Jezebel
Leftovers
Posts Tagged “
Health
”
Women who use talcum powder every day on their genitals are 40 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer, according to a new Harvard Medical School study. Scientists say powder particles may travel to the ovaries and cause inflammation that allows cancer cells to flourish. Previous studies have warned about the link between talc and ovarian cancer, but the new study found the risks to be even higher than previously thought. Doctors say women should stop using talc immediately and can switch to cornstarch powder as a safe alternative. Risks apply only to talc used on the genitals, not on other parts of the body. [Daily Mail]
Little Squirts
According to a recent study, 1 in 10 Italian women surveyed said that stress incontinence (or involuntary leakage of urine) caused them to give up their favorite athletic endeavor. The study surveyed 679 women who were all still experiencing regular periods and took part in non-competitive sports. Of the women, 1 in 7 admitted to already suffering from stress incontinence and 1 in 3 of those affected said that stress incontinence occurrs solely during sport activities. The most "risky" sports for involuntary leakage are basketball, "athletics," and tennis or squash. [Eureka Alert]
Oh boy: New reports from a Chinese watchdog agency have extended the melamine-tainted crisis to liquid milk. The agency claims that 10% of samples from Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co. (China's two largest dairy companies) contained melamine. As of this morning, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the melamine-tainted baby formula that has caused the death of four infants and sickened 6,200 children. Melamine is believed to have been added to raw milk by suppliers and dairy dealers and then sold to the larger dairy companies. Many parents in China are confused about what formula is safe for their children after three of the major brands—Sanlu, Yili Industrial Group and Mengniu Dairy Co.—have all been recalled. [MSNBC]
Tainted Love
More on the melamine-tainted baby formula responsible for sickening thousands of babies China: the situation is much worse than previously thought. This morning, the Chinese government announced that melamine has been found in 69 batches of baby formula from 22 different producers. The government also increased the number of sickened Chinese children to 6,244, including 158 who had acute kidney failure, and the Ministry of Health has reported a third infant death. So far, four dealers have been arrested for adding melamine to their milk to defraud nutrition tests. [WSJ]
A new study suggests that men who drink a lot of instant coffee or Brazil nuts may be at risk of developing man-boobs. Instant coffee and Brazil nuts in particular contain high-levels of "gender-bending chemicals," known as phytoestrogens, which also cause fertility problems in animals and increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Instant coffee has 1,833 micrograms of phytoestrogens per 100g and Brazil nuts had 867 microgams of phytoestrogens per 100g. Is this how Davy Jones's rack came about? [The Sun]
Leftovers
Researchers are fine-tuning an experimental breast cancer vaccine that may help eliminate 20 to 30 percent of breast cancers. The vaccine — tested in mice — eliminated tumors from HER2-positive cancer, a type of cancer that accounts for 20-30% of breast cancers. The vaccine even worked to eliminate HER2 tumors that had developed a resistance to drugs aimed at treating them. (Herceptin, an expensive antibody-based drug, is designed to treat HER2 tumors, but patients eventually develop a resistance to it.) [Reuters]
Sexual Heeling
Look, no one wears 4" heels cause she thinks they are good for her health! We know heels fuck with knees and backs and tendons, create hammer toes and bunions and basically cripple you for life. The problem is, for some of us, that moment when you slip on your first pair of pumps is a watershed: damn the torpedoes, there's no going back. the Daily Mail gives a very dreary rundown of all the dire consequences of our glamor — apparently they're especially awful for the developing feet of teens — but then at the end, this familiar-sounding gem: "Italian research suggests women who wear up to a 2in heel may enjoy a better sex life. That's because holding the foot at a 15-degree angle - as with a 2in heel - increases electrical activity in the pelvic muscles that play a vital role in sexual performance and satisfaction." 2"? Maybe we can cut down to that. [Daily Mail]
Wonder Drug
Natalie Archibald is a 7-year-old girl in Scotland who is being kept alive with four doses of Viagra a day. Natalie suffers from the lung condition primary pulmonary hypertension, a condition that causes abnormally high blood pressure that effects the arteries in the lungs and makes people who suffer from the condition faint and turn blue. Viagra helps Natalie by opening up her arteries and improving blood flow and stops the fainting spells and bouts of exhaustion. Natalie's mother (who had to quit her job as a legal secretary to take care of her daughter) says that now Natalie can "run, jump, and skip" with all of her friends. [Telegraph]
Tampax has announced that it will launch a group called the "MonthlyGiftClub" (as in a menstrual period is a "monthly gift") for the tween social networking community Stardoll. For those of you over the age of, oh, 13, Stardoll is basically just a really watered-down version of Second Life, where girls can create avatars and join clubs. Anyway, the MonthlyGiftClub will provide members with white clothing (taking a "visual cue" from tampon ads that signal that a brand's products are "safe and absorbent") and members can sign up to receive free samples of Tampax Pearl tampons. Sounds okay, but maybe a better "visual cue" would be to give non-members sweatshirts to wrap around their waists and eventually have one girl run to the locker room in tears after some idiot boys point out spots on her backside? [Brand Week]
