Heart Disease, Cholesterol and Stroke

• Divorce in Midlife Hurts Women's Heart Health. [Reuters] Divorce apparently harms the cardiovascular health of women, but men's hearts appear to escape a split-up unscathed, a new study shows. The ill effects are largely due to the economic consequences, as well as the emotional distress, of divorce for women, conclude Dr. Zhenmei Zhang of Bowling Green State University in Ohio and Dr. Mark D. Hayward at the University of Texas at Austin. Zhang and Hayward also found that while divorce didn't appear to affect men's cardiovascular health, divorced, widowed and remarried men were all more likely to die sooner of non-heart-related causes than men who had stayed married to the same person.

• Older Women Face Increased Heart Attack Risk. [Telugu Portal, India] Older women in their sixties could face the risk of heart disease more than men, says a new study. Eileen Crimmins and colleagues at the University of Southern California examined changes between 1988 and 2002 in indicators related to cardiovascular disease, reported the science portal EurekAlert.

• Program Teaches Women How to Prevent Heart Disease. [Munster Times] A poll of 500 local women ages 40 to 70 found that 87% were at risk of having their first heart attack, according to a study conducted by Market Strategies for Ingalls Health System. Barbara Ferrari, Ingalls heart health coordinator, said the increase in heart disease among women could be because of longer hours in the workplace, the prominence of obesity, less nutritious eating habits and the tendency of women to put their own health concerns behind those of their families.

• High Cholesterol Found in Younger Women. [Ninemsn, Australia] High cholesterol is not just an older person's affliction, according to new research showing Australian women in their 30s and 40s commonly have the problem. Preliminary results from a study by the Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health show that 35% of women aged 35 to 54 registered cholesterol levels in excess of the recommended 5.5. Even 10% of women aged 25 to 35 exceeded the rate, the study of 187 females showed. The foundation's dietician, Cate Lombard, said her "disturbing" results proved women in their 30s and 40s should not dismiss high cholesterol as a problem confined to older people.

• Women Not Turning Up for Breast Screenings. [Lancashire Evening Post] Nearly a quarter of women asked to come for breast cancer screenings in Preston do not turn up, say health chiefs. Doctors are now appealing for all women who are sent appointments to use the mobile breast screening facilities on offer in the city from tomorrow onwards. The free tests are offered to all women aged between 50 and 70 every three years but last year, only 75% of them came in for the screening. This means that the uptake for the tests is way below the national average – despite the fact breast cancer is the most common form of the disease seen in Preston women.

• Breast Cancer Rate in US Women Seen to Level. [San Francisco Chronicle] The decades long rise inn the rate of new breast cancer cases in American women appears to have leveled off, indicating that the nation may have reached a long-sought turning point in the battle against the malignancy. After climbing steadily since 1980, the breast cancer rate stopped rising in 2001 and may have started to fall in 2003, according to the latest federal data. It is not clear yet that the change marks the start of a lasting trend, but the statistics appear to indicate a tantalizing shift, experts said.

• All Women Must Know Breast Cancer Risks. [Irish Health] Every woman over the age of 18 should be aware of the risk factors for breast cancer, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has said. According to the society, breast cancer remains a complex disease and ultimately, scientists still do not know what causes it or how it can be prevented. However by knowing the risk factors, women have a better chance of catching the disease in its early stages. The most important known breast cancer risk factors are: Getting older. Significant family history. A previous breast cancer diagnosis.

• Oregon Research Team Discovers Why Some Women Are At Risk For Breast, Ovarian Cancer. [MedfordNews.com] A research team from the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute has made a significant breakthrough in identifying women who are likely to get breast and ovarian cancer. Some women do not have mutations in either of the two genes for breast and ovarian cancer - BRCA1 and BRCA2 - but still have a strong family history of ovarian and breast cancer. Researchers have wondered whether the cause is genetic. What the research team found was that women who have a family history of ovarian cancer but do not have the BRCA mutations, have a low level of the Fanconi anemia protein known as FANCD2. Normally this protein protects DNA and helps repair broken chromosomes so cells from the ovary in at-risk women were unable to be repaired. Therefore, well before cancers developed, the cells from the ovary were at high risk of developing cancer causing mutations. Cells from other parts of the body were normal. "Basically we have discovered that by testing ovarian cells for chromosome breakage, we may be able to identify many more women at risk for ovarian and breast cancer than by using BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing. We are also suggesting that that low levels of FANCD2 protein are associated with this increased chromosome breakage," said Pejovic.

