вторник, 27 марта 2012 г.

Poor Heart Health Linked To Mental Impairment In Elderly Women - Aging Heart??™s Inability To Change Rhythm May Be The Cause

Mental impairment and decline in cardiac health are two common complaints of advancing age. A new study, published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggests that there may be a link between the conditions; specifically, a decline in heart health may lead to cognitive impairment in elderly women.


???According to study author Dae Hyun Kim, a healthy heart naturally varies its rate and rhythm throughout the day in response to physical and mental demands.?  "Advancing age and disease can lower the heart's ability to change its rate and rhythm, which can be associated with changes in mental function," says Kim. How this occurs is not clearly known.


???Kim says that further research into the connection between cardiac and mental health is important. ???Mental impairment in the elderly is a major public health issue, and has significant effects on caregivers, the healthcare system and society.??? Identifying contributing risk factors, such as heart health, could help seniors to avoid this debilitating condition.


The primary goal of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is to publish articles that are relevant in the broadest terms to the clinical care of older persons. Such articles may span a variety of disciplines and fields and may be of immediate, intermediate, or long-term potential benefit to clinical practice. For more information, please visit blackwellpublishing/jgs.

??????The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit association of geriatrics health care professionals, research scientists, and other concerned individuals dedicated to improving the health, independence and quality of life of all older people. Please visit americangeriatrics for more information.



Blackwell Publishing is the world??™s leading society publisher, partnering with 665 medical, academic, and professional societies. Blackwell publishes over 800 journals and has over 6,000 books in print. The company employs over 1,000 staff members in offices in the US, UK, Australia, China, Singapore, Denmark, Germany, and Japan. Blackwell??™s mission as an expert publisher is to create long-term partnerships with our clients that enhance learning, disseminate research, and improve the quality of professional practice.


For more information on Blackwell Publishing, please visit >blackwellpublishing or >blackwell-synergy.

вторник, 20 марта 2012 г.

Videos Discuss Neb. Antiabortion Laws, Supreme Court Vacancy, Stupak's Retirement

The following summarizes selected women's health-related videos.


Nebraska Laws Spurs Debates: Several media outlets featured reaction to two new Nebraska antiabortion laws that many observers expect to prompt court challenges. On CNN's "American Morning," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and Politics Daily's Patricia Murphy discussed how the laws differ from existing antiabortion statutes and how related issues could factor into the Supreme Court nomination process (Acosta, "American Morning," CNN, 4/14). Elsewhere on CNN, Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, and Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, debated the legitimacy of claims from the laws' supporters that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks' gestation (King, CNN, "John King USA," 4/15). On "The Rachel Maddow Show," Tracy Weitz, director of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, explained scientific studies refuting the notion that fetuses feel pain, and she discussed the legal implications of both laws (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 4/14).

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вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.

Women With Acute Coronary Syndromes Benefit From Quick Trip To Cath Lab

High-risk women with acute coronary syndrome benefit as much as men from a trip to the cardiac cath lab shortly after being hospitalized, according to a study reported at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 29th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, May 10-13. (Time of presentation: Thursday, May 11, 11:42 a.m. Central Time)


The study adds important new information to an ongoing controversy: whether women with acute coronary syndromes fare better with a combination of drug therapy and watchful waiting or--like men--benefit from early angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).


"Our findings show that women should not be denied access to the cath lab, particularly high-risk women," said Rachid Elkoustaf, MD, MPH, a senior cardiology fellow at the Henry Low Heart Center at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT.


Acute coronary syndromes encompass both unstable angina, or more seriously, a type of heart attack known as non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE ACS), a name that comes from the shape of the "ST-segment" on the electrocardiogram.


Studies have clearly shown that clinical outcomes are better when high-risk men are quickly taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, where an interventional cardiologist threads a catheter into the heart through a nick in an artery in the groin, injects dye to aid in viewing the artery with x-rays, and performs PCI as needed, inflating an angioplasty balloon or placing an expandable stent to open the arterial blockage.


In women, studies have reported conflicting data on whether PCI is the best treatment approach. To answer that question, Dr. Elkoustaf and his colleagues analyzed data from 488 women and 1,036 men who had NSTE ACS and were treated with PCI. Although women had a rockier hospital course than men--they were significantly more likely to need a blood transfusion or repeat PCI, for example--nine-month follow-up revealed similar rates of death and heart attack in the two groups.


Several factors other than gender may explain why women experienced more problems than men while in the hospital, Dr. Elkoustaf said. Women typically were older than men and had more health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high blood cholesterol. More important, before PCI women were less likely to receive key anti-clotting medications as recommended by treatment guidelines, including glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors.


The study--though limited by its size and the retrospective collection of data--nonetheless has important public health implications and supports a gender-neutral approach to treating patients with ACS, Dr. Elkoustaf said.


Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions is a 3,400-member professional organization representing invasive and interventional cardiologists. SCAI's mission is to promote excellence in invasive and interventional cardiovascular medicine through physician education and representation, and advancement of quality standards to enhance patient care. SCAI was organized in 1976 under the guidance of Drs. F. Mason Sones and Melvin P. Judkins. The first SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions were held in Chicago in 1978.


Kathy Boyd David

jdavid62juno

Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions

scai

вторник, 6 марта 2012 г.

3rd National Conference On Women's Health, Ireland, 26th May 2007

Date: Saturday, 26th May, 2007

Venue: Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co Offaly

Accreditation: 2 CME Sessions & 6 CAS Credits


Registration

Please click here to register for the conference online or download the registration form below.


Programme

8.30am: Registration

9.00am: Opening Address


SESSION 1 - SEXUAL HEALTH

9.10am: Taking a Sexual History, Dr Julian Maitland

9.50am: Accessible Services to Young People Reports from Projects

10.30am: Morning Tea / Exhibitors & Poster Presentations


SESSION 2 - CASE-BASED COMMON PROBLEMS

11.00am: Migraine, Dr Orla Hardiman

11.30am: Lifestyle Management in Diabetes, Dr John O'Riordan

12.00pm: Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Women, Dr Charles McCreery

12.30pm: Launch of the Cardiovascular Disease in Women Impact Document

12.45pm: Lunch/Exhibitions


SESSION 3 - REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

1.45pm: Contraception in the Peri-menopause, Ms Gilly Andrews

2.25pm: Care of Women after Abortion, Dr Rita Galimberti/Ms Margaret Dunne

3.05pm: Launch of the Key Contacts Document

3.15pm: Afternoon Tea


SESSION 4 - OFFICE GYNAECOLOGY

3.45pm: Pre-menstrual Syndrome, Dr Claudine Domoney

4.20pm: HPV Vaccine, Prof Walter Prendiville

4.45pm: Closing Remarks


3rd National Women's Health Conference Registration Form & Programme (pdf)


The Irish College of General Practitioners