Archive for June 2nd, 2006
You can prevent acne or stop further spread of the inflammation by following some acne prevention tips that include proper maintenance of skin, hair, diet and little physical exercise.
It is suggested to keep the body parts clean, particularly which are acne-prone like face, neck, back and genital areas. Wash them with a mild soap at least twice a day.
Avoid using fragranced soaps or rough cleansing pads. If your skin is oily, you should clean your skin of oils, but do not over dry the skin or vigorously scrub the skin. After using soap, be sure to clean it properly. If you sweat, clean them as soon as possible.
Avoid using cosmetics that include lots of chemicals and fragrance. You should also choose oil-free cosmetics which do not have the potential to clog pores. Remove make-up and cosmetic applications with a mild soap before going to sleep.
Cosmetics may clog your pores and promote acne. Also, do not contaminate make-up and cosmetic application devices by reusing them in acne-infected parts.
Do not try to remove pimples by popping and squeezing them. This pushes the infectious materials, contained in the pimple, further into the skin and increases the severity of acne. It may also help further spread of acne.
Avoid tight clothes and other articles that rub on acne-prone areas for acne preventions. Keep your pillow cases, sheets, towel, hanky, etc, clean. The articles should be washed frequently with a mild detergent.
Besides, do not expose your skin to sunlight. Sunburn is extremely dangerous to the skin. Try to remain in shade as much as possible that may help you in acne prevention.
Hair and hair care products, which usually contain oils, should be kept away from acne-prone areas. Hair sprays are likely to make contact with the face. So, remove these oily residues from the face immediately.
Though diet is not the cause of acne, it contributes to the state of acne. Your diet should include essential vitamins and minerals to assist the body in regulating the balance of oil and other acne producing components.
Apart from these, regular exercise is important to reduce stress, balance hormones and increase the circulation of blood and oxygen to the skin. Poor circulation of blood and oxygen helps in clogging of oils and toxins. The sweat generated by exercise is known to assist in cleaning skin pores and reduces acne.
June 2nd, 2006
London.– Juggling a career along with being a wife or partner and parent may help to keep women healthy, scientists said on Monday.
After analyzing data from a study that tracked the health of Britons born in 1946, they found that women who had multiple roles were less likely than homemakers, single mothers or childless females to report poor health or to be obese in middle age.
“Women who occupied multiple roles over the long term reported relatively good health at age 54,” said Dr Anne McMunn, of University College London.
“It looks like women are relatively healthy as a result of combining work and family life.”
In the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, McMunn and her team analyzed self-reported health records of more than 2,000 women at the ages of 26 and 54 and their body mass index, a method of measuring obesity.
Information on their marital status, work history and whether they had children was also included.
The researchers found that women who had been homemakers most of their lives were most likely to report poor health, followed by single mothers and childless women.
Homemakers tended to gain weight more quickly and had the highest rate of obesity at 38 percent while women who were employees, wives and mothers had the lowest.
McMunn said it has been known for some time that women who combine employment with motherhood and partnership have better health. But it was not clear whether they were working and having children because they were healthy, or whether they were healthy because they were combining the two.
“This study is the first to show which way that direction runs,” she added.
“There may be potential long-term health benefits of being able to participate in all areas of society.”
June 2nd, 2006
Only a small subset of women who survive childhood cancer will become sterile as a result of their cancer treatment.
In these cases, sterility develops as a result of “acute ovarian failure,” when the ovaries shut down, and most commonly occurs after high levels of ovarian radiation, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
“These results confirm and extend our understanding of the risk factors for developing acute ovarian failure among females who are treated for a malignancy during childhood or adolescence,” senior investigator Dr. Charles A. Sklar said.
Sklar of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York and colleagues examined the medical records of female participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. The subjects, who were at least 18 years old, were consider to have acute ovarian failure if they had never menstruated or had stopped menstruating within five years of their cancer diagnosis.
Out of a total of 3390 eligible survivors, acute ovarian failure developed in 215 (6.3 percent). Acute ovarian failure risk factors that were not dependent on the presence of other risk factors included increasing doses of ovarian radiation (at least 1000-cGy), exposure to procarbazine and to cyclophosphamide between 13 to 20 years old.
“The data from our study,” concluded Sklar, “will assist clinicians in counseling patients and their families at the time of the initial cancer diagnosis and will facilitate selection of high-risk individuals who might benefit from novel fertility preservation techniques.”
June 2nd, 2006
A skin patch containing testosterone can help women with low levels of this male hormone, or “androgen,” according to a report in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Although many people think of testosterone as a hormone exclusive to men, women need it too or else abnormalities in bone structure and body composition can occur.
Testosterone replacement has been shown to improve bone thickness, muscle mass, mood, and libido in androgen-deficient men, the authors explain, but little is known about the effects of testosterone replacement in androgen-deficient women.
Dr. K. K. Miller and colleagues, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, investigated the effects of 12 months of testosterone replacement in 51 women of reproductive age with androgen deficiency due to disturbances in the pituitary gland, a tiny gland found in the brain. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either two testosterone patches or two fake “placebo” patches, changed twice weekly.
Testosterone levels increased into the normal range in women treated with testosterone, the authors report, whereas other hormone levels did not change.
Bone thickness at the hip and forearm increased significantly, the results indicate, although there was no change in spine bone thickness in women treated with testosterone compared with placebo.
Muscle area increased significantly in women treated with testosterone, the researchers note, but there was no change in fat area.
Women treated with testosterone experienced improvements in mood and sexual function and in quality-of-life, the investigators say. Testosterone treatment was associated with an increased incidence of acne, but there were no other differences in side effects between the testosterone and placebo groups.
While the results are encouraging, “further studies will be needed to determine long-term efficacy and safety of such a replacement strategy,” the authors note.
June 2nd, 2006
NEW YORK.– Women who sleep less than five hours a night are more prone to gain weight and become obese, according to a new study.
Researchers had covered some 70,000 middle-aged women involved in the Nurses Health Study in the U.S. for 16 years, recording their weight every two years.
It was found that those who had sleep for about five hours a night were 32 times more likely to put on at least 33 lbs or more and 15 per cent more likely to become obese than sound sleepers during that time.
Prof Sanjay Patel of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who was the lead author of a report presented to the American Thoracic Society International Conference, said there have been several studies that have shown that at one point in time, people who sleep less weigh more, but this is one of the first to show reduced sleep increases the risk of gaining weight over time.
Prof Patel said the researchers could not get to know any causal link between getting less sleep and putting on weight.
He said, “Sleeping less may effect changes in a person’s basal metabolic rate — the number of calories you burn when you rest.
“Another contributor to weight regulation that has recently been discovered is non-exercise associated thermogenesis, which refers to involuntary activity, such as fidgeting or standing instead of sitting.
“It may be that if you sleep less, you move around less, too, and therefore burn up fewer calories.”
Patel said the team’s findings had nothing to do with light sleepers eating too much, or taking too little exercise.
June 2nd, 2006