• The Women's Cancer You Don't Know About. [Newsday] Lung cancer kills more than 70,000 women each year in the United States -- that's more than breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined. And women younger than 40 are at slightly greater risk of developing the disease than men under 40, according to a report from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta. Rates of the disease in men have leveled off in the past 25 years, but rates in women have gone up. Women who smoke, a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association reveals, are almost twice as likely to get lung cancer as male smokers. Yet there are no cute pink ribbons, few nationwide walks for a cure and no celebrity spokespeople who have had the disease. They usually don't live long enough to advocate for awareness and research dollars.

• Active Women With Breast Cancer May Live Longer. [Reuters.uk] Recreational physical activity in the year before a diagnosis of breast cancer seems to have a positive influence on the prognosis of young women who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed, new research suggests. "We found a beneficial effect on survival for exercise undertaken in the year before diagnosis, particularly among women who were overweight or obese near the time they were diagnosed with breast cancer," Dr. Page E. Abrahamson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told Reuters Health. The finding is encouraging, Abrahamson and colleagues note in the journal Cancer, because few modifiable lifestyle factors for improving a breast cancer prognosis have been identified.

• Thyroid Cancer Spikes in Women. [Washington Times] There has been an unexpected sharp rise in thyroid cancer cases among women in the past decade, a national report shows. The report shows the biggest increase is in thyroid cancer incidence among women, which rose 9.1% annually from 2000 to 2003.

• Newton Memorial Hospital Hosts Female Cancers and the HPV Virus. [Township Journal] Have you ever wondered why are there screening tests for some types of female cancers but not all? Have you ever thought of what is the link between HPV and Cervical Cancer, or if there has been any recent changes in screening guidelines for women? If you have asked any of these questions, this presentation is for you. Fred Nichols, D.O. Obstetrician/ Gynecologist on staff at Newton Memorial Hospital, will answer these questions, and others you may have.

• For Rural Women, New Treatment Would Save Trips. [Columbia Missourian] Doctors say a new option for breast-cancer patients might help persuade more women, particularly in rural areas, to complete their radiation treatments. CoxHealth radiation oncologist Ibrahim Abdalla said MammoSite radiation therapy is as safe and effective as traditional therapies — and is more convenient. For women who undergo lumpectomies, the radiation treatment that follows the breast-conserving tumor removal is condensed from six to seven weeks of daily radiation to two treatments a day for five days. Under the treatment, radioactive pellets are inserted into a balloon that fills the tumor area.

• Abandoning Women. [University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily] I am deeply saddened by Christa Byker's recent Opinion column ("Moral abandonment," Sept. 1) and it leaves me with many questions. Would Byker have all the women who use emergency contraception carry their pregnancies to term, and have these children be raised by "sexual anarchists?" Is she denying that a pregnant 12 year-old should have any option besides delivering a baby? Did I misunderstand her implications that rape survivors don't read fashion magazines, or else readers of Cosmo and Lucky are never raped? If she is so naive as to believe that EC promotes an easy and reckless lifestyle, does she feel the same way about condoms? And why does she repeatedly condense children into consequences? Finally, if Byker really believes in social responsibility, then why isn't she writing columns campaigning for comprehensive sex education and universal health care?

• Extend the Availability of Plan B to All Women in Need. [Minnesota Daily] The Food and Drug Administration's Aug. 24 decision to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B for women 18 and older is a major step toward protecting the personal health care decisions and well-being of America's women. Although it leaves cause for optimism, there are still prodigious injustices in the emergency contraceptive's availability and the reasoning behind its limited access. In August 2005, Susan Wood resigned from her position as director of the FDA's Women's Health Office. She did so in protest of the agency's refusal - for political rather than scientific reasons - to make a decision regarding over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B.

• Many Women Still Lack Knowledge About Contraception. [Unison.ie, Ireland] A new study has found that many Irish women still lack knowledge about pregnancy and contraception.

