You Are Not Too Old To Have Mammogram

Many of my older patients don't come to the office so they can be screened for breast cancer through mammography. A recent study of women aged 80 to 84 showed that those who had regular mammograms had their breast cancer diagnosed earlier as opposed to those who had infrequent mammograms. It means that you're not too old to have your mammogram.


Reference:Journal Watch

Mediterranean Diet May Reduce The Risk of Diabetes

A study that appeared in the British Medical Journal showed that adults who ate the Mediterranean diet may be less likely to develop diabetes.

Diabetes is a common condition that affects many women. It appears that modifying your life style and eating well may go a long way to help you prevent diabetes.


Reference: The British Medical Journal

Google Unveils Free Electronic Medical Records On Line

How will you feel when you can have access to your medical records on line? Well, if you're one of those people who will like to try something new, this is for you. Google has created a medical records storage site on the web which is password protected. This way your medical records would be portable. This will make it easy for you when you see a different doctor who does not have your records. You can also modify your records yourself so you can bring it up to date. This a great idea. Please, read on...

Women Using Hormone Replacement Therapy Risk Having a Stroke

Dr Francine Grodstein and her colleagues at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School collected data on 121,700 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study from 1976 to 2004. The study looked at the relationship of hormone replacement therapy to the occurrence of stroke. Over the course of the study, 360 women who had never used hormones had stroke compared with 414 women on hormones.

This increased risk was observed in women initiating hormone therapy at young ages or near menopause and at older ages or more than 10 years after menopause." Younger women taking estrogen for less than 5 years had decreased chance of getting stroke. Age is thus a factor in the occurrence of stroke. The take home message is that if you need to take estrogen for menopausal symptoms, take the low dose for less than 5 years. Beyond that, you may be taking the risk of having a stroke.

Reference: NIH NEWS

Caffeine Intake In Pregnancy Leads To The Risk Of Miscarriage.

Is caffeine safe for pregnant women? There has been speculation that excessive caffeine intake can lead to pregnancy loss. The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducted a study on 1,063 pregnant Kaiser Permanente members in San Francisco from October 1996 through October 1998 to answer this question. The researchers examined the caffeine effect on women who never changed their pattern of caffeine consumption during their pregnancy.

Women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day (two or more cups of regular coffee or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda) had twice the miscarriage risk as women who consumed no caffeine. Women who consumed less than 200 mg of caffeine daily had more than 40 percent increased risk of miscarriage. The increase in the risk appears to come from the caffeine itself. The main message from this study is that pregnant women who consume caffeinated beverages should go off caffeine.

Reference: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080121080402.htm

Polycystic Ovarian Disease Predisposes Young Women To Heart Disease.

"These findings underscore the need to screen and aggressively counsel and treat these women to prevent symptomatic cardiovascular disease."

Dr. Rupal Shroff and colleagues.

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. (December 2007 issue).

University of Iowa, Iowa City.

Polycystic ovarian disease is common among young women, especially when they are obese. This disease can lead to high blood pressure, increased cholesterol and predisposition to diabetes mellitus. Dr. Rupal and his colleagues studied women, 21 to 50 years with polycystic ovarian disease. They found that a third of the women had early onset of heart disease (coronary heart disease). Most of these women did not have any risk factors for heart disease. Though the number of patients involved in this study is small, it appears that polycystic ovarian disease is by itself a risk factor for coronary heart disease and hence healthcare providers should diagnose this disease early and treat it to prevent its complications.

Depot Provera Injection Induced Bone Density Loss Recovers After Discontinuation.

Depot Provera is a commonly used contraceptive method by women in the childbearing age. In 2004, the FDA raised concerns about the loss on bone in women who use the medication for a prolonged period. Many South African women use this type of contraception. A recent study was done on South African women who used Depot Provera and Norethindrone (given by injection and is similar to Depot Provera). Bone loss measurement by ultrasound showed loss of bone that was worse in women who used the medications for ten years or more. The good news is that when the women discontinued the injections, the loss of bone recovered within 2 years.

This is good news for women who are using this medication to prevent pregnancy. There is hope that when they discontinue the injections their bone loss recover. This should give assurance to caregivers and women to continue using this effective and convenient hormonal contraceptive method.

Reference: Bone status after cessation of use of injectable progestin contraceptives. Rosenberg et al.