It is no secret that a good night's sleep can lead to a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle, but the age-old question of how to get a decent eight hours still remains. However, a University of Pittsburgh study finds that a happy marriage can lead to a better night's sleep for women. The findings are reported in the current issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
The Pitt study finds that women who believe they have happy marriages reported less difficulty falling asleep, less likelihood of waking up during the night or too early in the morning and less restless sleep compared to women who report less happiness in their marriages.
"Women consistently report more sleep problems than men, but most research has focused on how husbands' sleep problems, such as sleep apnea or snoring, affect their wives' sleep quality," said Wendy Troxel, Ph.D., lead author and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "These findings, however, provide an understanding of how having a happy and fulfilling marriage can affect women and their sleep habits."
The study examined the association between marital happiness and sleep disturbances in multiple ethnic groups of married or partnered women. Researchers found that Caucasian and African-American women had more sleep complaints than the Japanese, Hispanic and Chinese women. Caucasian and Japanese women reported the highest marital happiness.
In assessing the effects of marital happiness on sleep, the researchers took into account many other factors that might contribute to sleeplessness, such as a woman's social support network, depressive symptoms, economic hardship and employment status, alcohol and caffeine consumption, presence of children in the home, sexual activity, age and hormonal status. The results showed that even after taking into account all of these factors that are known to influence sleep, the level of marital happiness emerged as an independent risk factor for the existence of sleep disturbances.
"General social support was not associated with sleep disturbances, which suggests that there may be something specific about happiness in one's marriage that is associated with better sleep, rather than a general reflection of one's support network," added Dr. Troxel. "The findings further suggest that feeling happy in one's marriage may present benefits for sleep that go beyond being a "happy" or well-adjusted person."
Co-authors of the study include Daniel J. Buysse, M.D., Martica Hall, Ph.D., and Karen A. Matthews, Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC.
Study participants were from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multi-site study from seven sites across the country comprised of an ethnically diverse sample of middle-aged women, with grant support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health. Dr. Troxel is supported by funding provided by the Pittsburgh Mind Body Center and an Early Career Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) is considered to be one of the nation's foremost university-based psychiatric care facilities and one of the world's leading centers for research and treatment of mental health disorders. WPIC houses the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and is the flagship of UPMC Behavioral Health, the psychiatric specialty division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
суббота, 31 декабря 2011 г.
суббота, 24 декабря 2011 г.
Physician Performs First Whole Ovary Transplant In U.S.; Procedure Could Restore Fertility In Women With Cancer
Sherman Silber, director of the Infertility Center of St. Louis at St. Luke's Hospital, and colleagues last month performed the first complete ovary transplant in the U.S. on twin sisters and last week performed the procedure again on sisters who are not twins, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. According to the AP/Star, the procedure could restore hormone function in women experiencing early menopause because of cancer treatments or other causes (Taylor, AP/Kansas City Star, 2/13). More than 80% of fertile women who undergo chemotherapy for cancer treatment become infertile and experience premature menopause (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/8/05). It also is possible that the procedure could allow a woman diagnosed with cancer to freeze an ovary and have it returned to restore fertility after chemotherapy or radiation, the AP/Star reports. Physicians at Zhejiang Medical Science University in China earlier this decade reported a successful whole ovary transplant, but there has not been any published medical literature on the case (AP/Kansas City Star, 2/13). Silber and colleagues in April 2004 successfully removed an ovary from Melanie Morgan and transplanted tissue from it into her identical twin sister, Stephanie Yarber, who began experiencing menopause at age 14 and was unable to conceive naturally or through in vitro fertilization using donated eggs from Morgan. The physicians microsurgically sutured the outer tissue of the donated ovary -- which contains egg-producing follicles -- to each of Yarber's nonfunctioning ovaries. Yarber had a menstrual period 80 days after the transplant, and she gave birth to a healthy infant in June 2005 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/8/05). Silber since has performed similar partial ovary transplant procedures on six other sets of twins, and he said that all of the women are ovulating and menstruating normally and that two of the women have delivered infants, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Silber said the women who have received partial transplants likely will have only two to five years of ovarian function but he added that he hopes the whole ovary transplants will function for decades because those organs have their own blood supply (Hesman Saey, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/12).