• Women's Family Choices Have Impact on Later Health. [Reuters] Not having children, having too many, or too young or not spaced far enough apart could be detrimental to a woman's health later in life, researchers said on Tuesday. And although women have a harder time conceiving after 40, those who do seem to have fewer medical problems as they age. "We have shown that partnership and parenting histories are important influences on later life health and, in many cases, are as influential as the effects of a person's socio-economic status," said Professor Emily Grundy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

• Babies of Fat Women Face Problems at Birth. [PakTribune.com] Pregnant women should exercise and take appropriate caloric intake before they go for conception, as the babies of obese mothers are more likely to be admitted to intensive care units, says a study. Such babies also have a higher incidence of neural tube defects, according to a position paper of the Public Affairs Committee of the Teratology Society, reported health portal news-medical.net. "The literature suggests that compared to normal weight women, women whose body mass index (BMI) is greater than or equal to 30 have approximately double the risk of having an affected child."

• Hope For Infertile Women. [Mumbai Mirror, India] Successful womb transplants could be carried out within two years, according to a leading British surgeon. Dr Richard Smith reported “stunningly good results” from his experimental work with womb transplants. His experiments would offer hope to the thousands of women unable to carry a child because they were born without a womb or had it damaged by disease. The transplanted womb would be only temporary because it is dangerous to keep someone for too long on the drugs needed to stop the body rejecting it. But it would give a woman a two or three year ‘window’ in which to have children before it was removed.

• Can We Deny Free IVF to Overweight Women? [The Herald, UK] Should overweight women suffering from infertility be denied free IVF? Should a desperate childless female, who happens to be carrying too much excess, be told: go away, you're too fat? These are exceedingly uncomfortable questions. As someone with a body mass index on the wrong side of 30, I shift uneasily in my seat as I write them. This is an area where human frailty and maternal desire collide headlong with limited resources and a medical profession increasingly convinced that IVF treatment is dangerous for the very obese. It is also, one could argue strongly, a feminist issue.

• Stop Pregnant Women Drinking, Says AMA. [The Age, Australia] Drinking any alcohol during pregnancy is unsafe and national guidelines should be changed to reflect this fact, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) says. The AMA has called on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which is reviewing its alcohol guidelines, to recommend that pregnant women not drink alcohol at all.

• Gene May Affect Female Fertility. [CBS News] Female fertility may be affected by a gene that makes a protein called adrenomedullin. Female mice with only one copy of the gene have "significantly reduced fertility" compared with those with two copies of the gene, say researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Ads Lure Young Women to Become Egg Donors. [Contra Costa Times] Young women in college will see the ad in their school newspapers and on the papers' Web sites: "SEEKING SPECIAL EGG DONORS. Red/Blonde/Brunette Hair. Blue/Green/Brown/ Hazel Eyes. Young, Tall, Athletic. High Compensation!! Make a real difference!!" The ad includes the toll-free number and Web address for Loving Donation, a Florida agency that matches couples who want babies with young women willing to provide the eggs to help make it happen. About 70 agencies provide similar services around the country, and some have offered $50,000 and more for eggs from women with specific physical attributes and intelligence criteria sought by couples trying to have babies. But medical ethicists and women's health advocates say offers of high compensation can lead some women to make a decision without considering the possible health and psychological risks of egg donation.

• Call for Young Women to Freeze Eggs. [Guardian Unlimited, UK] A fertility expert has called on the "Bridget Jones generation" to consider freezing their eggs to raise their chances of having a baby in later life. Dr Gillian Lockwood, who runs a fertility clinic in the West Midlands, told the British Fertility Society (BFS) conference at the University of Strathclyde that the chances of a woman in her 40s giving birth using eggs frozen in her 30s were greater than getting pregnant using fresh eggs.

• Mother's Milk Saves Lives. [IPS] Although experts say that breastfeeding gives children the best start in life, protecting them from life-threatening diseases and providing essential nutrients, barely a third of all infants in developing countries are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.

