Heart Disease and Stroke

• Alternative Medicine: Beware the Women Killer. [New Straits Times, Malaysia] Here is a shocker. Not only is heart disease the No 1 killer of women, it is worse than that. Look at the chart prepared and presented by the Centre For Disease Control of the United States and the American Heart Association. Heart disease actually kills more women than men. Although the perception is strongly otherwise, heart disease has started killing more women since 1984. In fact, the gap is widening. While heart disease was higher among men, it has dropped, and seems to have leveled off. In the fairer sex, however, heart disease rates continue to climb. Yet, when women worry about heart disease, they think mostly of men, and particularly, of their husbands.

• Research Report: Female Heart Damage. [University of Florida] Women with chest pain sometimes ignore the symptom. Now, a study shows those women have a much greater risk for a heart attack than women with no pain. University of Florida researchers studied women who’ve had chest pain but whose heart exam revealed no blocked arteries or other problems. UF expert Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff says women shouldn’t ignore the pain. Cooper-DeHoff: “Our findings suggest that women who present with chest pain, even though they do not have obstruction in a major cardiac vessel, have a higher occurrence of major adverse outcomes within five years than women who are followed and have no heart disease.” In fact, results show those with chest discomfort had four times the risk of a future cardiovascular event in the next five years compared to women with no pain.

• Heart Disease Stalking the Women. [New Straits Times, Malaysia] In the US, one in 2.5 women will die from heart disease and stroke. In 2005, the American Heart Association (AHA) released a very shocking statistic: Heart disease kills more women than all the forms of cancer combined. That even includes breast cancer. Heart disease kills 500,000 American women a year — more than one every minute. Heart disease, not breast cancer (40,000 deaths annually), is the No 1 killer of women.

• Abortion Pill Holds Hope for Breast Cancer Sufferers. [Daily Mail – UK] The abortion pill could hold the key to preventing hereditary breast cancer. Scientists have found that mifepristone - the pill used to end early pregnancies - can prevent rogue genes from triggering the cancer. The U.S. study offers hope to tens of thousands of women at risk of breast cancer because of a family history of the disease. Five% of the 41,000 cases diagnosed in the UK each year are hereditary, mostly caused by flaws in a gene called BRCA1. More than 13,000 British women a year die of breast cancer.

• Overweight Women's Breast Cancer Risk Lower-Study. [Reuters AlertNet, UK] Overweight and obese women have a lower risk of breast cancer prior to menopause, researchers said in a finding they said both puzzles them and contradicts conventional wisdom. The researchers admitted they do not know why the extra pounds (kg) may protect premenopausal women from breast cancer, but noted obesity actually greatly boosts breast cancer risk after menopause, when the disease more often is diagnosed. "It is so puzzling. And it is not a good public health message," said Karin Michels, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and lead researcher in the study. "I don't want women to use this as an excuse to be overweight. Therefore, it's even more important for us to find out what the mechanisms are. I mean, the last thing we want is, in this day and age, to advise people to gain weight," Michels said in a telephone interview.

• Decline in Postmenopausal Hormone Use May Explain Drop in Breast Cancer Rates. [Cancer Consultants] Based on results recently presented at the 2006 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers speculate that a sudden decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in 2003 may be due to a reduction in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy. As women reach menopause and beyond, more than 80% will experience symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbance, and vaginal dryness. Estrogen, with or without progestin, is the most effective treatment for many of these symptoms. Recent studies, however, have raised concerns about the health effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy. Use of estrogen plus progestin has been linked with an increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, and blood clots and a decreased risk of fractures and colorectal cancer. Use of estrogen alone, which is generally reserved for women who have had a hysterectomy, has been linked with an increased risk of strokes and a decreased risk of fractures. This recent information about the potential health risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy came from large clinical trials conducted as part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). After the first WHI results were released in 2002, there was a rapid decline in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy.