Reaction
Some physicians are questioning whether the benefits of the procedure -- which include restored fertility and natural hormone production, which helps prevent osteoporosis and heart disease -- outweigh the procedure's risks, which include the side effects of antirejection drugs, the Post-Dispatch reports. Richard Gimpelson, former president of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, said that legal, religious and ethical issues that do not apply to other organ transplants might become an issue for ovary transplants. "[O]ther organs are donated to save someone's life," Gimpelson said, adding, "The ovaries are [transplanted] to make someone's life complete. It's a little bit different" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/12). Pasquale Patrizio, who directs the fertility center at Yale University and is working on freezing and thawing ovaries to help women with cancer preserve their fertility, said that Silber's work will help determine "if the entire organ can be successfully retransplanted" (AP/Kansas City Star, 2/13).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
суббота, 17 декабря 2011 г.
Press Briefing To Launch The Lancet's Sexual And Reproductive Health Series
A press briefing to launch The Lancet's sexual and reproductive health series will take place in London next Monday. The series highlights the global burden of ill health; every year, 340 million new patients acquire gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia, or trichomonas, more than 120 million couples have an unmet need for contraception, 80 million women have unintended pregnancies, and an estimated 19 million women undergo unsafe abortions; 70 000 of them die as a result.
Contact:
The Lancet press office
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Press Office
Contact: Lancet press office
Lancet
Contact:
The Lancet press office
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Press Office
Contact: Lancet press office
Lancet
суббота, 10 декабря 2011 г.
Link Between Maternity Leave, Fewer C-Sections And Increased Breastfeeding
Two new studies led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, suggest that taking maternity leave before and after the birth of a baby is a good investment in terms of health benefits for both mothers and newborns.
One study found that women who started their leave in the last month of pregnancy were less likely to have cesarean deliveries, while another found that new mothers were more likely to establish breastfeeding the longer they delayed their return to work.
Both papers were part of the Juggling Work and Life During Pregnancy study, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and led by Sylvia Guendelman, professor of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. The research takes a rare look into whether taking maternity leave can affect health outcomes in the United States.
"In the public health field, we'd like to decrease the rate of C-sections (cesarean deliveries) and increase the rate of breastfeeding," said Guendelman. "C-sections are really a costly procedure, leading to extended hospital stays and increased risks of complications from surgery, as well as longer recovery times for the mother. For babies, it is known that breastfeeding protects them from infection and may decrease the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), allergies and obesity. What we're trying to say here is that taking maternity leave may make good health sense, as well as good economic sense."
The study on the use of antenatal leave - time off before delivery with the expectation of returning to the employer after giving birth - and the rate of C-sections is the first examination of birth outcomes in U.S. working women, the researchers said. It will appear in the January/February print edition of the journal Women's Health Issues.
The researchers analyzed data from 447 women who worked full-time in the Southern California counties of Imperial, Orange and San Diego, comparing those who took leave after the 35th week of pregnancy with those who worked throughout the pregnancy to delivery. Only women who gave birth to single babies with no congenital abnormalities were included in the analysis. They adjusted for sociodemographic factors such as income, age and type of occupation, as well as for various health measures such as high blood pressure, body mass index, amount of self-reported stress and average number of hours of sleep at night.
Using a combination of post-delivery telephone interviews and prenatal and birth records, the researchers found that women who took leave before they gave birth were almost four times less likely to have a primary C-section as women who worked through to delivery.
The study authors pointed out that the United States falls behind most industrialized countries in its support for job-protected paid maternity leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides for only unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks surrounding the birth or adoption of a child.
The bulk of studies on leave-taking and health outcomes from other countries suggest that taking leave prior to birth can be beneficial. The authors point to a macroanalysis of 17 countries in Europe that linked failure to take such leave with low birthweight and infant mortality. Rates of pre-term delivery were lower among female factory workers in France if the women took antenatal leave, and a study conducted in several industrialized countries found that paid leave, but not unpaid leave, significantly decreased low birthweight rates.
According to the U.S. Census, among working women who had their first birth between 2001 and 2003, only 28 percent took leave from their jobs before giving birth while an additional 22 percent quit their jobs. Twenty-six percent of women took no leave before birth.
"We don't have a culture in the United States of taking rest before the birth of a child because there is an assumption that the real work comes after the baby is born," said Guendelman. "People forget that mothers need restoration before delivery. In other cultures, including Latino and Asian societies, women are really expected to rest in preparation for this major life event."
The authors added that financial need may also deter women from taking leave in the last month of pregnancy. Only five states - California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island - and the territory of Puerto Rico offer some form of paid pregnancy leave, and none offer full replacement of the woman's salary.