• Working-Class Women Denied Right to Breastfeed. [Party for Socialism and Liberation] The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 million infants die around the world every year because they are not breastfed. Research suggests that breastfed babies are less likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; have lower rates of illness, such as ear infection and stomach problems; and have lower rates of serious illnesses, such as type 1 diabetes, leukemia and Crohn’s disease. Despite the mountain of evidence showing the beneficial effects, breastfeeding rates in the United States remain low, particularly for working mothers. Breastfeeding is more than a method of feeding a baby; it requires a high degree of involvement from the mother.

• Interview: Dr. Holly Lucille Offers Women Relief from Menopausal Symptoms. [Newstarget.com, Taiwan] Women were having a very difficult time transitioning into a natural phase, menopause -- a very natural, once honored, once sacred, once celebrated time -- but it was younger women, not even close to menopause, having menopausal symptoms -- the basic motor symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats, the irritability, the weight gain -- and then women struggling with infertility. That's all estrogen-sensitive tissue that's being fueled by something; too much estrogen. What's happening? We've got too much estrogen coming in from the environment, so our livers aren't working effectively at a functional level, and the liver is the number-one organ responsible for metabolizing those estrogens. So, the environment was one thing. And the second thing was our increasingly stressful modern-day society. And the amount of adrenal stress on our glands. Most people reading this understand that term -- adrenal fatigue, adrenal exhaustion

• Hormone Therapy Tied to Hearing Loss in Older Women. [Reuters.uk] The hormone progestin, as a component of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) following menopause, appears to exacerbate deficits in hearing sensitivity and auditory speech processing, according to a research team at the Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York. "Sensory declines in elderly women, in this case exacerbated by progestin, can significantly interfere with communication abilities, including speech and hearing, professional and economic productivity, family relations, and quality of life," write the researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Male-Female Life Expectancy Gap is Closing. [Chicago Sun-Times] Women live longer than men, but men are catching up. In 1979, female life expectancy at birth was 7.8 years longer than male life expectancy. By 1999, the gap had narrowed to 5.5 years -- 74.1 years for males and 79.6 years for females. Men are more likely to get murdered, commit suicide and die in car crashes and other accidents. Moreover, men traditionally have smoked more, causing heart and lung disease. However, the smoking gap has narrowed, and men are making more progress surviving heart disease. Demographers can't fully explain why women still live longer -- smoking and risky lifestyles don't fully account for the gap in life expectancy.

• Asian Women in Bergen Have Nation's Top Life Expectancy. [NorthJersey.com] Even the leader of a new Harvard University study on longevity was surprised to find that Asian-American women living in Bergen County have the longest life expectancy in the nation, typically reaching age 91. "Yes, it's surprising and interesting," said Dr. Christopher Murray, a population health specialist at the Harvard School of Public Health. "I was very surprised that it was Bergen County, as opposed to Asian-American women living in a whole series of well-to-do counties in California," Murray said in a phone interview Monday

• Misery For Countless Women in Region: Attacking FGM. [Yemen Times] A growing movement to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision has been noticed lately in various parts of the world, including the Horn of Africa and Yemen. International organizations dealing with women’s rights and healthcare have expressed commitment to fight this phenomenon, which has caused miseries to females throughout the African continent and in some Arab countries including Yemen.

• Evaluation of Polygyny (Polygamy) & Female Circumcision. [Perspective] “…The three major reasons for polygamy, as offered by African feminist Awa Thiam are (1) the exploitation of women for free labor, women as food producers (2) sexual license for men, and (3) "commercial" use of women. “Thiam sees all these as linked to the practices of female genital mutilation (sexual and reproductive control by torture), forced marriages and child brides (of financial and social benefit to the family and not necessarily the woman). Nevertheless, the higher divorce rate among illiterate, rural and low income African women provides an often overlooked understanding of traditional women's response to their plight, and refutes the current interpretation and sociological falsification of the African women as helpless, powerless victim, always compliant in their own oppression”.

• Fat Young Women Feel Fine, Thanks Very Much. [The Age, Australia] Obese young women are in denial about the medical risks of being overweight, experts say, despite the serious complications and health problems associated with the condition. Research shows that women between 20 and 35 are gaining weight more quickly than any other age group, with 22.3% of 25- to 34-year-olds and 17.5% of 18- to 24-year-olds obese.

