http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (AP) -- What birth control debate? A half-century after the introduction of the pill, acceptance of birth control by American women is virtually universal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-qa-obama-birth-controversy.html Health Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:18:24 EST news248113073 New evidence-based guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) address the many risk factors for developing a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clot, as the result of long-distance travel. These risk factors include the use of oral contraceptives, sitting in a window seat, advanced age, and pregnancy. The Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis, 9th ed: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines, published in the February issue of the journal CHEST, also suggest there is no definitive evidence to support that traveling in economy class can lead to the development of a DVT, therefore, dispelling the myth of the so-called "economy class syndrome." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-dvt-guidelines-evidence-economy-class.html Health Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:20:50 EST news247810831 A large Scandinavian study, that has been running for 30 years, has finally provided convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill does, indeed, alleviate the symptoms of painful menstrual periods reports scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-combined-oral-contraceptive-pill-painful.html Other Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:18:48 EST news247767516 (AP) -- A federal judge is considering whether Washington state can require pharmacies to stock and sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, even in the face of religious objections by druggists who believe they destroy human life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-fed-pharmacies.html Medications Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:10:07 EST news247378184 US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Wednesday recalled one million packets of birth control pills over a packaging error that could put women at risk of unintended pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-pfizer-recalls-million-packets-birth.html Medications Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:50:03 EST news247321950 A new regulation that requires women buying emergency contraceptives in at least one Chinese city to register their real names and ID card numbers has triggered an outcry on the Internet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-contraceptive-china-outrage.html Other Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:27:12 EST news244448813 (AP) -- Worried about birth control in light of headlines about side effects from Yaz and the patch? Women have a lot of options that are safe and effective, including some that are even more reliable. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-birth-choices-abound.html Health Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:50:02 EST news242930430 Women who use bust-enhancing dietary supplements containing the mycoestrogen zearalenone (ZEN), a naturally occurring toxin that widely contaminates agricultural products, could be increasing their risk of breast cancer. That is the warning from breast health experts in a paper published online ahead of print publication in the January issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-women-zen-bust-enhancing-supplements-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:25:57 EST news242562348 (AP) -- Federal health regulators are leaning toward adding new information about the risk of blood clots to the labels of widely prescribed birth control pills such as Yaz, in light of growing evidence that the newer contraceptive drugs may be riskier than older drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-fda-favors-info-birth-pills.html Medications Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:43:41 EST news242419386 The use of drospirenone-containing oral birth control pills is linked to a significantly higher risk of blood clots, both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-drospirenone-containing-contraceptives-linked-higher-blood.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:46:51 EST news239892398 A study published in the British Medical Journal today confirms previous findings that certain oral contraceptive pills are more likely to cause serious blood clots (venous thromboembolism - VTE ) than others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-contraceptive-pills-blood-clots.html Medications Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:10:42 EST news238788602 Scientists have discovered an enzyme that acts as a 'fertility switch', in a study published in Nature Medicine today. High levels of the protein are associated with infertility, while low levels make a woman more likely to have a miscarriage, the research has shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-faulty-molecular-infertility-miscarriage.html Medical research Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:00:09 EST news237979820 Women who take the Pill tend to choose as partners men who are less attractive and worse in bed but a sounder bet for a long-term relationship, according to an unusual study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-women-pill-dud-bed-dude.html Other Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:17:09 EST news237615418 Women with diabetes are less likely than women without chronic diseases to get contraceptive counseling or use reversible contraceptives, according to a study led by a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researcher that was published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The study’s authors say family planning services are critical for diabetic women because diabetics who become pregnant when their blood sugar is uncontrolled have an increased risk of birth defects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-diabetics-contraceptive.html Health Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:29:46 EST news235906157 Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-birth-pills-affect-memory.html Neuroscience Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:24:37 EST news234797066 Birth control pills may reduce a woman's bone density, according to a study published online July 13 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism by Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) scientists. Impacts on bone were small, depended on the woman's age and the pill's hormone dose, and did not appear until about two years of use. The study size and design allowed the researchers to focus on 14- to 18-year-old teenagers, and to look at how bone density might change when a woman stops using the pill. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-gradual-bone-reduction-pill-users.html Health Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:10:03 EST news230288050 A history of cancer was a significant risk factor for developing blood clotting issues following knee arthroscopy, according to a study being presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota analyzed the records of more than 12,000 patients who had undergone the common knee procedure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-previous-cancer-history-chances-clotting.html Cancer Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:30:06 EST news229256989 For many years doctors believed the estrogen women consumed in the form of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) pills was good for their patients' hearts. Recent studies however have shown that long-term exposure to estrogen can be a danger to women as it has been associated with high blood pressure, a key link to heart- and brain-attacks (strokes). Although the process by which estrogen induces high blood pressure in females is unclear, Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have found that long-term estrogen exposure generates excessive levels of a compound, superoxide, which causes stress in the body. The build-up of this compound occurs in an area of the brain that is crucial to regulating blood pressure, suggesting that chronic estrogen induces a build up of superoxide that in turn causes blood pressure to increase. The study also found that the anti-oxidant resveratrol reverses the increase in both superoxide and blood pressure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-link-chronic-estrogen-exposure-high.html Medical research Thu, 26 May 2011 11:27:38 EST news225628037 Women who develop cerebral aneurysms are less likely to have taken the oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy, suggesting taking oestrogen could have a protective effect, reveals research published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-contraceptive-pill-hrt-cerebral-aneurysm.html Neuroscience Thu, 05 May 2011 04:31:29 EST news223788443 Being tall and obese may increase your risk for potentially dangerous blood clots, according to new research in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-tall-obese-significantly-blood-clots.html Health Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:08:39 EST news223229291 Drospirenone, the top-selling oral contraceptive marketed as Yaz or Yasmin in the U.S. and Canada, doesn't carry any more risk of gall bladder disease than the older generation of birth control pills, despite claims by some consumers and lawyers in both countries, according to a new study by University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Mahyar Etminan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-oral-contraceptive-safe-gall-bladder.html Medications Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:31:16 EST news222348658