The study on maternity leave and breastfeeding is in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics. Using data from 770 full-time working mothers in Southern California, researchers assessed whether maternity leave predicted breastfeeding establishment, defined in this study as breastfeeding for at least 30 days after delivery. Phone interviews were conducted 4.5 months, on average, after delivery.
In this study, women who had returned to work by the time of the interview took on average 10.3 weeks of maternity leave. Overall, 82 percent of mothers established breastfeeding within the first month after their babies were born. Among women who established breastfeeding, 65 percent were still breastfeeding at the time of the interview.
Researchers found that women who took less than six weeks of maternity leave had a four-fold greater risk of failure to establish breastfeeding compared with women who were still on maternity leave at the time of the interview. Women who took six to 12 weeks of maternity leave had a two-fold greater risk of failing to establish breastfeeding.
Having a managerial position or a job with autonomy and a flexible work schedule was linked with longer breastfeeding duration in the study. After 30 days, managers had a 40 percent lower chance of stopping breastfeeding, while those with an inflexible work schedule had a 50 percent higher chance of stopping.
Overall, the study found that returning to work within 12 weeks of delivery had a greater impact on breastfeeding establishment for women in non-managerial positions, with inflexible jobs or who reported high psychosocial distress, including serious arguments with a spouse or partner and unusual money problems.
"The findings suggest that if a woman postpones her return to work, she'll increase her chances of breastfeeding success, especially if she's got a job where she's on the clock and has less discretion with her time," said Guendelman. "Also, women who are in jobs where they have more authority may feel more empowered with how they use their time."
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies be breastfed for at least the first year of life, and exclusively so for the first four to six months.
According to the AAP, increased breastfeeding has the potential for decreasing annual health costs in the U.S. by $3.6 billion and decreasing parental employee absenteeism, the environmental burden for disposal of formula cans and bottles, and energy demands for production and transport of formula.
The study authors noted that just having maternity leave benefits offered by an employer was not helpful in breastfeeding establishment unless the leave was actually used, indicating the importance of encouraging the use of maternity leave and making it economically feasible to take it.
"These new studies suggest that making it feasible for more working mothers to take maternity leave both before and after birth is a smart investment," said Guendelman.
Other co-authors of the paper in Women's Health Issues are Michelle Pearl and Steve Graham, senior research scientists at the Sequoia Foundation, a California-based non-profit organization focused on public health research; Alan Hubbard, UC Berkeley assistant professor of biostatistics; Dr. Nap Hosang, lecturer at UC Berkeley's Maternal and Child Health program and a practicing obstetrician; and Martin Kharrazi, research scientist supervisor in the California Department of Public Health Genetic Disease Screening Program.
In addition to Guendelman, Pearl, Graham and Kharrazi, the Pediatrics paper was co-authored by Jessica Lang Kosa, research associate, and Julia Goodman, former graduate student, both at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health.
The study published in Women's Health Issues received additional funding from the Center for Health Research at UC Berkeley. The paper in Pediatrics also received support from the UC Labor and Employment Research Fund and the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.
Source: Sarah Yang
University of California - Berkeley
One study found that women who started their leave in the last month of pregnancy were less likely to have cesarean deliveries, while another found that new mothers were more likely to establish breastfeeding the longer they delayed their return to work.
Both papers were part of the Juggling Work and Life During Pregnancy study, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and led by Sylvia Guendelman, professor of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. The research takes a rare look into whether taking maternity leave can affect health outcomes in the United States.
"In the public health field, we'd like to decrease the rate of C-sections (cesarean deliveries) and increase the rate of breastfeeding," said Guendelman. "C-sections are really a costly procedure, leading to extended hospital stays and increased risks of complications from surgery, as well as longer recovery times for the mother. For babies, it is known that breastfeeding protects them from infection and may decrease the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), allergies and obesity. What we're trying to say here is that taking maternity leave may make good health sense, as well as good economic sense."
The study on the use of antenatal leave - time off before delivery with the expectation of returning to the employer after giving birth - and the rate of C-sections is the first examination of birth outcomes in U.S. working women, the researchers said. It will appear in the January/February print edition of the journal Women's Health Issues.
The researchers analyzed data from 447 women who worked full-time in the Southern California counties of Imperial, Orange and San Diego, comparing those who took leave after the 35th week of pregnancy with those who worked throughout the pregnancy to delivery. Only women who gave birth to single babies with no congenital abnormalities were included in the analysis. They adjusted for sociodemographic factors such as income, age and type of occupation, as well as for various health measures such as high blood pressure, body mass index, amount of self-reported stress and average number of hours of sleep at night.
