Mistress of Herbs: Saving Uteruses Worldwide

Recently a racket involving the removal of uteruses from healthy women in Kalaburgi hit the headlines. In the city, however, an Ayurvedic doctor has prevented thousands of women from going under the scalpel. 

Dr Gowri Subramanya, has dedicated her life to educating people about the benefits of ancient Ayurvedic medicines and has treated several women ailing for various issues related to the uterus. She is the granddaughter of Pandith Narasimha Murthy, Palace Vaidya of Mysuru royal family. She resides in Banashankari.

She has successfully treated more than 1,300 women and prevent them from undergoing needless surgeries. Not only people in the country, she boasts of patients even from abroad, from countries like Australia and USA. 

Read More Here @ New Indian Express

Radium Girls Remembered

From Voice of America:

In the early part of the 20th century, the chemical element radium was widely believed to cure a number of ailments. It also was used as a way to create glow-in-the-dark faces on watches and clocks. The case of several women who painted those clock and watch faces in a small town in the Midwest state of Illinois helped to raise awareness to the dangers of radium, and forever changed labor laws in the United States.

What no one talked about were the harmful effects to humans caused by exposure to the radioactive radium.

Young women in their late teens and early twenties were recruited to work at the Radium Dial factory in Ottawa. They painted the faces of watches and clocks with radium, which caused them to glow in the dark.

Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon - Diagnosis

From Eureka Alert:

The coronary arteries of Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon - as visualised by whole body computerised tomography (CT) scanning - will feature in two presentations at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging (ICNC) this week in Amsterdam (15-18 May). ICNC is now one of the world's major scientific event in nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT imaging.

The Egyptian princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, who lived in Thebes (Luxor) between 1580 and 1550 BC and who is now known to be first person in human history with diagnosed coronary artery disease, lived on a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and a limited amount of meat from domesticated (but not fattened) animals. Wheat and barley were grown along the banks of the Nile, making bread and beer the dietary staples of this period of ancient Egypt. Tobacco and trans-fats were unknown, and lifestyle was likely to have been active.

Embracing Facial Hair

From Julie Bindel at the Guardian:

As a proud lesbian feminist I have campaigned for years against the beauty industry and cosmetic surgery. I have never worn makeup, except once, as an experiment for these pages, and for years I even refused to wear a bra – until I had to dress up in vaguely smart clothing occasionally for work.

But we all have an achilles heel, and mine is facial hair. I hate it, both on myself and other women. I have a particular terror of fuzz appearing on my face, and always carry one lone item of beauty equipment: tweezers. Luckily, I am not particularly afflicted, although in recent years I have noticed one long black hair that sprouts from my left cheek, another under my chin, and a few barely noticeable ones above my lip. The second they appear they are instantly torn asunder.

My fear of the fuzz is hardly unusual. Even in the thick of the late 1970s women's movement, I remember a close friend – a fellow lesbian and hard-line feminist – confessing, "I'm so glad I discovered electrolysis before feminism!"

UK: Girl Guides Petition Against Airbrushing

From Children & Young People Now:

Young members of Girlguiding UK have launched a petition today (4 August) urging Prime Minister David Cameron to introduce compulsory labelling of digitally altered images in magazines and adverts.

Girlguiding UK will use the petition to lobby the government to enforce tighter control on the media’s use of airbrushed images. It believes that young girls who see these images are subjected to "unrealistic pressures" which can seriously damage their self-confidence.

The last annual Girlguiding UK Girls Attitude Survey published in July 2009 revealed that out of more than 1,000 girls half of those aged 16 to 21 would consider having cosmetic surgery to change their appearance. The survey also revealed that 42 per cent of girls aged 11 to 16 have tried dieting or cutting down on certain foods to improve how they look.

Natalie Fontaine, a Girlguiding member, warned: "Most of us have no idea how significantly these pictures are altered and young girls are shocked when they realise that the images they have of celebrities and models are not a reality. We think it is really important to highlight how serious this issue has become and demand action to protect all girls and young women."

Girlguiding UK has raised concerns that the use of airbrushed models and celebrities exposes young girls to body shapes that are "unobtainable" and that a more realistic picture of women’s bodies would make a big difference to young girls’ self-esteem.

Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at mental health charity YoungMinds, echoed this. "Girls and young women need to grow up feeling good about their bodies," she said. "Airbrushed images create an environment where girls are constantly comparing themselves to something that isn’t real and can’t be achieved. It only serves to make girls and young women feel bad about who they are, rather than secure and content. Compulsory labelling will help young women to see models’ and celebrities’ bodies as they really are and not the fantasy created by the industry."

US: Healthcare Reform Aids 30 Million Women

From UPI:

A U.S. non-profit group that analyzed the Affordable Care Act says 30 million women will benefit from healthcare reform.

Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund in New York, says the law subsidizes health insurance for as many as 15 million currently uninsured women and strengthens existing coverage for 14.5 million women who are underinsured -- coverage that does not protect the insured from high medical expenses.