• Demeaning to Women: A Physician Known for Peddling Bad Science Gains Power Over Health Services for Millions. [Houston Chronicle] Massachusetts obstetrician-gynecologist Erik Keroack, appointed by President Bush to direct family planning programs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was medical director of A Woman's Concern, a chain of crisis pregnancy centers. The organization's Web site calls distribution of birth control "demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness." To dissuade women from choosing birth control or abortion, the group relies on more than ideology. Under Keroack's direction, the centers burdened women with medical information that was twisted, debunked or brazenly fictitious. Among its erroneous claims, the group asserts that condoms "offer virtually no protection" against herpes or HIV. How many cases of sexually transmitted disease has that dangerous disinformation caused? In fact, as Slate magazine notes, the National Instititutes of Health report that condom users have an "85% decrease in risk of HIV transmission." A Woman's Concern also preaches the egregious falsehood that teenagers who receive abortions "may face an eight times greater risk of contracting breast cancer by age 45." This dangerous propaganda has been debunked repeatedly by medical professionals, most recently by the National Cancer Institute. Keroack personally takes responsibility for a bizarre, unsubstantiated theory meant to promote abstinence. Citing the body chemistry of a tiny rodent called a prairie vole, Keroack claims that humans who have multiple sex partners develop a neuropeptide deficiency that renders them unable to form long-lasting bonds. Scientists, including one Keroack cites as a reference, call the theory scientifically unsupported.

• Illegal Abortion Kills Thousands. [Prensa Latina, Cuba] A report released Friday assured that abortion causes about 68 thousand deaths a year when practiced by inappropriate persons in unsuitable conditions. Such procedures done mostly with non-sterilized instruments force about five million of women into the hospital for infections and other complications. Guttmacher Institute experts from New York got their information from 13 developing countries but also published estimates of 19 million of high-risk abortions annually in the world. The study analyzed abortions as well as miscarriages, and concluded that in developed countries the complications derived from this procedure do not happen as much. The 13 countries researched were Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Egypt, Philippines, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Nigeria, Uganda, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

• Slut-Ho's and Loose Women: What's Wrong With This Headline? [BlogHer, CA] "Half US Abortions are Repeats for Women" states the headline on a major, reputable network news site (MSNBC). [See November Status of Women, Health.] Is it just me, but in our super-charged climate, does that read as a subtle judgement, not a headline? In her blog, Suzanne Reisman calls for "Improvement in Media Representation," so how about this as a headline for the story: "We Need to do a Better Job Helping All Women Better Prevent Unwanted Pregnancies," which is from the pull-quote lower in the piece. Impossible, right? That's a totally pro-choice statement, not an objective headline. But to my eye, so is the headline MSNBC chose to use. And it's the same wording used by the pro-life Lifesite, which must've jumped for joy at the headline used by MSNBC, Scientific American, and others. Ironically, the study was conducted by a pro-choice institute, which I assume interprets the findings in a different light than those who read the MSNBC headline might. The MSNBC headline allows those who do not support abortion rights to rely on arguments such as "poor women use abortion as birth control, so let's outlaw abortions," or "promiscuous women have abortions" and read no further.

• Female Condom Market Share at Only 3%. [Malawi's Daily Times, Malawi] The total market share of female condoms remain at only 3% despite high demand in high HIV prevalence settings like Malawi, a United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) representative said. Esperance Fundira, of UNFPA asked delegates at a regional meeting organized by the Ministry of Health and UNFPA in Blantyre to change the way condom programming works in their countries. Delegates from USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi are attending the two-day meeting that is designed to address the gaps in coordination, supply, distribution and access to female condoms.