Using a combination of post-delivery telephone interviews and prenatal and birth records, the researchers found that women who took leave before they gave birth were almost four times less likely to have a primary C-section as women who worked through to delivery.
The study authors pointed out that the United States falls behind most industrialized countries in its support for job-protected paid maternity leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides for only unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks surrounding the birth or adoption of a child.
The bulk of studies on leave-taking and health outcomes from other countries suggest that taking leave prior to birth can be beneficial. The authors point to a macroanalysis of 17 countries in Europe that linked failure to take such leave with low birthweight and infant mortality. Rates of pre-term delivery were lower among female factory workers in France if the women took antenatal leave, and a study conducted in several industrialized countries found that paid leave, but not unpaid leave, significantly decreased low birthweight rates.
According to the U.S. Census, among working women who had their first birth between 2001 and 2003, only 28 percent took leave from their jobs before giving birth while an additional 22 percent quit their jobs. Twenty-six percent of women took no leave before birth.
"We don't have a culture in the United States of taking rest before the birth of a child because there is an assumption that the real work comes after the baby is born," said Guendelman. "People forget that mothers need restoration before delivery. In other cultures, including Latino and Asian societies, women are really expected to rest in preparation for this major life event."
The authors added that financial need may also deter women from taking leave in the last month of pregnancy. Only five states - California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island - and the territory of Puerto Rico offer some form of paid pregnancy leave, and none offer full replacement of the woman's salary.
The study on maternity leave and breastfeeding is in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics. Using data from 770 full-time working mothers in Southern California, researchers assessed whether maternity leave predicted breastfeeding establishment, defined in this study as breastfeeding for at least 30 days after delivery. Phone interviews were conducted 4.5 months, on average, after delivery.
In this study, women who had returned to work by the time of the interview took on average 10.3 weeks of maternity leave. Overall, 82 percent of mothers established breastfeeding within the first month after their babies were born. Among women who established breastfeeding, 65 percent were still breastfeeding at the time of the interview.
Researchers found that women who took less than six weeks of maternity leave had a four-fold greater risk of failure to establish breastfeeding compared with women who were still on maternity leave at the time of the interview. Women who took six to 12 weeks of maternity leave had a two-fold greater risk of failing to establish breastfeeding.
Having a managerial position or a job with autonomy and a flexible work schedule was linked with longer breastfeeding duration in the study. After 30 days, managers had a 40 percent lower chance of stopping breastfeeding, while those with an inflexible work schedule had a 50 percent higher chance of stopping.
Overall, the study found that returning to work within 12 weeks of delivery had a greater impact on breastfeeding establishment for women in non-managerial positions, with inflexible jobs or who reported high psychosocial distress, including serious arguments with a spouse or partner and unusual money problems.
"The findings suggest that if a woman postpones her return to work, she'll increase her chances of breastfeeding success, especially if she's got a job where she's on the clock and has less discretion with her time," said Guendelman. "Also, women who are in jobs where they have more authority may feel more empowered with how they use their time."
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies be breastfed for at least the first year of life, and exclusively so for the first four to six months.
According to the AAP, increased breastfeeding has the potential for decreasing annual health costs in the U.S. by $3.6 billion and decreasing parental employee absenteeism, the environmental burden for disposal of formula cans and bottles, and energy demands for production and transport of formula.
The study authors noted that just having maternity leave benefits offered by an employer was not helpful in breastfeeding establishment unless the leave was actually used, indicating the importance of encouraging the use of maternity leave and making it economically feasible to take it.
"These new studies suggest that making it feasible for more working mothers to take maternity leave both before and after birth is a smart investment," said Guendelman.
Other co-authors of the paper in Women's Health Issues are Michelle Pearl and Steve Graham, senior research scientists at the Sequoia Foundation, a California-based non-profit organization focused on public health research; Alan Hubbard, UC Berkeley assistant professor of biostatistics; Dr. Nap Hosang, lecturer at UC Berkeley's Maternal and Child Health program and a practicing obstetrician; and Martin Kharrazi, research scientist supervisor in the California Department of Public Health Genetic Disease Screening Program.
In addition to Guendelman, Pearl, Graham and Kharrazi, the Pediatrics paper was co-authored by Jessica Lang Kosa, research associate, and Julia Goodman, former graduate student, both at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health.
The study published in Women's Health Issues received additional funding from the Center for Health Research at UC Berkeley. The paper in Pediatrics also received support from the UC Labor and Employment Research Fund and the UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.
Source: Sarah Yang
University of California - Berkeley
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