Insurance carriers consider women, especially those of reproductive age, to be higher risk than men -- and women are charged higher premiums for the same benefits than men of the same age, Davis says.

Other provisions of the law important to women include -- subsidies to purchase insurance, limits to out-of-pocket expenses, and requiring new plans to cover maternity and newborn care.

Another provision of the law is estimated to help 100,000 uninsured women gain coverage through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan -- temporary coverage for adults with pre-existing conditions who are uninsured during 2010 to 2013.

Japan: Female Life Expectancy Rises

From the Global Times:

Japanese women have held the record for the world's longest life expectancy for 25 years in a row, with an average life span of 86.44 years as of 2009, the health and welfare ministry said Monday, as the country struggles to cope with rising welfare costs in a rapidly aging society.

Life expectancy in Japan rose for the fourth straight year in 2009. Japanese men's average life expectancy came fifth globally with 79.59 years. Average life spans rose by almost five months for women and nearly four months for men, compared with the previous year.

The ministry attributed the extension of life spans to improved treatment of the three major causes of death among Japanese - cancer, cardiac disorders and strokes - as well as pneumonia.

Test: Menopause Age

From IBT Health:

A soon-to-be-unveiled blood test can inform young women the exact age when menopause will turn in, thereby giving them ample time to prepare their pregnancy plans and prepare for the phase of life when they cease to be fertile.

The test works on the concept that it measures the levels of hormones produced by the ovaries. The new blood test will be unveiled at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome.

It would let women who are as young as 20 to know within few months when they would hit menopause and hence cease to be fertile. This test could be vital and valuable for women who are working and are trying to maintain a balance between their careers and their family life with having kids.

Legal System Inaccessible For Women With Mental Illness

From ABC News:

A report looking at the ACT's legal system has found many women with mental illness find it impossible to access support.

The report by the Women's Centre for Health Matters tells the stories of Canberra women with mental illness and their dealings with the legal system.

It says women with mental health issues feel discriminated against and socially isolated, and often simply give up.

One of the report's authors Kate Judd says the legal profession and the mental health sector need to work more closely together.

A Return To Virginity

From BBC News:

Young Arab women wait in an upmarket medical clinic for an operation that will not only change their lives, but quite possibly save it. Yet the operation is a matter of choice and not necessity. It costs about 2,000 euros (£1,700) and carries very little risk.

The clinic is not in Dubai or Cairo, but in Paris. And the surgery they are waiting for is to restore their virginity.

Whether in Asia or the Arab world, an unknown number of women face an agonising problem having broken a deep taboo. They've had sex outside marriage and if found out, risk being ostracised by their communities, or even murdered.

Now more and more of them are undergoing surgery to re-connect their hymens and hide the any sign of past sexual activity. They want to ensure that blood is spilled on their wedding night sheets.

The social pressure is so great that some women have even taken their own lives.

Canada: Minority Women & Health

From UPI:

Immigrant women -- especially South Asian, West Asian or Arab women -- say they have trouble accessing healthcare in Canada, researchers found.

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences found more than 50 percent of South Asian, West Asian or Arab adults say they were not very satisfied with their ability to get an appointment with a doctor for a regular checkup.

Nearly 40 percent of East and Southeast Asian and 34 percent of Aboriginal adults reported having difficulties when accessing a specialist compared with 22 percent of white Ontario residents.

The study also found that 15 percent of Canadian immigrants for less than five years do not have a primary care doctor, compared to 7.3 percent of Canadian-born men and women who say they don't have primary care doctor.

Indigenous Women & Cancer

From ABC News:

High rates of cervical cancer among Indigenous women should be combated with increased services, a gynaecologist who used to work in remote Northern Territory communities says.

Aboriginal women in the Territory are 10 times more likely to contract cervical cancer compared with women in the rest of the country, Dr Margaret Davy says.

The death rate is also much higher because the disease is often caught too late.

"The Indigenous women are no different from any other Australian," she said.

"But what is different is awareness of the disease, awareness of pap testing, awareness of reporting symptoms early and the ability of being able to access medical care."

The Northern Territory Health Department says the death rate from cervical cancer in the Territory has been reduced by more than 90 per cent in the past 15 years.

Death of Jane Austin

From CNN News:
It is a truth universally acknowledged -- or nearly so -- that Jane Austen, the author of "Pride and Prejudice," died of a rare illness called Addison's disease, which robs the body of the ability to make critical hormones.

Katherine White doesn't believe it. White, herself a sufferer of Addison's disease, has studied Austen's own letters and those of her family and friends, and concluded that key symptoms just don't match what's known about the illness.

The disease -- a failure of the adrenal glands -- was unknown in Austen's day, first having been identified nearly 40 years after she died in 1817 at the age of 41.

White is not the first to dispute the theory that Addison's disease killed Austen. British biographer Claire Tomalin suggested in a 1997 book that lymphoma was the culprit.

White finds that, too, unlikely. She suspects the answer is much simpler: tuberculosis.

