Women’s Health Information

In the Courier Mail there was a story that I believe has touched the hearts of many people. It is a story of sadness, happiness and an unbelievable amount of courage and one of survival…

Many people who live in Queensland will remember the horrifying and fatal accident that finally sparked a Main Roads investigation into the stretch of road at Federal that eventually saw the overtaking lane resurfaced…

After a long fight, determination and courage, Mrs. Leto has given birth to the baby she was meant to have. Mrs. Leto found out that she was pregnant the same day she lost her husband in that horrendous crash…

Click here to read more about a mother and her child her defied all odds and survived…

Women Are Not More of a Pain But They Are More Sensitive To Pain Than Men

For centuries, it has been generally believed women are the more sensitive gender. A new study says that, when it comes to pain, women are in fact more sensitive.

According to a report published in October’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), women have more nerve receptors, which cause them to feel pain more intensely than men.

For centuries, it has been generally believed women are the more sensitive gender. A new study says that, when it comes to pain, women are in fact more sensitive.

According to a report published in October’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), women have more nerve receptors, which cause them to feel pain more intensely than men.

According to the study, women averaged 34 nerve fibers per square centimeter of facial skin while men only averaged 17 nerve fibers. Despite psychosocial expectations for men to be tougher than women when feeling pain, these findings illustrate that women’s lower pain tolerance and threshold are actually really a physical entity.

87% of the 9.2 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed last year were on women. The ability to minimize pain often affects a patient’s perception of their results. Hopefully, this data will give new perspective on how to better treat post-operative pain in women. Currently, 15 to 20% of theU.S. population suffers from acute pain while 25 to 30% suffer from chronic pain.

“This study has serious implications about how we treat women after surgery as well as women who experience chronic pain,” says Dr. Sam Speron, plastic surgery expert and consumer advocate.

“Because women have more nerve receptors, they may experience pain more powerfully than men, requiring different surgical techniques, treatments or medicine dosages to help manage their pain and make them feel comfortable.”

For more information, please visit our web site at www.prplastic.com

Many women prefer to use altnerative pain relief therapies. I will be doing a review on Eazol over the next few weeks. After reading a little about Eazol the product looks good and it is an alternative to the medications that I would normally take for pain…

Fairy Tales Really Do Come True: Mompreneur Reveals Her Secret to Success

Between late-night feedings, kissing ouchies away and changing diapers, moms are dominating the home-based business industry.

Take two toddlers and a newborn at home, combine a mom with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for jewelry design and what do you have? The ingredients for a true mompreneur success story.

It was motherhood itself that inspired Joanie Perales to start Fairy Tale Jewels, a children’s jewelry line designed with sterling silver beads and components and sparkling Swarovski crystals. “The only infant and children’s jewelry I could ever find was either plastic, plated, mass-produced in a foreign country or just plain boring”, says the mother of three.

In 2001, shortly after the birth of her first daughter, Macy, Perales spent months formulating a business plan that would offer mommies and the like, fresh and sassy designs for their “pampered princesses”. In 2002, Perales created her own website and launched her online store.

Armed with her newfound knowledge as a mom and baby number two on the way, Perales, 31, participated in local baby expos to market her brand. In addition to local and national advertising, she also sold her unique creations on Ebay to generate additional funds to keep her business moving forward.

She quickly learned that in order to be successful as a mother and to maintain a growing business, organization was the key. “There was a time when I was running in 100 different directions and didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing. That’s when I knew I needed to get focused, get organized and prioritize.”

Perales still operates Fairy Tale Jewels out of her home in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston. But, plans are currently in the works for a Corporate Showroom to launch in Spring 2007. Sales have soared for this company growing 50% from 2003-2004 and 90% from 2004-2005.

Sales are expected to quadruple in 2006, as Fairy Tale Jewels will debut its boutique collection in early January in upscale children’s stores throughout the United States. Perales will still offer her Personalized and Occasion pieces through her website, www.fairytalejewels.com.

