Some of our most popular posts from June 2016

Women's Health News  - Four of our top stories 

Stress is defined as ‘a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.’  We may be getting stressed at work or at home.

Stress is a part of all our lives.   The stress response gets our body ready for a fight or flight reaction.  The body system that controls stress is the limbic–hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (LHPA).  If you are in danger, the brain’s hypothalamus sends signals to the adrenal glands.  These glands release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline which get the body ready for action.  Cortisol will increase blood sugar and raise blood pressure to prepare the body for fight or flight.  Our body can tolerate this for a short time and it may be useful if we are being competitive, but prolonged high cortisol levels can affect our health and wellbeing.

Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue (the tissue which lines the womb) is found outside the womb itself. The tissue grows blood vessels and bleeds in accordance to the menstrual cycle, and often causes debilitating pain to those who have it.  The prevalance varies from population to population, however it is thought to affect over 176 million women worldwide and has been diagnosed in 40-70% of women suffering from infertility. Recently, celebrities such as Lena Dunham and Halsey have opened up about their struggles with the disorder.

Currently endometriosis can only be diagnosed through laparoscopic surgery, however scientists have found a potentially much less invasive path of diagnosis which only involves a simple blood test. 

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Features  - Two of our top features 

Discussion of the day - Lets get talking

To choose a better life for your child would you alter their genes? 

We are now bending biology beyond what was ever humanly possible. Assisted reproductive technologies are helping people to have children where otherwise impossible. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) has been putting procreation in the petri dish since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, but technology is moving fast and genetic engineering has been catapulted in its capacity in recent months.

Gene editing technology has led us to ask, can we edit the human embryo to prevent disease happening? And more controversial still- will we then select for favorable traits in a given embryo?



 

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Relaxation is a really good way of reducing stress.  Global women have already talked about listening to music, getting enough sleep, having ‘me’ time, not losing your temper, gong and hot yoga and staying calm.

There are several types of massage:

Sports – can be used for any injury or just for helping tired muscles.

Swedish – long strokes, kneading and circular movements are used to relax the body and remove any tension.

Aromatherapy – similar to a Swedish massage but uses essential oils to stimulate the body.

Thai – a very physical massage which may involve arms and legs being pulled and stretched.  
Shiatsu – uses specific points on the body for all over wellbeing and treatment of specific ailments.

Recently, a woman in the UK hid a camera to film people as they resolutely stayed sitting even though they saw her standing whilst 38 weeks pregnant.  This seems to be a global problem, as a pilot project in South Korea has started in order to make it more obvious when someone requires a seat.  The ‘pink light’ project involves a pregnant woman carrying around a ‘beacon’ and a receiver pink light which is attached to seats on the train.  When the woman is near the seat, the beacon will automatically cause the pink light to turn on, therefore drawing attention to the fact that she requires a seat.
 

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There is a huge debate on whether the deliberate termination of a pregnancy is wrong.

People who believe abortion is morally wrong say that life begins at conception and there is no excuse for killing innocent human beings.

Others believe that abortion is a woman’s right and say that a foetus is completely dependent on the woman’s body to survive, it is not a person yet and that a woman must be able to decide her own future.
 

News in brief - Short summaries of women's health news 

More than 300,000 women die after complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Most of these deaths are preventable.

Actor Emily Watson tells us why in this infographic.

 

“AhlulBayt News Agency – Extremist terrorists of the ISIS on Thursday executed 19 Yezidi girls by burning them to death, activists and eyewitnesses reported.

The victims, who had been taken by ISIS terrorists as sex slaves, were placed in iron cages in central Mosul and burned to death in front of hundreds of people.

Most of us want a family but can you image having sextuplets?

Rozonno and Mia McGhee had fertility treatment six years ago and had sextuplets; Rozonno Jr., Elijah, Olivia, Madison, Josiah and Issac  It is very risky to have a multiple pregnancy and having six is incredibly risky.

To reduce the risk of multiple pregnancy, in most countries IVF treatment limits the number of embryos replaced to one or a maximum of two only in certain circumstances.

Inspiring Stories - Women overcoming obstacles

A few weeks ago Joyce Harper was lucky enough to attend a workshop run by Jasvinder Sanghera, CBE – a truly inspiring woman. She has dedicated her life to educating about forced marriage and honor based violence after she ran away from home, age 16, to save herself from a forced marriage.

Jasvinder is in her early 50s. Her father had moved to the UK from Punjab in the 1950s. She is the youngest of a large family – six girls and a boy. Her sisters were taken aged 15 and forced to marry a man they had never met. At 14, Jasvinders mother showed her a photo of her future husband and Jasvinder said NO. She wanted a different life – she wanted to go to school and did not want to get married.