• Diet and Female Athletes. [Newsday] Female athletes on low-calorie diets participating in cross-country, field hockey, soccer or other college sports may be more likely to get a stress fracture. Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri found an association between decreased estrogen production in female athletes linked to insufficient calorie intake and athletes reporting more exercise-related pain in their lower legs. "It appears there is a relationship between how you eat, which can then interrupt the menstrual cycle and bone density ... which can contribute to a stress fracture," said Mark Reinking, chairman of the department of physical therapy at the university. "Once we understand more, we can do a better job of preventing those types of injuries."

• SISTA Project Combats HIV/AIDS Among Black Women. [Austin Weekly News] To combat the alarming statistics concerning the high incidences of HIV/AIDS cases among black women, Access Community Health Network has come up with an aggressive program to address such contributing factors as risky sexual behavior. The SISTA Project (Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS) is a social skills training intervention program aimed at reducing HIV sexual risk behavior among black women.

• Women's Rights Vital in AIDS Era. [The Mercury] Unequal power relations, violence against women and less access to education are key reasons for the feminization of the pandemic, writes Mbonisi Zikhali.

• When Traditions Become Dangerous. [Allafrica.com] Mzimba district in Northern Malawi has one of the country's highest HIV rates but many people still hold to the belief that wife inheritance, 'chokolo', is the only way of preventing relatives from grabbing property, leaving widows and their children destitute.

• Government Study Shows South Africans Dying at Disturbing Rate. [Associated Press] The South African government linked a sharp increase in deaths rate to the country's staggering AIDS epidemic. The government said the death rate for women aged 20 to 39 had more than tripled between 1997 and 2004 and had more than doubled for men aged 30 to 44. It noted those age groups had the highest incidence of death from AIDS. "Large increases in the death rates of women in their 20s and 30s since the late 1990s are thought to result mainly from HIV". 

• African Tribe Stays Virtually AIDS Free. [Toronto Star] Few infected because women have equality, U of T study says.

• Polygamous Husbands Behind Rise in HIV/AIDS in Women: UN Study. [The Hindu News] The number of women living with HIV/AIDS is on the rise in the country and a recent UN survey found that in majority of the cases the disease was passed on by polygamous husbands.

Miscellaneous

• Women Prefer Thin Models - Research. [Guardian Unlimited, UK] Women prefer thin models to those with fuller figures, new research claims. Researchers found that two thirds of women reacted favorably to print advertisements featuring thinner female models. The University of Bath study said those who preferred thinner models thought they were "more elegant, interesting, likeable and pleasant". Less than a third of the 470 female undergraduates questioned reacted favorably to adverts featuring larger models. Professor Brett Martin, from the university's marketing group in the School of Management, said: "This study shows us why using thin models is a successful strategy used by advertising companies." The study claimed that because the women preferred the slimmer models, they were more likely to approve of the products in the test adverts - up-market salads and gourmet hamburgers.

• Why is ‘Me Time’ Such a Big Deal? [CNN.com] Too many women, single or married, childless or mothers, are endlessly fulfilling every obligation except the one to themselves. For your mental, physical, and psychological well-being, you sometimes just need to stop. Then you need to do something you want to do. You need to take some Me Time. Like many things, Me Time is all the more wanted the rarer it gets. In their recent book, What Women Really Want, pollsters Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway discovered that women across all strata of society feel overwhelmed with the insatiable demands on them. When they asked what women wanted more of in their lives, the two most popular answers were "peace" and "time." They were talking about a sense of serenity and control over their lives. The women polled also said they would like more sleep, and that they battle the "guilt that creeps in whenever they take a break."

• Ovary Removal Raises Young Women's Death Risk. [Forbes] Younger women who have had their ovaries removed should consider estrogen therapy if they are under the age of 45, a new study suggests. Mayo Clinic researchers found that those who said no to hormone therapy faced a higher death risk than those who said yes. Many women with high-risk family histories have their ovaries removed, a procedure known as an oophorectomy, to help them avoid cancer or other diseases. However, experts said this new data should give them pause when deciding whether to use hormone replacement therapy afterwards.

