Caffeinated Depression blocker
The more caffeinated coffee women drink, the less likely they are to develop depression, according to a prospective study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Overall, as self-reported caffeinated coffee consumption increased, the risk for depression decreased. In particular, compared with women who drank 1 cup or less a week, those drinking 2 to 3 cups a day had a 15% lower relative risk for depression, and those drinking 4 or more cups a day had a 20% lower risk. No link was seen between other sources of caffeine and depression, or between decaffeinated coffee and depression.
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Welcome to ObamaCare: higher insurance premiums for you!

The average annual premium for family coverage in employer-sponsored health insurance plans is at $15,073 — a 9% increase over 2010 — the New York Times reports.
The reasons for the increase are unknown, but the Times says some analysts suspect that insurance companies are raising their prices before new rules, anticipated to take effect next year, would force them to justify increases above 10%.
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Eat Healthy Breeds Healthy

Neural tube defects and orofacial clefts are less common among the offspring of women who follow a healthy diet before pregnancy, according to a case-control study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Some 3400 women with pregnancies marked by anencephaly, spina bifida, cleft lip, or cleft palate, and 6100 women who had infants without birth defects, completed postnatal questionnaires about their dietary habits in the year before they became pregnant. The women's diets were then scored according to how closely they mirrored a Mediterranean diet or a diet based on the USDA's food pyramid.
Overall, the highest quartile score for either type of diet was significantly associated with reduced risks for birth defects, compared with the lowest quartile. In particular, the highest food pyramid scores were associated with about a 50% reduction in anencephaly risk and 35% reduction in cleft palate risk, while the highest Mediterranean diet scores conferred reductions of 35% and 25%, respectively.
Editorialists conclude that the study's lesson "is an important one: people, including women of childbearing age, should eat good food."
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No Soup, er PSA Test for U!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/health/07prostate.html?_r=1
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has concluded that healthy men should not undergo routine prostate-specific antigen testing, the New York Times reports.
The recommendation, which will be made available for public comment next week, was based on an analysis of five trials and applies to men of all ages. The Times quotes the task force's chairwoman: "Unfortunately, the evidence now shows that this test does not save men's lives ... This test cannot tell the difference between cancers that will and will not affect a man during his natural lifetime."

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Vitamin E Associated with Increased Prostate Cancer Risk

Vitamin E supplements may significantly increase the risk for prostate cancer, according to a JAMA follow-up to a 2008 study.
To test the efficacy of dietary supplements in preventing prostate cancer, researchers originally randomized over 35,000 relatively healthy men to one of four daily regimens: vitamin E (400 IU), selenium, both, or placebo. When no apparent benefit for prostate cancer risk was found, the data monitoring committee recommended stopping the study supplements. The researchers continued following the participants, however, and after roughly 7 years' total follow-up, men randomized to vitamin E alone showed a 17% relative increase in cancer risk over those on placebo (absolute risk with vitamin E vs. placebo: 10.9 vs. 9.3 cancers per 1000 person-years).
The authors find no apparent biological explanation for the increased risk, and express concern about the widespread use of high-dose vitamin E in the U.S.

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Erectile Function After Prostate Cancer Therapy, not so great...

Two years after treatment, functional erections were reported by 48% of men with function before treatment.
Source: Oncology and Hematology
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Some good news:
Coronary Disease Prevalence Declines in Most Areas of the U.S.
The age-adjusted prevalence of coronary heart disease in the U.S. has declined by roughly 10% in relative terms — from 6.7% in 2006 to 6.0% in 2010 — according to an MMWR report.
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Chuck the Poland Springs and get a water filter!

Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) — found in many consumer products (e.g., certain food and beverage containers) — is associated with neurobehavioral problems in girls at age 3 years, according to a prospective study in Pediatrics.
The study included some 240 mother-infant pairs from the Cincinnati area.
Each 10-fold increase in gestational BPA concentration was associated with poorer scores for anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, emotional control, and inhibition among 3-year-old girls (but not boys).
Take away: …”reduce their [BPA] exposure ... by avoiding canned and packaged foods, [thermal] receipts, and polycarbonate bottles with the recycling symbol 7."
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In case you missed it:
CDC Advisers Recommend HPV Vaccination for Boys

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (marketed as Gardasil) for boys aged 11 and 12 years, the Associated Press reports.
ACIP also recommended vaccination for males aged 13 through 21 who have not yet been immunized or have not finished the three-dose series. Vaccinating males can help protect them from genital warts and HPV-related cancer, the AP notes, and might help prevent spread of the virus to females.
Gardasil has been FDA approved for use in males aged 9 to 26 since 2009.

FemiSex Note to smart girls: tell the boys if they want to do the freaky deeky, show up with the vaccination papers, because no boy is worth warts or cancer or both!
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Just so you know!

Vaginal birth was associated with higher risk for pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence 5 to 10 years postpartum.
Source: Handa VL et al. Obstet Gynecol 2011 Oct 118:777
Nygaard I. Obstet Gynecol 2011 Oct 118:774

FemiSex: so should women be able to opt for C sections?
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Now it’s in mice too…

ANTIDEPRESSANT LINKED TO DEVELOPMENTAL BRAIN ABNORMALITIES IN RODENTS

A study by researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco shows that rats given a popularly prescribed antidepressant during development exhibit brain abnormalities and behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders.
The findings suggest that taking a certain class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRIs – during pregnancy might be one factor contributing to a dramatic rise in these developmental disorders in children.

“We saw behaviors in the treated rats and neurological problems that indicate their brains are not properly conducting and processing information,” said Dr. Rick C.S. Lin, professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at UMMC and principal investigator on the study.
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences at www.pnas.org.

FemiSex note: there is an increasing body of evidence in humans that taking anti-depressants may harm the fetus as it develops. A lot to be thought of here before dumping the mood pills, but perhaps most important is to re think pregnancy if you are so depressed you need medication. Just an opinion not more…
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U.S. women more limited than ever in finding MDs to treat the entirety of their reproductive needs:

Most practicing obstetrician-gynecologists reported encountering women who seek abortions, but only 14% provide such services.
Reviewing: Stulberg DB et al. Obstet Gynecol 2011 Sep 118:609

FemiSex Note : 45% of women will terminate a pregnancy during their lives. They should demand doctors willing to treat ALL their needs. –
Unintended Pregnancy in the U.S.: Unmet Objectives
Despite U.S. government goals, rates have not dropped during the past decade.
Source. Contraception 2011 Aug 25;

And…
Incidence of stroke during pregnancy and postpartum is on the rise.
Source:. Stroke 2011 Sep 42:2564
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Hprmone Replacement Therapy for the newly deficient

Results of an angiogram-based study reinforce the theory that HT use by recently menopausal women prevents coronary artery disease.
Reviewing: Shufelt CL et al. Menopause 2011 Sep 18

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Some good tools to help mom and child with global health, but also our food for thought.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/09/five-business-innovations-fo...

Pumping money into delivering basic health services to woman in third world or developing countries does not hit the root problems. Yes do give relief care, but why not equally address the root issues that hurt women: their status as second-class citizens and their prolific fecundity before they ever think about self actualization.
If we spend significant time and money helping women stave off childbirth and moving them towards becoming educated women with a future beyond wet nursing THAT is the solution in the long term.