• Women Need Places to Breast-Feed in Comfort. [Statesman Journal] The worst place I ever experienced breast-feeding, while trying to be discreet, was at a crowded airport in Dallas, Texas. I remember standing over a toilet in a small bathroom stall trying to breast-feed an infant. Some of the best places included sitting in a handmade, wooden rocking chair in a bathroom in an Amish community in Illinois; the Nordstrom lounge in the Salem Center; and on a quiet hiking trail near some croaking frogs. Providing areas, including at work, for women to breast-feed, or pump, helps. The Irish, recognizing the importance of breast-feeding for their culture, have specific employee breaks for women working who are breast-feeding. Even though women have covered up with blankets and sat in their cars, I've still heard stories about people yelling at them for breast-feeding. Breast-feeding is so healthy and natural. It has many benefits for our whole culture. Women who can and do make the choice to breast-feed deserve our support.

• Public Health Officials Emphasizing 'Preconception Care' Message. [Kaiser network.org] Some public health officials are "recast[ing]" their message of prenatal care by adding what they call "preconception care," which urges all women of childbearing age to maintain physical and emotional health well in advance of pregnancy to reduce the risk of preventable birth defects and other complications. CDC published preconception care recommendations. Preconception care, which takes place in multiple physician visits, involves "interventions that aim to identify and modify biomedical, behavioral and social risks to a woman's health or pregnancy outcome through prevention and management, emphasizing those factors which must be acted on before conception or early in pregnancy to have maximal impact," according to the recommendations.

• Obstetricians Warn Pregnant Women to Avoid Antidepressant. [International Herald Tribune, France] Women who are or plan to become pregnant should avoid taking Paxil if possible, a leading group of U.S. obstetricians said in warning of the risk of birth defects associated with the antidepressant. The opinion issued by the obstetric practice committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists comes nearly a year after the Food and Drug Administration and manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline reclassified the drug to reflect studies in pregnant women that showed the drug poses a risk to the fetus.

• Research: Freezing Women's Ovaries for Future Use. [Xinhua, China] An experimental research program that will remove and freeze women's ovaries for possible future use could make it possible for women who become infertile because of cancer treatment to have babies, according to researchers. Radiation and chemotherapy can kill ovarian cells in addition to cancer cells. Emergency in vitro fertilization can be performed for some women with cancer whereby the woman is given hormones to induce more than one follicle to provide eggs that can later be fertilized outside the woman's body. But for women whose cancer is at an advanced stage, emergency IVF isn't an option. It is also impossible for young girls with cancer to use emergency IVF.

• Wales: More Women Giving Birth at Home. [Daily Mail, UK] More women are choosing to give birth at home. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that 17,279 UK births in 2005 took place at home, compared with 15,198 in 2004. Analysis by the NCT showed that the biggest increase - 18.9% - was in Wales, where ministers have pledged to increase the number of home births. That figure is up on the 16.2% recorded in the previous year. Wales now has a home birth rate of 3.61% - the fastest growing home birth rate in the UK, the charity said.

• Modest Weight Loss Healthy for Older Women. [Reuters.uk] Shedding just a few pounds can be beneficial to older women's health, and doesn't result in loss of high quality muscle tissue, a new study shows. Dr. Gloria Mazzali of the University of Verona in Italy and colleagues found that obese women who lost about 5% of their body weight showed a healthier body fat distribution and an increased sensitivity to insulin, reducing their risk of diabetes. As people age, the amount of fat they carry around their abdomen increases, as does the fatty tissue content of their muscles, the investigators point out in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. These changes in fat distribution are tied to insulin resistance and other problems with metabolism.

• Decline in Breast Cancer Linked to Women Abandoning HRT. [The Herald, UK] Breast cancer rates dropped sharply after women stopped taking hormone replacement therapy, a study has suggested. Millions of women worldwide gave up HRT in 2002 because of safety fears, and this might be behind a surprise 7% drop in new cases of breast cancer in the United States in 2003, say researchers. Experts from Texas University said that there was a fall of 12% among women aged 50-69 suffering from forms of breast cancer that depend on hormones for tumor growth.
  The researchers told the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that as many as 14,000 fewer women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the US in 2003 compared with 2002.

