The Uterus-Heart Connection

UPPSALA, SWEDEN, September 12 — New data shows that women who have hysterectomies after menopause have a four-times greater heart attack rate than those who keep their uteruses. A study led by Dr. Margareta Falkeborn, of the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics at Sweden’s University of Uppsala, found no increase in heart attack risk in premenopausal women who underwent hysterectomy unless both ovaries were removed as well.

Dr. Falkeborn’s study included 17,126 women who had undergone a hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) from 1965 to 1983. The postmenopausal women generally required hysterectomy for fibroid tumors (non-cancerous growths).

Young women with normal estrogen levels suffer in many ways from the loss of estrogen after hysterectomy with oophorectomy. Not surprisingly, the loss of estrogen’s well-known protective effect increases heart attack rate. The study findings are all the more meaningful because postmenopausal women were not previously thought to benefit from the low level of estrogen their ovaries produce.

Dr. Falkeborn and colleagues, writing in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, speculate that there may be an association between fibroid tumors and heart attack.

The First Alzheimer’s Patient

In November 1901, German psychiatist Alois Alzheimer encountered a woman named Auguste Deter (Auguste D, as she came to be known) who had been brought to Alzheimer’s Frankfurt clinic by her husband.

According to the husband, the couple had been harmoniously married since 1873, but he had recently noticed a gradual decline in his wife that went beyond short- and long-term memory loss.  At the relatively young age of 51, she had become disturbingly absent-minded, making obvious mistakes in food preparation, neglecting her housework, stashing objects in nooks and crannies around their apartment, wandering aimlessly from room to room, and suffering from intense bouts of jealousy and paranoia.

As the months went by, thoughts of Auguste D. stayed with Dr. Alzheimer.  He recognized that Auguste D.’s case could prove to be of great scientific importance because of her young age.  At fifty-one, she was exhibiting the behavioral symptoms that one might expect to observe in a dementia patient in their seventh, eighth, or ninth decade.

The dilemma for Alzheimer and his colleagues was the same as it is today: Did Auguste D. (and others like her) have a specific disease separate from normal aging? Or were their brains simply moving quicker along the continuum of aging and experiencing the symptoms of senility a bit more rapidly than others?  This quandary puzzled Dr. Alzheimer for years to come.

In 1906, Auguste D. passed away.  Dr. Alzheimer performed an autopsy, finding a high volume of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the tissue of her brain.  In November of that year, Dr. Alzheimer delivered a now famous lecture to the Assembly of Southwest German Psychologists in Tübingen.  Alzheimer stood before nearly ninety of his colleagues in this lecture theatre and reported on the case of Auguste D, interspersing his lecture with wonderfully-drawn slides of the plaques and tangles found in and on Auguste D’s brain in post mortem investigation.

The Benefits of Post-Menopausal Exercise

Postmenopausal women respond much like younger women to regular, vigorous exercise, U.S. researchers found.

Study leader and exercise physiologist George Brooks of the University of California at Berkeley said despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, postmenopausal women can make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets.

The study involved 10 healthy but sedentary women, averaging 55 years of age, who participated in endurance training on an exercise bike for one hour, five days a week, at 65 percent of maximum lung capacity.

The study, published in the journal Metabolism — Clinical and Experimental, found participants increased their body’s capacity to consume and use oxygen by an average of 16 percent and dropped their resting heart rates by an average of four beats per minute.

Brooks said that after the age of 30, people lose the capacity to consume and use oxygen at about 1 percent per year, but women in the study had the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of women 16 years younger.

Pubic Lice

The facts on crabs

Pubic lice, also called crab lice or crabs, are parasitic insects which typically infest the hair surrounding human genitalia. Crab lice can, however, also thrive in other areas of the body with hair, including the armpits and eyelashes. Humans and gorillas are the only species known to host crabs.

