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Sunday, February 28, 2021
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Breast Cancer Survivors Memory Issues Fixed By Exercise Therapy

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Breast Cancer Treatment Fatigue is Countered By Exercise

Exercise for women can easily combat the stress brought on by breast cancer.

STATES CHRONICLE – A new study has revealed that the phrase “a healthy mind in a healthy body” is especially true in the case of women who survived breast cancer.

After undergoing treatment for breast cancer, the majority of women report memory problems. While the causes can vary, the truth is that women do have these issues. The study focused on finding applicable and safe ways to combat the issue.

Undergoing breast cancer treatment is not something anyone could cause enjoyable. The treatment itself is quite aggressive and will end up wearing out the body and the mind. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments, especially lengthy one, are known to affect the human memory.

Apart from the physical aspects of treatments, there are the mental repercussions as well. Undergoing any medical treatment adds stress and fatigue to anyone’s life. In the case of cancer patients, it adds the already existing stress and fatigue caused by awareness of having the disease.

Low self-confidence and emotional exhaustion are also emotional factors which have been previously shown to lead to issues regarding memory.

Data from the study was gathered from 1,800 members. All the members of the study group were breast cancer survivors.

After Breast Cancer Treatment Women Have All The Reasons To Exercise

As part of the study, it was observed that members who took part in either moderate or vigorous physical activities were, as expected, able to better cope with the fatigue and the stress brought on by the treatment.

In time, members who were physically active also reported fewer issues with their self-confidence.

In the hectic and busy lifestyle the world is currently living, it is easy to forget a few things along the way or to not have time for everything one would hope to achieve.

A lot of people see exercise as something people do to lose weight, or what fit people do to stay in shapes and keep their bodies looking good. Three weekly hours of exercise, however, are enough to cause the brain to generate small doses of hormones that make us happy and content.

Exercising has been proven in the past to be a very effective stress reliever when the proper mindset is used.

Issues with memory exist due to the daily stress. In the case of women who suffered from breast cancer, the stress of that, as well as the exhaustion from the treatment itself can quickly lead to depression. Before considering medical help in the case of depression, always consider and try to exercise first.

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Stress Before Pregnancy Can Affect the Baby

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Being stressed even before getting pregnant could lead to your baby having a low weight

STATES CHRONICLE – Although most recommendations are given to women who are already pregnant and they are advised to lead a healthy life and have a balanced diet so that their baby will be healthy, it turns out that women need to be careful even before getting pregnant.

According to a new study, being stressed out before pregnancy could increase the risk of birthing a low weight baby. In most people, stress hormone cortisol levels are usually high in the morning and decline through the day. However, there are people who present an abnormal pattern, having a low cortisol level in the morning which fails to decline normally during the day.

This pattern has been linked to several diseases including cancer and artery issues. A new study suggests that the abnormal cortisol levels could also be linked to the weight of the baby. In the study participated 142 pregnant women from several cities in our country.

The researchers assessed the subjects’ stress levels by analyzing their blood pressure, cortisol levels and body mass index. Putting together all data, they found that the cortisol pattern of the mother can affect the baby’s birth weight.

What happens is that the levels of cortisol can lower the blood flow to the fetus which reduces oxygen and nutrients, so the fetus has a difficult time developing properly. According to data, 300,000 babies with low birth weights are born in the U.S. every year. Having a low weight and not being properly developed, means the babies have a higher risk of developing health problems.

This is why it is recommended that women who are planning to get pregnant should evaluate their stress levels and reduce them if necessary. If it is the case, they should treat depression, make sure they have family and friends support and that they’re in a healthy relationship. Physical activity should also become part of their lives as it has been proven that exercising can reduce stress levels.

In this way, women will have a healthy lifestyle which will be good both for their body and for their mind, and most importantly it will prove to be good for their future baby.

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Number of Unplanned Pregnancies is Decreasing

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Most pregnancies are now planned and women tend to get pregnant later in life

STATES CHRONICLE – Although unintended pregnancies are still happening, and in big numbers, a recently published report suggests that the number of unplanned pregnancies is decreasing and has reached an all-time low in 35 years.

The main reason for the decline is the fact that more women are now using IUD, intrauterine devices or other forms of contraception which are long-acting. After the rates of unintended pregnancies were rising in 2008, the data reports show they have dropped by 18 percent in the next two years.

Moreover, what is also good news is that women in the U.S. are giving birth later, the average age at which a woman gives birth being 26. This means that more women are focusing on career, and fewer teenagers are getting pregnant.