• Breast Cancer Drop Has Women Fearing Menopause Hormones Again. [WLBT-TV] Doctors fear women with severe menopausal symptoms will start to shun hormone replacement therapy. This in light of a study linking a drop in breast cancer cases to millions of women going off menopausal drugs. But doctors say the therapy undoubtedly works. And they worry that women who really need the treatment will be "talked out of it." They say there are ways to minimize the risk of hormone replacement therapy and optimize the benefits. Doctors suggest those who need it only use the lowest dose for the shortest time possible. They also say women should try to wean themselves off the medications after a certain period of time. And doctors say women should look at whether their menopausal symptoms are disrupting their lives enough to require hormone therapy.

• Women Fearing Menopause Hormones Again. [KTEN, TX] This week's news that a drop in breast cancer cases might be due to women going off menopause hormones may lead even more of them to abandon the pills. But doctors worry that women with severe menopausal symptoms will overreact to the risks and deny themselves the benefits of hormones. Doctor JoAnn Manson is a women's health expert at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Manson says there are some women who really require treatment -- and she worries that they'll be talked out of it. Hormone use plummeted after a 2002 study found that it raised the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and other problems.

• Female Genital Mutilation On The Rise. [Infoshop News] Despite evidence that female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) is on the decline in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Yemen, numbers appear up overall as the procedure endures through tradition. A total of 28 countries encourage this practice, with an estimated 3 million new girls undergoing this form of mutilation annually according to the United Nations (UN). FGM/C has been done on young girls for generations. Some cultures believe by removing a girl's sexuality, they are improving her appearance, making her "honorable", and ensuring certain monogamy after marriage. Ironically, some young women have become infertile as result. According to UN ICEF, FGM/C is practiced for a number of reasons, which include: Sexual: to control or reduce female sexuality. Sociological: for example, as an initiation for girls into womanhood, social integration and the maintenance of social cohesion. Hygiene and aesthetic reasons: where it is believed that the female genitalia are dirty and unsightly. Health: in the belief that it enhances fertility and child survival. Religious reasons: in the mistaken belief that FGM/C is a religious requirement. There are some differences from culture to culture with regards to appropriate age and methods of cutting. The average age is 14, however according to UNICEF, nearly half are performed on infants before their 12th month of age. This figure includes 44% in Eritrea and 29% in Mali.

• Muslim Scholars Say Female Circumcision is Un-Islamic and Urge People to Stop It. [The Associated Press] A conference of Muslim scholars from around the world declared female circumcision to be contrary to Islam and an attack on women, and called Thursday for those who practice it to be punished. The conference, organized by the German human rights group TARGET, recommended that governments pass laws to prohibit the tradition and that judicial bodies prosecute those who mutilate female genitals. Egypt's two top Islamic clerics, the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the foremost theological institute in the Sunni Muslim world, and Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, attended the conference, which drew scholars from as far afield as Russia. Tantawi's and Gomaa's edicts are considered binding. Female circumcision, which involves cutting the clitoris, continues to be practiced in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa as well as Egypt, Yemen and Oman, despite numerous campaigns against it. Those men who support the tradition believe it lowers a girl's sexual desire and helps maintain her honor. They also believe it is required by Islam.

• Fighting Female Genital Mutilation. [Blogger News Network] One charge against Islam is that is denies rights to women, when actually Islam actually is tolerating long held local customs. This is a continuing struggle made worse by partially trained local clerics who wrongly interpret Mohammed’s tolerance of local customs such as the complete veil as a religious rule. So I am happy to report that the most senior Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa against female circumcision, a custom that long predates Islam but alas has been spread with that faith, and a custom that many who are uneducated in Islam think is a religious rule. His is not the first fatwa against this custom, but one hopes his authority will help stop this terrible custom.

• Uganda: Seven Districts Fight Female Circumcision. [AllAfrica.com] The Government is to sensitize the public on female genital circumcision in seven districts. The gender ministry said the exercise would provide psychosocial support and help families affected by the practice. Cornelius Magara, the principal women development officer, confirmed that the Government addressed communities and local councils working on enactment of by-laws, ordinances and laws to prohibit female circumcision. Addressing a workshop on sexual and gender-based violence at Hotel Africana, Kampala, Magara said the government was implementing a five-year project funded by UNFPA to cover Kapchorwa, Gulu, Lira, Arua, Mukono, Busia, Kanungu, Tororo, Hoima and Kiboga districts.