Transmission and Symptoms of Crabs

Genital crabs are transmitted through close interpersonal contact. Because they prefer to inhabit pubic zones in humans, sexual intercourse is the most common method of transmission. However, pubic lice can also spread through shared beds, shared towels and shared clothing.

The primary symptom of STD crabs is a persistent, burning itchy feeling in the genital region. Many people who contract genital crabs say the itching is worse at night. If the crab lice spread to other hair-covered parts of the body, so too will the itching.

Pubic Lice Treatment Recommendations

The primary treatment for pubic lice is to apply a prescription cream rinse to the affected area. Your doctor will prescribe a pyrethrin-based compound of the necessary strength. Pyrethrins are extremely effective insecticides.

The treatment agent your doctor prescribes should be applied to the affected area and left to sit for a specified period of time, usually 10 to 15 minutes. Then, rinse the areas clean and repeat as often as directed.

Some people shave the hair off the affected areas, or groom it carefully using a fine comb. This can be done to remove dead crab lice and nits, though it is not a necessary step in most treatment regimens.

Lift Chair

What to look for in a lift chair

If you or someone you love is bound to a wheelchair, it can be disappointing not to participate in all of the same activities or visit all of the same places. Public areas are wheelchair accessible for a reason, so maybe it’s time to get a lift wheelchair transfer to car so you can get into and out of cars easily and enjoy what the world has to offer!

Before you head out to find the wheelchair lift for you, ask yourself the following questions:

What do I want to get out of this lift chair?

Will I be using it every day?

Will it be going from car to car or remaining with one vehicle?

How much am I willing to spend?

Will I be setting this up myself, or do I have someone to help me?

Will I be using the lift to get up and down stairs?

When a ramp is not available or not possible in a particular situation (like to get into a vehicle), a wheelchair lift is the next best option. Many come in portable versions and can be set up according to the user’s needs. Lift chairs are especially handy because they can be moved from location to location to accommodate different obstacles and barriers.

You can find the wheelchair lift for you at wheelchair showrooms. It is probably best to consult the company who manufactured your wheelchair to start with. That company might also make lifts or can direct you to someone who does. Their recommendation should be a key starting point. It is also wise to consult your hospital or doctor’s office, as they might have information or suggestions, as well, that can help you find a wheelchair lift.

Herbs in Space

Things don’t get much more stressful than space flight. So Soviet scientists brewed up a special herbal formula for cosmonauts Georgy Grechko and Yuri Romanenko in 1977.

Vitamin Research Products (VRP) claims the Soviet adaptogenic herbal formulas help alleviate stress symptoms and give a heightened sense of well being with greater flow of energy — all without harmful side effects.

The company says the special combinations of herbs and botanical extracts make minute adjustments in the level of hormones and neurotransmitters during times of stress. AdaptaPhase is available as a liquid or capsule.

VRP suggests taking one milliliter of the liquid daily. It costs $21.95 for a 30-milliliter bottle. Sixty capsules at $35.95 should last for about a month of a five-day on, several days off, dosage cycle.

As with any supplement, check with your personal physician to ensure there are no unwanted side effects or reactions with medication you may be taking.

Health Controversy: The Kit That Helps Women Fake Virginity

I don’t know whether I’m more shocked that there’s an actual product that lets a woman fake her virginity or shocked that it may soon be banned in some Arab nations. Let’s discuss this…

Ladies, meet the Artificial Virginity Hymen kit. Distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, it retails for about $30 and promises to provide non-virgins with a bedroom fake-out to fool men.

The product, which is being marketed to women in the Middle East, where in many places sex before marriage is considered taboo, is designed to “leak” out a blood-like substance during intercourse to mirror the effect of first-time sex.

Here’s the product instructions, in broken English, on the kit’s Web site: “Insert this artificial hymen into your vagina carefully. When your lover penetrate, it will ooze out a liquid that look like blood not too much but just the right amount. Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable.”

Now conservative Egyptian lawmakers are calling for a ban on the product, even calling for “exile” for those who use it. “If this thing enters Egypt, the country is going to go to waste. God protect us,” commented a reader on the Web site of Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabie.