• Ovary Removal Before 45 Has Risks, Report Says. [Seattle Times] Women younger than 45 who have their ovaries removed, usually as part of a hysterectomy for non-cancerous reasons, run a higher risk of premature death, Mayo Clinic researchers report in the largest analysis of its kind. The investigation, to appear next month in the journal Lancet Oncology, is a large-scale look at what was accepted practice until recently. Mayo Clinic researchers found that unless hormone therapy had been prescribed, the women's risk of death from all causes was 1.7 times higher than that for women whose ovaries remained intact. The elevated death risk was mainly restricted to women younger than 45 not prescribed estrogen after the surgery to offset the loss of natural estrogen produced by the ovaries.

• Female Urethral Strictures Can Be Successfully Managed. [Medical News Today] Drs. Smith, Ferlise and Rovner from Philadelphia, PA and Charleston, SC retrospectively reviewed their series of seven women with urethral strictures who were managed by urethral dilation followed by clean intermittent catheterization (CISC). These seven women had a mean age of 41 years (range 22-67).

• Women Dying Early From Liver Damage. [Sydney Morning Herald, Australia] Women are dying from liver disease in their 30s and 40s due to a rise in alcohol abuse among young women. More teenage girls are drinking at risky or high-risk levels and, if the pattern continues, there will a marked rise in alcohol-related deaths in coming years, research shows. The medical director of drug and alcohol services at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Professor Paul Haber, said: "It's true that women who drink excessively and chronically and at an early age are getting advanced liver disease and dying of it in their mid-30s.

• COPD More Deadly for Women. [Forbes] Women on long-term oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are 54% more likely to die than male patients, a new study shows. Brazilian researchers monitored 184 female and 251 male oxygen-dependent COPD patients for seven years. After accounting for factors such as age, smoking history, lung function test results, and weight, the study authors found that female patients were much more likely to die from COPD.

• Women Do Better Than Men on Timed Tests. [Monsters and Critics.com, UK] U.S. research into the differences between male and female brains suggests women perform better than men on timed tests because they think faster. In a study involving more than 8,000 U.S. males and females ranging in age from 2 to 90, Vanderbilt University researchers Stephen Camarata and Richard Woodcock discovered females have a significant advantage on timed tests and tasks -- especially among pre-teens and teens.

• A Just Published Book Promises To Guide Women Regarding UTI. [MedIndia, India] Dr. Elizabeth Kavaler has claimed that her new book would help women in understanding and identifying their urinary tract disorder. The author, a practicing urologist, has said that more than half of all women will experience some form of debilitating urinary tract disease or discomfort, including infections, incontinence, pelvic floor prolapse, and interstitial cystitis. Until recently, there has been only scant attention paid to this very common group of disorders.

• Women Need to Keep Health on their Mind. [Myrtle Beach Sun News] Watch your diet. Get plenty of exercise. Quit smoking. These are just some of the things you can do to stay healthy as you age. Just as important is monitoring your health through yearly physicals and gynecological exams. We face more issues as we age - obesity, diabetes, impaired vision and cancer - but if we stay on top of our health, we're more likely to either avoid the problems or catch them early enough to make them manageable.

• Teen Female Athletes More at Risk of Torn ACL. [San Antonio Express] The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of four ligaments that attach the femur to the tibia and help stabilize the knee, can cause big problems for female athletes, their parents, coaches and physicians. Young women are four to eight times more likely than their male counterparts to tear their ACL. There are a number of theories on why women are more prone to ACL injuries than men, including hormonal influences, anatomical differences, muscular imbalances and poor movement mechanics. No single factor or combination has been pinpointed as a clear-cut cause or predictor.

• Listerine Could be Helpful in Curing Female Jock Itch. [Jackson Clarion Ledger] Q: I live in a very tropical, hot and humid place. For the past year, I have had recurring yeast infections. My problem is not so much the yeast infection (which I think I now have under control, having taken a series of fluconazole pills and ingested quantities of yogurt and acidophilus), but rather the "jock itch" that has remained. A: You may find this bizarre, but men have told us that applying Listerine to the groin area can help control jock itch. This old-fashioned yellow mouthwash contains 26.9% alcohol plus the herbal oils eucalyptol, menthol, methyl salicylate and thymol. These oils have antifungal activity, especially in concert. Be careful how you apply it, though. The alcohol and other ingredients might sting if the Listerine lands where it doesn't belong.