Despite the lack of evidence suggesting that double mastectomies can improve long-term survival rates for women diagnosed with cancer in one breast, many more women in this position opting for the procedure, according to a study published late last month in the journal Cancer. The analysis, which considered all of the mastectomies
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The emergence of the birth control pill in 1960 is largely credited with ushering in a new era of female sexual independence. In the decades since the pill has become a standard component of many women’s contraceptive routines—100 million women worldwide currently take the birth control pill, according to United Nations estimates. Yet,
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A law put into effect in July 2008 that banned fast food restaurants in a section of Los Angeles for one year may have been well intended, but missed the point, according to a study by the non-profit research organization, RAND Corporation, published online in the journal Health Affairs. Economist Roland Sturm and natural scientist …
Premature births are on the rise in the U.S., as my colleague Laura Blue reported recently, and despite all of the health care dollars being spent to usher preemies safely into the world—some $26 billion annually—too often they number among the 30,000 babies under a year old who die every year in this country. It’s a grim figure, …
A product designed to let women fake losing their virginity—an artificial hymen that can be inserted into the vagina before intercourse and releases “just the right amount” of a blood-like substance, according to the distributor—is being denounced by conservative Egyptian politicians and religious scholars, according to the Associated Press.
Tai Chi, the ancient Chinese art that combines slow, controlled stretching with meditation, has long been praised by advocates of alternative medicine for its broad range of health benefits, including improved muscle tone and balance, as well as pain reduction. The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and
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Looking back at historical data, more than a few scientists have noticed an interesting trend—during surges in industrialization, there appeared to be corresponding jumps in appendicitis cases. With the growth of industry in North America and Europe during the 1800s and early 1900s came the increased emission of pollutants such as
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Between 1990 and 2006, overall numbers of burn injuries among children dropped by 31%, according to a study published in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics. Yet while that decrease is cause for celebration—for parents and pediatricians alike—authors of the large scale study, which analyzed some two million burn injuries
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Girls who attend single sex schools are more likely to find boys with “feminine” features attractive, according to a story from the BBC. The article refers to a study from St. Andrews University in Scotland, in which researchers asked 240 kids between the ages of 11-15 to rate faces by attractiveness. They found that, girls who attended
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The value of self-breast exams as a cancer screening tool has been debated in the medical community, with some physicians arguing that the stress, worry and unnecessary medical procedures that often result when women identify a mysterious lump may do more harm than good. Yet, on the other hand, there are patients and professionals alike
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When doling out punishment for crimes or misdeeds, the rules of society tend to focus more on the results of behavior, and not as much on intentions: a person who runs a red light through an empty intersection may get a ticket, but a person who runs a red light, crashes into another car and injures that driver will likely face more
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Constantly worrying about losing your job may be worse for your health than actually getting laid off or being unemployed, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Social Science and Medicine. By analyzing two large, long-term data sets for some 1,700 U.S. workers, sociologists from the University of Michigan
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Handwriting can reveal tell-tale signs of deception, according to a study published in the November issue of the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. To see whether people’s handwriting differed when they were writing true or false statements, a team of researchers the from Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at Haifa
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