My goodness! What do you make of all of this?

Health Controversy: Some Women Want Completely Unassisted Births

We’ve talked about home births before, and Joanna just wrote about the subject yesterday. It’s a controversial choice, but the choice to stay home and fly solo–with no help from a nurse, doula or midwife–is even more controversial…

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This woman wrote in to The Guardian about about her problem: “My brother’s girlfriend is eight months pregnant,” she writes. “My parents recently found out that she has not seen a doctor or midwife, and that they are planning to have a completely ‘unassisted non-medical’ birth. …My parents are scared that the baby or my brother’s girlfriend may not survive the birth. They are also worried that the baby will have a genetically inherited condition (as some of my siblings do) that will require immediate and/or lifelong medical help.”

OK, so home births are one thing, but completely unassisted births? (And let’s paint the very bleak picture here: you, your partner (if you have one) and the baby pushing through, with no expert in the room to rely on if things go south.) Sorry, but this sounds incredibly foolish. We’re not living in 1809 for crying out loud.

Tell me your thoughts: Would you ever support an unassisted birth?

Health Controversy: Sensual, Tantric & Nude Yoga–Oh My!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled breakfast to tell you about, well, something a little shocking–tantric yoga. Yup, according to news reports, a new form of sensual yoga is gaining steam. Is it cheapening (and upping the gross factor) of good ol’ yoga? I think maybe. Let’s discuss …

We’ve talked about naked yoga before, and we giggled a bit, but the AP is reporting on a new trend that takes things up a notch.

Becoming more popular in major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, hot yoga meets naked yoga in a sort of sexually charged way. Classes for homosexual and heterosexual yogis are are being offered and raising a lot of eyebrows.

According to the AP, fans say the nudity aids “in deepening their yoga practice while building a close, and emphatically nonsexual, community.” Founder of the naked yoga movement, Aaron Star, says “A lot of people, especially living in New York, don’t get the opportunity to connect with people in an intimate way.” His solution: naked yoga.

An AP reporter described the experience like this: an “undeniable sexual charge hung in the room, making the exercise at times painfully weird and embarrassing. Many nude yoga classes revolve around partnering positions, a series of postures that put two men within striking distance of the other’s privates. Not all serious yogis think the practice makes sense.”

I’ll toss this one to you: What do you think of naked yoga?

P.S. The scary yoga obsession. And, Shallon from Smitten confesses that she’s not into dudes who do yoga–you? Plus, my hot yoga experience.

Health Controversy: Is “Ultrarunning” Dangerous?

Did you guys hear the news about the runner in California who got lost in the wilderness for three days without food or water? More details are surfacing about her ordeal and controversy is brewing about the extreme form of running called “ultrarunning”…

What a happy ending to a scary story for 36-year-old Maria “Gina” Natero-Armento. The California woman survived 72 hours with only a slice of apple in her stomach and very little water. And, according to reports, she has only one functioning kidney. Yes, she’s lucky to be alive!

So, what went wrong? Natero-Armento is reportedly a fan of ultrarunning, an “extreme” form of running that has thousands of fans across the country. Think a marathon is tough? These people run 100-mile races. Natero-Armento, who’s normally a cautious runner, says she made some serious mistakes before her ordeal.

According to CNN.com, she was feeling rushed to get out the door at 5:30 a.m. on the day she got lost and didn’t bring her watch, phone, food or her GPS device with her. Then, she got separated from her running partner and lost track of about 8 hours. (Pretty amazing, given the fact that most of us feel like it’s time to head home from a run after just 45 minutes!) Suddenly, she was lost, dehydrated and disoriented–in the middle of nowhere. Three days later, rescuers found her on the brink of death, but now she’s making a recovery.

The story leaves me with questions: Is this form of running just a bit too extreme? The CNN article noted that ultrarunners frequently run when they’re sick and push themselves in possibly unhealthy ways.