A study has found that nearly 1 in 4 women (23%) newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shortly after diagnosis. Black and Asian women were more likely to report such symptoms. The study, called “Racial Disparities in Posttraumatic Stress After Diagnosis of Localized Breast Cancer: The BQUAL Study,” has been published online ahead of print in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In this first installment of Contemporary OB/GYN’s Point/Counterpoint department, two physicians discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the laborist (or “hospitalist”) model of care. What are the pros and cons for ob/gyns and their patients?
Tablets are redefining personal computing and making us evaluate what we need from a device and its software.
When a patient’s pregnancy test is positive but ultrasound is inconclusive, a stepwise approach is essential to make an accurate-and timely-diagnosis.
Medical advances mean nothing if our government and infrastructure are broken
Having unprotected sex is not the only impetus for use of emergency contraception (EC) among US women of reproductive age, according to data from a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly half the women represented in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) said they turned to EC because of fear of contraceptive failure.
On October 24, 2012, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC voted to recommend administering the tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) to pregnant women with every pregnancy, regardless of the women’s previous Tdap history.
A large multiyear cohort study by investigators at ColumbiaUniversity in New York City shows limited short-term benefit and significantly higher cost for robotic-assisted hysterectomy than for laparoscopic hysterectomy. The findings, say the researchers, point to the need for “rational strategies to implement new surgical technologies.”
The common disorder now called “polycystic ovary syndrome” (PCOS) is imprecisely labeled, according to an independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).The panel met in December 2012 in an evidence-based methodology workshop sponsored by the NIH Office of Disease Prevention and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Women whose pregnancies are complicated by hyperemesis gravidarum in the second trimester are at a much higher risk of placental dysfunction disorders such as placental abruption and small-for-gestational age (SGA) babies, according to a study appearing in the January 30, 2013, issue of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
A study presented on February 16 at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) annual meeting in San Francisco, California, found that around-the-clock labor and delivery (L & D) coverage decreased the odds of cesarean delivery in certain populations of patients in California.
A small study by New Zealand investigators shows that first-borns may be at higher risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease (CVD) as adults than their younger siblings. The results, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, may have important public health implications.
A large, multinational study has shown that low birth weight (LBW) is tied to prenatal exposure to air pollution.
A first-of-its-kind study has determined that although African-American women may have lower levels of the biomarker used to measure Vitamin D levels-25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25OHD-older African-American women and Caucasian women require the same amount of vitamin D supplementation.
The current genitourinary fistula classification systems have poor to fair prognostic value, as does an empirically derived scoring system that predicts fistula closure 3 months after surgery, according to the findings of a new prospective cohort study.
Between 70 and 90 percent of women carrying a fetus diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome choose to abort. Is terminating a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome the same as terminating a fetus because of its gender?
Monitoring uterine contractions with internal tocodynamometry (IT) versus external tocodynamometry (ET) results in similar maternal and neonatal outcomes in women whose labor is induced or augmented with oxytocin.
The use of APTIMA human papillomavirus (AHPV) assay for the detection of high-risk human papillomavirus E6/E7 oncogenic messenger RNA is an effective triage method for colposcopy referral in women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance cytology (ASC-US).
A study by Norwegian researchers has shown that the use of folic acid supplements around the time of conception may lower the risk of autism in children. The study was published in the February 13, 2013, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
High intakes of calcium in women are associated with higher death rates from all causes and from cardiovascular disease, but not from stroke. This is the conclusion of a prospective longitudinal cohort study by researchers in Sweden.
On February 12, the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC) released the report “Breast Cancer and the Environment: Prioritizing Prevention.” The report is a result of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, which was passed by Congress in October 2008. The act required the US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the IBCERCC, composed of federal and nonfederal members, to examine the current state of breast cancer and the environment research and make recommendations for eliminating any knowledge gaps.
Preconception genetic carrier testing has become more widely available and affordable, but is not always routinely recommended by physicians. Do you encourage it among patients planning to conceive?
Women who have migraine with aura, especially those who take combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) have an increased risk for cardiovascular or thrombotic events.
A recap of social media updates from the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine. #SMFM13
On January 18, 2013, the FDA announced its approval of onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) for the treatment of overactive bladder in adults who cannot use or who do not respond adequately to anticholinergic medications.
Patients with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy who had a cesarean section were more likely to experience persistent pain 6 months after delivery than patients who delivered vaginally, according to a new follow-up study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
A new American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committee opinion (no. 554) addresses the detection and prevention of sexual coercion and violence within women’s relationships. The opinion was developed by the Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women.
A registry-based study by researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) has shown an association between BRCA1/2 mutations and early menopause. The findings, published in Cancer, suggest that women who carry the genetic defect may be at risk of earlier infertility.
Living alone or being unmarried not only increases the risk of having a heart attack, but results in a worse prognosis after a heart attack in both men and women, according to researchers in Finland. Conversely, they say, especially among middle-aged couples, being married and cohabiting are associated with "considerably better prognosis of acute cardiac events both before hospitalization and after reaching the hospital alive."
New drugs, new research, new guidelines… there’s a lot for ob/gyns to look forward to in the coming year. Here, the leaders of seven ob/gyn societies share the most interesting, important, exciting things on their radar for 2013.