• Awareness Can Check Female Feticide: Experts. [Hindustan Times, India] Chairperson of Central Social Welfare Board Rajani Patil said social awareness was imperative to eradicate female feticide from the society. She was addressing an awareness campaign ‘Save Girl’ jointly organized by State’s Social Welfare Board and UNICEF. Expressing grave concern over the increasing cases of female feticide, Rajani Patil said that no act or law could do anything without social awareness against this menace. She cited some noted social workers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwarchand Vidyasagar, Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar who fought for the welfare of women and brought respect for them by first creating awareness and then following it up with the necessary act. Director of Centre for Social Research, New Delhi, Ranjana Kumari criticized doctors for sex-determination tests and also expressed grave concern over poor health aid to women with about one in every five women dying due to labor pain in India. Chairperson of State Social Welfare Board, Anjana Prakash said that the sex ratio in the age group of 0 to 6 years had declined considerably. `There were 927 females per 1000 males in 1991 which declined to 916 per 1000 males in 2001 in Uttar Pradesh,’ she said.

• India Among Countries With Skewed Sex Ratios in Favor of Boys. [Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran] UNICEF State of the World's Children report says, "India finds itself among countries with skewed sex ratios in favor of boys. Some 7,000 fewer girls are born in India daily, mainly due to female feticide." Compared to 1991 when only two districts -- Salem (Tamil Nadu) and Bhind (Madhya Pradesh) -- had adverse female sex ratio, as many as 51 districts in India now have more male babies born compared to female child. As against the global sex ratio of 954 girls to 1,000 boys, there are only 882 girls per 1,000 boys in India. "In 80% of districts in India, the situation is getting worse," says the report, which marks the 60th anniversary of the UN body. In 14 districts of Haryana and Punjab there are fewer than 800 girls per 1,000 boys. Surprisingly, these are some of the most affluent areas in India, with a higher access to advanced prenatal diagnostic techniques, leading to the widespread termination of female fetus, according to the report.

• Campaign Launched Against Female Feticide in Delhi. [Hindu, India] In memory of the female population that India lost owing to female feticide over the past 20 years, students of Delhi University and social activists organized a candlelight vigil at India Gate and voiced their concern over the skewed male-female ratio in the country. A large number people participated in the vigil and pledged their support to put an end to the practice of sex-selective abortions. The students carried banners and posters depicting the alarming trend of fewer numbers of females compared with their male counterparts and exhorted society to join their movement.

• Low-Fat Diets May Help Some Dodge Cancer. [Forbes] The first experiment ever to show that low-fat diets could help prevent a return of breast cancer now reveals, with longer follow-up, that the benefit was almost exclusively to women whose tumor growth was not driven by hormones. That could be huge - the new results suggest but cannot prove that these women might be able to cut their risk of dying by up to 66% with such diets. "That's as great or better than any treatment intervention that we've given" for this type of cancer, which is notoriously hard to treat, said Dr. C. Kent Osborne of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who had no role in the study. However, for women whose cancers are fueled by hormones - the vast majority of breast cancer patients - the diet change seemed to make little difference in the risk of recurrence or survival. Questions remained about whether those who did benefit truly were helped by cutting fat or by the weight loss that resulted.

