it will be published in a journal for better review.
The survey was apparently done by the new eating disorder charity The Succeed Foundation in partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE). The editor’s notes indicate 320 women (ages 18 – 65 years, average age 24.49) studying at 20 British universities completed The Succeed Foundation Body Image Survey in March 2011.
Notably, the survey found that 30% of women would trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal body weight and shape. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 19th, 2011 by Jennifer Wider, M.D. in News, Research
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National Women and Girls AIDS Awareness Day, a nationwide observance that raises awareness and promotes action in the fight against HIV/AIDS, took place on March 10. As the nation turns its attention to this important cause, women and girls around the world continue to be affected by HIV/AIDS in high numbers. According to reports from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, HIV is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age across the globe.
HIV is a virus that can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, a disease that diminishes the body’s ability to fight off infection. Unprotected intercourse is the primary way HIV is spread, but it can also be shared through IV drug use, blood transfusion or from mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS-related deaths are significantly lower in the United States when compared with other regions of the world, the disease remains a serious public health issue. According to statistics from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, roughly 280,000 women are affected by AIDS in the United States today. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)*
