Coping With Hot Flashes and Other Menopausal Symptoms: What 15 Celebrities Said
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Foot Massage Can Help Ease Sleep Trouble, Other Menopausal Symptoms
Good news for women around menopause who experience poor quality sleep and increased anxiety: A new study published today in Menopause shows that foot massages can help alleviate those disruptive symptoms.Menopausal Transition Brings Physical ChallengesAs women approach and go through menopause, the decrease in estrogen can cause a number of challenges: hot flashes; insomnia, night sweats, and other sleep disruptions; sexual dysfunction; and vaginal dryness.Hormonal Flux Impacts Mood, Sleep Problems Contribute to FatigueAt the same time, mood changes may occur, notes the North American Menopause Society, putting midlife women at risk for issues such as anxiety, depression, and mood swings. Because of the sleep issues and the night sweats, brain fog and fatigue can become a symptom as well.Foot Massages Promotes Relaxation, Improves SleepA review published in 2020 in JAN (Journal…
How to Get Sufficient Doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine When You Have a Rheumatic Disease Like RA
People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised are at higher risk for serious complications if they're infected with COVID-19. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that these folks not stop at two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines, but instead consider their primary series to be three doses — plus all recommended boosters, including the new one released this fall.This group, which includes people on medications commonly used for rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), remains vulnerable to being severely sickened by COVID-19 even after they’ve had their two shots, the agency said.The CDC now recommends that everyone get the most recently formulated booster dose of an mRNA vaccine, which has been updated to target the currently circulating omicron variants…
Providers and Patients Can Help Minimize Risks of Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis, ACR Says
On September 14, 2022, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) released a summary of updated guidelines (PDF) on how to manage glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP), a condition that can occur in people who take steroids as part of their treatment. The full manuscript is expected to be released in 2023.The update comes five years after ACR’s 2017 recommendations and incorporates information on more recent osteoporosis treatments, namely Tymlos (abaloparatide) and Evenity (romosozumab), as well as recommendations for sequential therapy to prevent rebound fractures.Steroids Relieve Symptoms, Treat Many Conditions, but Can Increase Osteoporosis RiskGlucocorticoids (GCs) can relieve the inflammation and pain common in rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as well as other chronic conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis (UC), psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, allergies and asthma, and heart failure.RELATED:…
Survey Suggests Two-Thirds of Kids May Struggle With Body Image
While initiatives that support people fostering a healthy body image, like the body positivity and body neutrality movements, are more prominent than ever — and more and more celebrities are speaking out about it — kids are struggling.This week, the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital published its National Poll on Children’s Health (PDF) that highlighted the severity of body image issues among children and teens.Researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,653 parents of at least one child between 8 and 18 years old. Nearly two-thirds of parents said their child is self-conscious about some aspect of their appearance, with skin concerns (like acne), weight, and hair being the top issues reported.Self-consciousness about appearance was more common among teens (73 percent of teen girls and 69 percent of…
Artificial Sweeteners Tied to Increased Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Lots of people who want to lose weight or cut down on calories may turn to artificial sweeteners as one way to help achieve these goals. But a new study suggests that swapping out real sugar for artificial sweeteners may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.This study, which followed more than 100,000 adults for about a decade, is among the largest to date to identify cardiovascular health problems with sugar substitutes. Overall, artificial sweeteners were associated with a 9 percent higher risk of any type of cardiovascular disease event and an 18 percent greater chance of stroke, according to results published in The BMJ.“Our results indicate that these food additives, consumed daily by millions of people and present in thousands of foods and beverages, should not be considered a healthy…
Drinking Tea Tied to Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
People who drink black, green, or oolong tea may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who don’t drink tea at all, new research suggests.Researchers reviewed data from 19 previous studies with a total of more than one million participants, from eight different countries, who didn’t have type 2 diabetes. They looked at how often participants drank black, green, and oolong tea — less than one cup daily, one to three cups a day, and four or more cups.Over an average follow-up period of 10 years, the analysis found that people drinking at least four cups of tea daily were 17 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than individuals who consumed little or no tea, according to preliminary results presented at the European Association for…
Generic Heart Pill Shows Early Promise for Alcohol Use Disorder
A generic drug used for decades to treat heart failure and high blood pressure shows early potential as a treatment for alcohol use disorder, a new study suggests.The pill, spironolactone, costs pennies a day and is most often prescribed as a diuretic to reduce fluid retention in patients with heart failure. The drug works by blocking proteins known as mineralocorticoid receptors, which are located throughout the body and play a role in maintaining a healthy balance of fluids and electrolytes. Some previous lab experiments also suggest that these proteins may play a role in alcohol use.For the new study, researchers tested the effects of spironolactone in mice and rats, then examined medical records for more than two million people who drank alcohol to see if taking the drug was associated…
Night Owls Have a Higher Risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease
People who hate to miss a sunrise may have a lower risk of some chronic health problems, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, than people who thrive on late nights and sleeping in, a new study suggests.Differences in so-called sleep chronotypes — or natural sleep-wake cycles that program our body’s biological clock — have long been associated with the risk of a wide range of chronic health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, fertility issues, digestive disorders, and mental illness. But much of this research has focused on what happens when people can’t sleep when their body is naturally wired to do so — a common issue for shift workers.The new study took a different approach, focusing on people who do follow their natural sleep-wake cycles, also known as…
Women’s Health Worsened in 2021 as Many Women Lack Access to Health Screenings and Preventive Care
More than 1.5 billion women around the world lack essential health screenings, a problem that experts attribute to food insecurity, poverty, lack of educational opportunities and threats to their personal safety, according to a new report created by Hologic, a global medical technology company, and Gallup, an analytics company that specializes in polling.These findings reflect an overall lack of prioritization placed on women's health — by both decision-makers and women themselves, says Rosemary Morgan, PhD, associate scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, who was not involved in creating the report. “A lack of prioritization by decision-makers means less money going towards women’s health and less research on women’s health,” she says.From a young age, women are programmed to take care of others and put…