• Study Links Lack of Snooze to Weight Gain in Women. [China Daily, China] A long-term study conducted on more than 68,000 middle-aged U.S. women suggests that females who don't get enough sleep may end up adding some extra pounds over years. On the other hand, the women who catch more snoozes each night tend to put on less weight. Researchers followed 68,183 middle-aged women for 16 years and found that those who slept 5 hours or less per night were one third more likely to gain weight than those who slept for 7 hours. Moreover, researchers found that the weight gain was substantial with some women even gaining 33 pounds or more. The associations between sleep duration and weight gain persisted even after controlling for factors such as physical activity and calorie consumption in both groups. The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology and presented earlier this year at a medical conference, furthers the evidence that sleep habits affect a person's weight. The exact reasons for association between sleep duration and weight gain aren't clear but some research suggests that sleep deprivation alters hormones involved in appetite control and metabolism. Also it's possible that people who sleep fewer hours either eat more or, because of fatigue, and exercise less often.

• Men and Women are Different When It Comes to Eating. [Zee News, India] In the new study of observed eating behavior in a social setting, young men and women who perceived their bodies as being less than "ideal" ate differing amounts of food after they were shown images of "ideal-bodied" people of their own gender. Lead researcher Kristen Harrison found that "in the presence of same-gender peers, certain women eat less and certain men eat more following exposure to ideal-body images – ‘certain’ in this case referring to women and men who have discrepancies between their actual body and the kind of body they think their peers idealize," Harrison said. "In a nutshell," Harrison said, "we found that, following exposure to ideal-body images, men who are insecure about their bodies eat more in front of other men, while women who are insecure about their bodies eat less in front of other women."

• With Model's Death, Eating Disorders Are Again in Spotlight. [International Herald Tribune] The death of a 21-year-old Brazilian model from complications of anorexia has reignited debate about the fashion industry and eating disorders at a time when various cities around the world are considering banning the ultra-thin from the catwalk. For health experts, images of severely underweight models are just one element in the gestation of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. The determining factors, they say, are biological and psychological. Ana Carolina Reston, who weighed just 40 kilograms, or 88 pounds, when she died in São Paolo on Nov. 14, was the second model in recent months to succumb to an eating disorder. In August, Luisel Ramos of Uruguay died of heart failure during a fashion show, prompting Madrid to ban severely underweight models from the city's fashion week this autumn.

• Black Female Ministries Target AIDS Danger. [Women's eNews, NY] Female ministries are beginning to tackle a fact that activists say African American churches and the U.S. government alike have failed to adequately acknowledge or address: Black women are contracting HIV faster than any other group of women. On a recent Saturday afternoon, Joyce MacDonald, 56, walked through the Church of the Open Door in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she has been the HIV ministry coordinator for the past five years. At an AIDS quilt collecting dust on a wall, she pointed to patches she helped compile. Each patch represents a person infected or affected by AIDS. "There are at least 200 more names of people I need to add," MacDonald said.

• HIV On Rise For Women. [Asbury Park Press] Women now account for more than a fourth of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In New Jersey, about a third of people being diagnosed are women. And New Jersey has the most women living with HIV/AIDS in the country, according to the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services. Experts say several factors have led to the rise of HIV in women. "Women are more easily infected through sexual contact, not just with HIV but with any sexually transmitted infection," said Susan Bataille, clinical coordinator for The A Team, a regional screening center for HIV/AIDS at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Other factors, experts say include: Not using condoms and not discussing their use with partners before intercourse. Not discussing sexual history and health status with partners. Misinformation such as assuming one can know if a sexual partner has HIV by his physical appearance. More relaxed attitudes toward sex in general. Not discussing or ignoring a partner's open or secret bisexual encounters. Assumptions that HIV/AIDS can be cured with medication and is less of a concern than a possible pregnancy.

• 'Women Need Education to Fight This Epidemic'. [Belfast Telegraph, UK] My personal story is typical of the way most African women contract HIV. In Africa, 60% of new infections are in women; many of them are married. Fifteen years on, I am a long-term survivor. But I know that I am lucky. As a trained social worker I understand how systems work. Anti-retroviral drugs supplied by my employer, ActionAid, keep me alive. Aids is not just an illness of the body. It is an illness of society. On the journey from healthy family woman to HIV-positive single mother, the obstacles are varied. Like many women, I had to fight a system where I was supposed to marry my husband's brother, and where my property was claimed by his family.

