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Planned Parenthood’s Response to Undercover Sting Videos
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2010 Comment (19)For nearly two years, Lila Rose has been a thorn in Planned Parenthood's side. The UCLA student has taken a hidden video camera to various clinics across the country and posed as a minor who is several weeks pregnant by a much older boyfriend. Her aim is to see if clinicians follow state laws regarding the reporting of statutory rape and getting parental consent for abortions. In nine cases, her videos suggest they weren't.
In fact, two weeks ago Alabama put a Birmingham Planned Parenthood clinic on probation after an inspection triggered by one of Rose's videos. State health inspectors found that the clinic failed to get the signature of minors on its forms verifying parental consent for abortions. Vanessa Cullins, Planned Parenthood's vice president for medical affairs, told me the national office is "concerned" and that this affiliate will soon be merged with a Georgia affiliate that "has more resources."
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How to Determine Your Heart Attack Risk
Tweet Share on Facebook February 24, 2010 Comment (4)How do you know whether your arteries are smooth and free of plaque or clogged and interfering with your heart function? Unless you've been diagnosed with heart disease, you probably don't know whether your blood is flowing freely or is on the verge of becoming blocked, triggering a heart attack or stroke.
There are, though, several things you can do to assess your risk. A study released last week found that simplified risk guidelines adopted in 2007 by the American Heart Association really can determine the likelihood of a woman suffering a heart attack or dying from heart disease within the next 10 years.
[Check out this video on what you can do to reverse clogged arteries and what you should do if you think you're having a heart attack.]
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Acupuncture May Help Alleviate Depression During Pregnancy
Tweet Share on Facebook February 22, 2010 Comment (5)About 1 in 7 pregnant women experiences full-blown depression during pregnancy and must make the difficult choice of whether to take drugs to treat it. Take antidepressants and risk the small possibility of fetal malformations, cardiac defects, and reduced birth weight? Or forgo the drugs and risk suffering disabling symptoms that have been shown to increase a baby's chances of showing irritability, low activity levels, and poor attentiveness during the first year of life? Well, depressed pregnant women may have another option: acupuncture. A new study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that depressed pregnant women who had specifically designed acupuncture treatments experienced significant relief from their symptoms, compared with those who had control treatments like standard acupuncture or massage. (None of the participants opted to take antidepressants.)
The study of 150 pregnant volunteers found that 63 percent of those who received depression-specific acupuncture treatments (one to two times per week for eight weeks) felt a lifting of their symptoms, compared with 44 percent of those who had either control treatment. That puts acupuncture on par with antidepressants—but without the risks to the fetus. "If you look at the response rates we got in our study and compare to response rates in studies using antidepressants, you see pretty comparable effectiveness," says study author Rachel Manber, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.
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Protect Your Heart: Start a Happiness Project
Tweet Share on Facebook February 18, 2010 Comment (3)Going out dancing on a Saturday night makes me happy. So does nailing down an angle for a tricky magazine story I'm writing. And watching my 9-year-old snowplow down a ski slope for the first time. But I'm also cranky a fair amount of the time—especially these days, as I battle snow-clogged roads left by the blizzard of 2010. And that's not good for my heart, according to a new Columbia University study that found that happier people are less likely to have heart attacks, clogged arteries, and other cardiac problems. The researchers used a 5-point scale to measure people's happiness and found that for every point increase, heart risks declined by 22 percent.
To lift my own score a bit, perhaps I need a "happiness project." That's the title of a new bestselling book by Gretchen Rubin, a freelance writer and married mother of two who lives in New York City. She set aside a year to focus solely on ways to make herself happier. (And, yes, she's got a free website to help you create your own happiness project using this toolbox. )
Her book illustrates a systematic approach to improving your sense of well-being. First, you need to come up with your own list of resolutions. Rubin had ones for every month: January, boost her energy via exercise and more sleep; February, improve her marriage; March, produce more as a writer by blogging every day, etc. She also came up with principles to guide her in following her resolutions, like "Act the way I want to feel" and "Enjoy the process." Along the way, she figured out what worked for her and what didn't. To help her live more in the moment, for example, she shunned meditation but embraced laughing yoga. I asked Rubin a few of the burning questions I had after reading her book. Here are edited excerpts from our interview; you can listen to the full podcast below.