Bahrain: Women Make Progress in Healthcare

From Gulf Daily News:

Bahraini women's role in the health sector was yesterday praised by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The country should be proud of the progress made in empowering women to fulfil crucial roles, said the wife of His Majesty King Hamad and chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Women.

She was speaking as she awarded 39 women during a celebration to mark Bahraini Women Day at the Health Ministry's College of Health Sciences.

According to the latest figures released by the government, nearly 60 per cent of doctors working for Bahrain's Health Ministry are women.

They account for 57pc of doctors and 67pc of dentists.

Sixty per cent of all Health Ministry employees are women and 81pc of them are Bahraini, said Health Ministry public health and primary care assistant under-secretary Dr Mariam Al Jalahma.

"Female nurses make up 88pc, while women in supervisory positions are 51pc, specialist ranks 58pc, and executive ranks 44pc of Bahrainis for 2008," she said.

Designer Vagina

From ABC News Online:

There is mounting concern about a vaginal plastic surgery procedure more and more Australian women are having.

Each year more than 1,200 Australian women undergo surgery on their genitalia in a procedure known as labioplasty.

Doctors and surgeons fear that some women may be having the operation unnecessarily and there are concerns about operations being done by unqualified medical professionals.

In Britain, where the procedure is equally popular, medical experts are warning of a shocking lack of information about the risks and long-term impact.

It is controversial surgery but it is booming nonetheless.

For some, labioplasty is an exercise in Hollywood-style vanity, while for others it is a transformative procedure that trims, sculpts and restores a woman's genitalia.

But there have been no studies to prove its long-term safety and doctors are worried about its ballooning popularity.

Australia: Home Births Outlawed?

From ABC New Online:

A rally has been held outside Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's electoral office in Brisbane over a legislative amendment that protesters say will outlaw home births.

About 300 women and children and a sprinkling of men turned out in showery conditions outside Mr Rudd's Morningside office this morning.

Many waved placards, pushed prams or carried babies in their arms.

Speakers told the rally that women should have the right to decide how they give birth.

Those present say amendments to the Medicare for Midwives Bill will result in a medical veto over midwifery practice and home births.

They have challenged the Mr Rudd and Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon to stand up to the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and remove the amendment.

See also: The Age - Women rally against midwife changes

Like Mother Like Daughter

From News.com.au:

IT'S a question many women ask ... will they look like their mothers when they get older. Now science has provided the answer ... they will.

Plastic surgeons have used new technology to study the ageing process.

For the first time, surgeons in the US used 3D photographic images to quantify the differences in 29 pairs of mothers and daughters who were perceived as similar.

They looked at the periorbital region, around the eyes, and found the ageing process can start in women in their 20s.

"This is one of the most apparent regions and challenging areas for plastic surgeons," Dr Subhas Gupta, who conducted the research, said.

Mothers and daughters have the same skeletal and cellular makeup which is why surgeons can study where the changes occur.

Australia: Easing Loo Queue

From the Courier Mail:

AFTER years of being left to wait in lengthy queues for a public toilet, women are finally in for some relief.

Changes to the national building code, to come into effect in May, will almost double the number of female toilets in new cinemas and increase female toilets at major sporting venues.

State Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said a study showed women were forced to wait on average an extra minute to use the toilet at major events. He said men had held the advantage for too long when it came to the interval or half-time dash.

The building changes will help plan for a predicted increase of 141,600 in the number of females living in Queensland by 2011, reaching a total of 2.28 million.

Sussex County Turns Pink

From NJ.com:

Travelers throughout northwestern New Jersey can expect to see a lot of pink ribbons this month dangling from trees, signposts and utility poles that will serve as a reminder about the perils of breast cancer.

In all, 18,000 ribbons will be hung in 115 towns, including almost every town in Sussex County, to remind women to get a mammogram every year after the age of 40 and to conduct a self-exam every month.

"Our message is simple: Mammograms save lives," said Deborah Berry-Toon, executive director of Project Self-Sufficiency during a press conference held today at the agency’s Newton complex to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The event was held in conjunction with the Sussex County Cancer Coalition and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, sponsors of the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Divine Sisterhood

From Joanna Bounds @ Yahoo Lifestyle:

If you're lucky enough to have a best friend, you'll know they're worth their weight in Tim Tams. She's been there through break-ups and breakdowns, celebrated your successes, and held your hair back when you puked. She knows secrets even your husband doesn't (she'll take them to her grave). And now there's scientific research to back the fact that hanging with her makes you feel good - female friendships lower women's stress levels, and are one of the reasons we live longer than men.

But new research shows that, compared to our mums, there's been a huge drop in the number of friends 30-something women can rely on during a crisis. Twenty years ago, women reported having two very close friends. In 2005, that number fell to one. "That's a 50 per cent drop, which makes for a public health crisis," says the man who conducted the research, Dr Paul Dobransky, psychiatrist and author of The Power of Female Friendship. "It's not completely clear why, but it's likely related to the [fact that] people are spending more time on their careers." But in these times of uncertainty, we need mates more than ever.