Miscellaneous

• USA: Bush Pick Threatens Women's Health. [Seattle Post Intelligencer] Advocating abstinence until marriage, Keroack and his group are even opposed to dispensing contraception to married women! Instead, their Web site describes contraception as "demeaning to women" and "adverse to human health and happiness." Given that the vast majority of American women welcome and use contraception, the White House searched high and low to find someone with such crazy views. It's an obvious effort to placate Bush's ultra right-wing base, which is still smarting from the recent election results. Yet the appointment, which does not require Senate approval, has unfurled a wave of condemnation across the country; even The Salt Lake Tribune is calling for the Keroack nomination to be withdrawn.

• USA: Low-Income Women's Health Clinic to Close Doors. [Seattle Times] First Hill clinic that has offered health care to low-income women seeking abortions and gynecological services for more than 34 years will close next month. Among the reasons that Aradia Women's Health Center is closing is the nearly 20% increase it has had in low-income patients seeking abortions over the past five years, said Karen Besserman, vice president of Aradia's Board of Directors. "There's a decrease nationwide of women seeking abortions, except for low-income women," Besserman said, adding that abortions make up more than half of the clinic's business. Price increases for rent, malpractice insurance and medical supplies — including contraceptives — are also factors in Aradia's cost crisis. Seventy% of the clinic's clients require subsidized health care, Besserman said.

• Women Talk More Than Men, True. [Daily Telegraph, Australia] It is something one half of the population has long suspected, and the other has always vocally denied: women talk more than men. In fact, women talk almost three times as much, uttering a staggering 20,000 words a day on average compared to men's 7000. They speak more quickly, devote more brainpower to chit-chat and get a buzz out of hearing their own voices, a female psychiatrist suggests. In her book, The Female Mind, Dr Luan Brizendine says the disparity is caused by differences in the male and female brain. The sex hormone testosterone, responsible for molding the male brain in the womb, shrinks the areas responsible for communication, emotion and memory, she claims.

• Less Genital Sensation in Women Cyclists. [United Press International] U.S. women participating in prolonged, frequent bicycling had decreased genital sensation and were more likely to have a history of genital pain. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and The Albert Einstein College compared 48 women competitive cyclists to 22 women runners. They used non-invasive techniques to evaluate the possible effects of bicycling on genital sensation and sexual health. Participants were women bicyclists who consistently rode an average of at least 10 miles per week and women who ran at least 1 mile daily or 5 miles weekly.

• Women May Respond to Porn, but Not in a Way that Counts. [Seattle Times] Last month, researchers at McGill University in Canada reconfirmed what we'll call the porn paradox: When hooked up to instruments measuring sexual arousal, men and women reacted with equal speed when watching pornographic films. This raises several questions, including why women are so much less likely than men to consider viewing porn a valuable use of our time. But the type of material used in the study also raises broader questions about the effects of porn on both sexes.

• Stem Cell Transplants from Women Raise Cancer Risk. [People's Daily Online, China] People who receive stem cell transplants for diseases such as leukemia appear to face a higher risk of developing secondary cancers, especially if the cells come from a female donor, according to a preliminary study. The study was carried out by Canadian scientists who caution that future stem cell treatments for ailments such as spinal cord injury and heart failure might also carry a cancer risk, the New Scientist reported on its website.

• More Female Drinkers Put Health At Risk. [NBC 4.com] A growing number of women are drinking at levels that could put their health at risk, and they may not realize it. It's estimated that 5% of women between the ages of 18 and 34 are moderate or heavy drinkers. "Younger women are beginning to drink at high-risk levels that may increase their risk for developing problems with their health," said Dr. Deidre Roach with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Research suggests that for some women, a daily drink can raise the risk of developing breast cancer. Drink a little more and the risks increases, according to Roach. "When a woman drinks heavily on a regular basis, she experiences damage to the liver, heart and brain sooner than men who drink at the same level," said Roach.