Listen Now:
Gretchin Rubin, author of the Happiness Project, details the life makeover that increased her well being.
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Gardasil Protects Older Women, Gay Men
Tweet Share on Facebook February 17, 2010 Comment (9)Gardasil, the vaccine that protects against the cervical-cancer-causing human papilloma virus, may soon be approved for women over age 27. New clinical trial data involving more than 3,800 women ages 24 to 45 showed that the shot was nearly 90 percent effective at preventing persistent HPV infections—which are sexually transmitted—over the study's four-year duration, according to manufacturer Merck, which released the study today. (The vaccine protects against two strains of the virus responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers and two strains that cause genital warts.)
Merck is hoping that the Food and Drug Administration will grant the company permission to expand its product label to include women over 27; it's currently approved only for those ages 9 to 26. The agency deferred a decision on Merck's application for expanded use in June 2008 and again last year. The FDA asked Merck for longer-term efficacy data out to four years, according to Merck spokesperson Pamela Eisele. She says the company expects an FDA decision by June.
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A Valentine’s Day Extreme Relationship Makeover
Tweet Share on Facebook February 11, 2010 Comment (2)We all know that Valentine's Day, like Mother's Day, is a holiday largely manufactured by Hallmark. While there's nothing wrong with a frilly card and teddy bear, you might instead consider giving that special someone a makeover. No, I'm not talking about taking him for a facial or replacing his ripped college sweatshirt with some new ones from the Gap (a previous gift of mine). How about treating Valentine's Day like New Year's and resolving to improve your relationship?
This makeover, developed by neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, may require some serious effort on your part—as in taking the first step even if you're, say, still mad at him for getting stuck with his guy friends in Miami just before the big blizzard or for all those annoying offenses attributed to the fraternity of men: leaving the toilet seat up, throwing dirty socks on the floor, drinking directly from the orange juice container, ignoring an overflowing kitchen trash can or empty roll of toilet paper. OK, perhaps it's easier to plan a romantic dinner, but those candles won't last more than a few hours.
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Heart Disease Prevention: Mistakes Women Make
Tweet Share on Facebook February 10, 2010 Comment (7)It's that time of year again—the American Heart Association is asking women to don red dresses. Just as the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer prompts women to get their annual mammograms, the AHA, the government's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and a host of heart disease advocacy groups would like those red dresses to increase our heart disease awareness. Last week when I participated in an AHA panel on women and heart disease in New York, nearly everyone wore red: AHA President Clyde Yancy wore a red tie; TV journalist Joan Lunden wore a brick-red blouse; Lucinda Martinez-Desir, vice president of market development for HBO, wore a garnet knit suit with matching suede shoes, and actress Jennie Garth wore a candy-apple-red cocktail dress. Still, I wondered if all this color is really making a dent in getting women to recognize the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Do we double-time it to a hospital when we think our ticker is failing?
Well, yes and no, says Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York. She's an author of a new study published this week in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The study found that women's awareness of heart disease as our leading killer has nearly doubled since 1997 but that half of women still don't know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. These include chest pain, jaw pain, nausea, and shortness of breath. [Here's a list of heart attack warning signs]
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What to Eat to Feel Happier
Tweet Share on Facebook February 3, 2010 Comment (12)I've always been aware of the effect of food on my mood—for example, that depressed feeling I get an hour after eating too many Oreos or the snappish Mr. Hyde in me that emerges when I fast all day for religious holidays. But lately I've noticed mood changes even with subtle changes in my diet; I get tired and sluggish, for example, when I eat too much hummus and pita bread for lunch. And I felt strung out last Sunday just by delaying my usual lunchtime by an hour while getting my kids fitted with boots at a local ski resort. I immediately felt calmer after I wolfed down a cheese sandwich on whole-grain bread.
Registered dietitian Elizabeth Somer tells me that what I eat can absolutely affect how I'm feeling moment to moment, day to day, even year to year. In her new book, Eat Your Way to Happiness, she outlines smart dietary strategies to boost energy levels and mood and to keep the blues at bay. (Bonus: Her tips will also help you shed a few pounds.) Here are edited excerpts from her book and our interview; listen to the podcast below.
Listen Now: What to Eat to Feel Happy
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