Keep abreast of what your patients are currently seeing in the media with our round-up of popular news stories, available from WHF as abstracts with links to the full-text articles.

From the week of April 21, 2008:

Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women

For some women, female life expectancy in the US has fallen for the first time since 1918. In a study conducted in 1000 counties in the US, which are home to 12% of the American female population, life expectancy was found to be shorter now than it was in the early 1980s. Prior to this study, female life expectancy in the US has been measured at increasing rates since the mid-1800s, with the exception of an influenza outbreak in the early 20th century. The shortening of life expectancy was most evident in the Deep South, Appalachia, and the lower Midwest. In southwestern Virginia, women’s life expectancy has dropped by more than 5 years since 1983. Rural and low-income areas showed the greatest decline in life expectancy; race and ethnicity did not appear to have an influence. The falling life expectancy is primarily attributed to death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema, and kidney failure. Due to rising numbers of women taking up smoking, more women are dying from lung cancer, emphysema, and cardiovascular disease than ever before. Poor diet and lack of exercise are also contributing to a shorter life expectancy. Since smoking, diet, and exercise are modifiable diseases, the researchers behind the study suggest targeting women with aggressive public health campaigns.

Read the full story on washingtonpost.com

Mammograms Still a Good Idea for Elderly Women

Regular mammograms for women age 80 and older can reduce the risk of being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. Currently, only 20% of American women in this age range get regular screenings, yet they make up approximately 17% of breast cancer cases in the US. By having irregular mammograms, or none at all, elderly women are reducing their chances of finding breast cancer in the early stages of the disease, when it is most treatable. Instead, older women are often being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, which diminishes their chance of survival. “Regular mammograms” was defined by researchers as receiving 3 or more mammograms in a 5-year period. Doctors should discuss the benefits of mammography with their older patients, and recommend continued screenings for women even into their 90s, depending on the woman’s overall health.

Read the full story on healthday.com

Extra Pounds During and Between Pregnancies Can Pose Problems

When women take the “eating for two” approach to their pregnancy diet, they are putting both themselves and their baby at risk for complications. While a pregnant woman should increase her caloric intake to a certain extent to nourish her fetus as well as herself, many women go overboard and end up overeating. A fetus’ nutritional needs are only approximately 300 calories a day. Obstetricians generally recommend gaining 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy for an average-weight woman. More than 40 pounds of weight gain for a woman with an average body type can lead to complications such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and labor problems during that pregnancy and in subsequent pregnancies. Weight gain between pregnancies also raises the risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, delivering a large baby, and delivering a stillborn baby, even if the woman’s BMI isn’t elevated to obese levels. Exercise during and after pregnancy can stave off extra weight gain, as well as improve a pregnant woman’s overall health. Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet is also recommended.

Read the full story on healthday.com

Migraines' Frequency Influences Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

Women who experience weekly migraine headaches may be at an increased risk for stroke, compared with women who have no or few migraines. Women with infrequent migraines are also at an increased risk of heart attack. Over a 12-year period of observation, women with fewer-than-monthly migraines were 54% more likely to develop heart trouble. Women with weekly migraines were also twice as likely as non-migraine sufferers to develop cardiovascular disease. Women who suffer from migraine headaches should be careful to monitor other possible risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and body weight. Researchers are studying the link between migraines and cardiovascular troubles. Researchers are also working to assess whether frequent migraines cause an increased risk for stroke, or if migraines are in indicator of an already elevated stroke risk.

Read the full story on healthday.com