Sunday, June 27, 2010

News Flashes

Free AIDS testing this week

from the Detroit Free Press

Today, Sunday June 27 is National AIDS Testing Day.

Twenty-five percent of Americans who have AIDS don't know it.

AIDS Partnership of Michigan will provide HIV testing and syphilis screening Tuesday from 5-10 p.m. at 1959 East Jefferson in Detroit.

Visit aidspartnership.org for other testing sites.


Good news for coffee, bad news for tea

from calorielab.com and UPI

According to a 2009 Harvard Medical School study that tracked coffee habits and strokes among 83,000 American women for nearly a quarter century, drinking coffee lowers women's risk of stroke by 19%.

Women who drank one to three cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24%, although it was noted that this benefit diminished as the quantity of coffee rose above three cups. Other recent studies have shown that coffee is protective against certain brain tumors, endometrial cancer and advanced prostate cancer.

And yet ...

Women who drink tea may increase their risk of rheumatoid arthritis, U.S. researchers say.

Drinking any amount of tea was associated with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis but the researchers found no increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women who drank coffee.

Neither the method of coffee preparation -- filtered vs. unfiltered -- nor the presence or lack of caffeine showed any significant associations with rheumatoid arthritis.

"It is surprising that we saw such differences in results between tea and coffee drinkers," Christopher Collins of Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, said in a statement. "This does make us wonder what it is in tea, or in the method of preparation of tea that causes the significant increase in risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis."

The study -- involving 76,643 women ages 50-79 taken from the 15-year Women's Health Initiative Observational Study database -- used statistical hazard models to determine whether tea or coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system harms the body's own healthy cells.

Afghanistan lacks health care, education and security for women
Average life expectancy is only 44 years

from Epoch Times


Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be pregnant according to a report on maternal mortality by the Afghan Ministry of Health, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for disease control and prevention.

In Afghanistan one woman dies every 27 minutes from a pregnancy-related condition that is preventable, in most cases, with access to medical care and health facilities.

Only an estimated 14% of Afghan women received skilled medical attention -- such as a midwife -- during labor and delivery.

Afghanistan also has the highest infant mortality rate in the world and the second highest maternal mortality rate according to the U.S. Government's statistics.

In fact, the average life expectancy for women in Afghanistan is only 44 years.

An estimated 87% of Afghan women are illiterate and girls fear going to school for lack of security.

Violence targeting women and girls is widespread and rape is a frequent problem. Rape is underreported and concealed, according to Norah Niland, chief U.N. human rights officer in Afghanistan. It affects all parts of the country, all communities, and all social groups.

One in three Afghan women experience physical, psychological, or sexual violence at some point in their lives and often find themselves prosecuted for adultery rather than the perpetrators.

As a result of the oppressive atmosphere, an increasing number of women in Afghanistan are choosing suicide as a way to escape violence and abuse.

In 2008, more than 80 women tried to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire in the province of Herat -- many succeeded according to a human rights report prepared by Canada's foreign affairs department.

Beaumont Hospitals name Carbone first woman, physician COO

from freep.com



Dr. K. Bobbi Carbone has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Beaumont Hospitals.

She will join Beaumont July 26 as the first physician as well as the first female COO in Beaumont's 55-year history.

Dr. Carbone was previously the chief clinical operations officer at Memorial Hermann Health Systems in Houston, Texas.

She earned her medical degree at the University of Wisconsin, held a residency in anesthesiology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, and a fellowship in cardiac anesthesia at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Carbone also has a master's degree in business administration from The Wharton School of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.

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