Plus, although sexual education is still not as widespread as it should be, people who receive such an education are less likely to have unprotected sex or to have children at a younger age. This brings social, financial and health benefits to women, as they tend to stay more in school, get a better job and consequently have a better life.

Abortion rates are also decreasing thanks to better contraceptive measures, but there are still 42 percent of unplanned pregnancies which end in abortion. Unintended pregnancies could also have a negative impact on the baby as the mother might be reluctant to offer her baby all the attention they need.

Not receiving maternal love and care, the child may encounter problems in their development, both physical but mostly mental. On the other hand, mothers can be negatively affected as well, especially if they choose to have an abortion.

Although most women claim that on the long run, having an abortion has been a good decision for them, the stress the woman goes through when she finds out she’s pregnant although she did not want it is very high. Abortion can also increase this stress and could affect the woman’s health, mentally and physically, either temporarily, when she find herself in such a situation, or on long-term.

All in all, although unintended pregnancies are declining, sexual education should still be taught, and women should know they have the possibility of controlling whether they want to have a baby or not.

Image source: www.bing.com

New Vaginal Gel Could Protect Women Against HIV Even Hours After Sex

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Vaginal Gel Could Protect Women Against HIVMore new and exciting news from the medical field. Yesterday we published news about how DNA shed by tumors can be the key to non-invasive cancer screening and prognosis and today, a new study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine reveals a new vaginal gel could protect women against HIV, even if the gel is applied hours after having sex. The research team was led by scientists from the CDCP (Centers for Disease Control and Protection) and was performed on monkeys.

New Vaginal Gel Could Protect Women Against HIV

This microbicide gel contains antiretroviral drugs that block the cells to get infected with the HIV virus. Before, such gels were created but they needed  to be applied before sex, which meant that compliance was reduced, but now researches have created a microbicide gel that contains integrase inhibitors, which are basically antiretroviral drugs, that will block the infection of cells after the HIV virus presents itself – which means that the gel can be applied after sexual intercourse.

The DNA of the HIV virus enters the DNA of the cells at around 6 hours after initial infection. The gel has raltegravir antiretroviral drug, in 1% and what it does is blocks this process of infection.

Walid Heneine, the author of the study, said that the appliance of the gel after sex would improve acceptability and encourage the women to use it much more effectively.

The gel was testes on thirteen female macaque monkeys. Three of them received the gel treatment thirty minutes before exposure to HIV and the rest of ten were given a placebo gel for twice weekly for seven weeks. After the study ended, two monkeys who were given the microbicide gel tested HIV negative and only one of the ten placebo monkeys remained HIV free.

Another test was done, this time the gel was applied three hours after exposure to HIV with six monkeys receiving the antiretroviral gel, while four were given a placebo twice weekly for 10 weeks. The gel protected five out of the six monkeys from getting infected with HIV, while all monkeys who got the placebo were infected.

The researchers believe that they still need to improve the gel, before beginning human clinical trials, but the results so far are extremely promising. A new vaginal gel could protect women against HIV, which means that HIV could finally start to be eradicated.

Study: Men and Women Equally Prone To Be Depressed

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New research in the field of psychiatry has dispelled the commonly held notion that women are more prone to be depressed than men. On the contrary, recent finding have found menfolk to be just as prone to be in a depressed state of mind as women. The above finding has become evident after researchers hit upon several new symptoms which they claim are also signs of depression and are more likely to be seen in men than women. These include rage, substance abuse, workaholism, or the tendency to take greater risks.

DEPRESSION

Researchers claim they had so far held on to the belief of women being more likely to be depressed is because they had only been stuck to the conventional symptoms such as a feeling of sadness, sleeplessness, and so on. These apart, other common symptoms of depression include a feeling of not being needed or lacking interest in indulging in what most would consider as fun activities. However, what has drawn on the scientists is that these are just the common symptoms of depression though the mental condition may not manifest in the same manner in both men and women.

The above finding also explains the long held contradiction, that of men being several times more likely to commit suicide than women even though it is the latter who are believed to be more prone to suffer from mental agony. One way the above can be explained is that women seem to have no qualms in admitting they are in a mental mess and need help. Men folk on the other hand are loathe to admit they are even prone to be effected mentally, let alone requiring corrective measures.

Also, another contrasting behavior between women and men during depression is that while the former will usually tend to withdraw themselves into a shell when depressed, men can respond in just the opposite manner. Taking undue risks, exhibiting violent behavior, finding recourse in such things such as sex, drug and such or workaholism are some of the ways a depressed state of mind can manifest in men.

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