RESEARCH THAT MATTERS TO WOMEN

Cranberry Juice and UTI: Truth to the Myth
A recent study confirms that cranberry juice can prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). That’s good news, because at least one-third of women who get one infection will get another—or perhaps more.

Researchers followed 150 women who had a previous UTI. One-third of the women drank about 2 ounces of cranberry juice daily. After six months, the juice drinkers had a 20% lower risk of getting another infection, compared with women who drank no juice.

Natural substances in cranberries, called proanthocyanidins, are probably what makes them work. These seem to prevent certain bacteria from causing infection.

British Medical Journal, Vol. 322, No. 7302

Exercise to Extend Your Life
Some people think exercise is only for the robust. But a new study has found that 30 minutes of activity just once a week can extend lives, even in people who aren’t perfectly healthy.

For three years, experts studied about 1,900 people age 40 and older, half of them women. All had at least two of four diseases: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease.

Researchers asked how much the subjects exercised each week. Those who got less than 30 minutes a week had more than twice the risk of dying as those who were active at least once a week for 30 minutes.

Exercise might help people live longer by lowering blood pressure and controlling blood sugar. Activity also lowers the risk for heart attack and stroke.

To add more exercise, researchers suggested lifestyle activities, such as walking the dog.

Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 161, No. 9

Obesity: As Bad as Smoking?
A new report suggests that obesity may be as deadly as smoking. Researchers surveyed more than 9,500 people, including about 5,800 women, ages 18 to 75. Nearly one-quarter of them were obese—a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. Nine percent of the women had a BMI of 35 or more.

In women with a BMI of 35 or more, obesity had a stronger negative impact on health than daily smoking and heavy drinking. In women with a BMI between 30 and 34, obesity had the same effect on health as daily smoking, but was significantly worse than heavy drinking or ever having smoked a cigarette. Based on these findings, the researchers said that obesity was about as bad for women as smoking every day.

Obesity raises a woman’s risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, arthritis, and some types of cancers.

Public Health, Vol. 115, No. 3

HRT May Affect Thyroid Hormone Levels
Here’s some news you need to know if you have low levels of thyroid hormones and take thyroxine, a common thyroid medicine.

A 48-week study tested 36 women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT). More than two-thirds of them took thyroxine. Using blood tests, the lead researcher found that HRT affected thyroid levels in women taking the medicine. However, women with normal thyroid function in the control group didn’t have any changes in their natural thyroid hormone levels.

The changes in the women taking thyroxine were significant enough that some of them needed to take more medication. Why? HRT seems to tell the body to rid itself of the thyroid medicine, but not natural thyroid hormones.

New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 344, No. 23

Lutein: A Heart-Wise Nutrient
Some researchers think lutein may help prevent arteries from narrowing due to plaque buildup. Researchers used ultrasound to examine the thickness of neck arteries at the beginning of one study and then 18 months later. They tested 573 people ages 40 to 60. People with the highest amounts of lutein in their blood had the least amount of narrowing.

Circulation, Vol. 103, No. 24

Lifting Weights Can Help Fibromyalgia
Women with fibromyalgia are too familiar with its painful symptoms. But what about relief? Experts may have part of the answer: strength training.

Researchers followed 33 women—21 with fibromyalgia. Half of the women with fibromyalgia and all of the women without it lifted weights twice a week. The rest of the women with fibromyalgia didn’t lift weights. After 17 weeks, women with fibromyalgia in the strength training class had less neck pain and fatigue compared with those who didn’t train. The strength training class reported less total pain. They increased their muscle strength as much as women without fibromyalgia.

Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Vol. 60, No. 1

Teens Who Eat Soy May Cut Cancer Risk
One study suggests that teenage girls who eat soy may lower their risk of breast cancer later. The study surveyed about 1,500 women ages 25 to 64 with breast cancer and the same number without breast cancer. The researchers asked them how much soy they ate as teens.

Women who didn’t have breast cancer ate more soy between ages 13 and 15 than did women with breast cancer. Those who ate the most soy cut their breast cancer risk in half.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol. 10, No. 5

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