Though it’s not easy to balance a business with raising two toddlers and a newborn, there are strategies to make it more manageable. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Whether it be your spouse, a family member or friend. There are times when it is impossible to do it all by yourself. “Once I realized I couldn’t do it all on my own, I hired a relative to assist with the administrative aspect of the company so I could focus on the creative and design process,” says Perales.

Most mompreneurs find the transition to business owner is easier when the business is based at home. You can find resources to help you discover business opportunities at www.entrepreneur.com. Perales adds, “Make sure you have a passion for what you choose. Don’t do something because you feel it will be rewarding financially. The key is doing something you truly love.”

Finally the Prime Minister has made one decision that I believe many women will be happy with. I believe that many women would love to have the freedom to make their own choices when it comes to their health.

You see just like men have the right to choose, then women should be allowed to do that too. We moved past the dark ages many years ago so surely those who don’t believe that women should have a right should think back to when life changed for everyone.

I hope the vote goes the right way… I hope everyone makes the right decision because we do not want to go back to an era when women or young girls are forced into homes due to unwanted pregnancies… surely the Government and the organisations involved should consider what happened in the past before making that conscience vote…

Toni

Abortion pill vote rules ‘a win for women’

Democrats Leader Lyn Allison has welcomed a decision by Prime Minister John Howard to allow a conscience vote on the abortion pill RU-486 early next year.

The drug has been effectively banned in Australia since 1996 although it is available in other countries, such as the United States and Britain.

The vote will decide whether the Health Minister should maintain the right to determine the availability of the drug or whether the decision should be left to the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Opponents of RU-486 say it is dangerous, while supporters of the drug say it is a safe alternative to surgical abortion.

Labor has already announced it will allow MPs a free vote on the issue.

Senator Allison expects the restriction on the drug to be removed when the vote takes place in February.

“This is a very big win for women and I’m very pleased that the outcome at last is in sight and we’ve got I think much to be grateful for in turning this around,” she said.

“So I am pleased with the Prime Minister’s decision and I am very confident it will be successful.”

ABC News Australia

Singapore tells spouses of patients’ HIV status

Singapore’s Health Ministry has started informing spouses of HIV-positive patients directly about their partners’ disease in order to curb the spread of AIDS.

Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan says letters have been hand-delivered to 41 women since July informing them that their husbands are HIV-positive.

“Previously, some wives were not aware of their spouse’s HIV status and so they were at risk of the HIV infection,” said text of the speech posted on the website.

“Since July this year, we have informed the wife when the infected husband had not informed her of his positive HIV status.

“Marriage and the women’s own fidelity are not enough to protect them against HIV infection. Most have been infected despite staying faithful to their partners.”

The letters advise spouses to get screened for HIV and give them information about counselling services available at the Communicable Disease Centre.

The ministry says two of the women who received the notifications have since tested positive for the virus.

In July the Singapore Government scrapped a law that required the patient’s consent to inform their spouse.

The move to sanction breaching patient confidentiality is part of a raft of measures introduced to fight the spread of AIDS.

Although the wealthy South-East Asian city-state has one of Asia’s lowest levels of HIV infection, it has said it is tightening defences due to an increase in cases.

Singapore has recorded a total of 2,584 HIV infections to date, of whom 954 have died, 631 have full-blown AIDS and 999 show no symptoms.

From January to October this year, 198 people were diagnosed with HIV, less than 10 per cent of them women.

In July, the ministry introduced HIV testing as part of the antenatal screening routine for pregnant women.

A pilot project to distribute HIV self-test kits at locations where homosexuals socialise will be soon be launched.

Controversial legislative measures, such as compulsory HIV testing for couples about to marry and criminalising the act of spreading the HIV virus with or without intent, have also been considered but have not been implemented.

- Reuters

Woman receives world’s first face transplant: surgeon

The world’s first partial face transplant has been performed on a 38-year-old French woman, whose lips and nose were ripped off in a dog attack, the surgeon who carried out the operation told AFP.

Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard, the French surgeon who performed the world’s first hand transplant in 1998, confirmed news reports that the transplant had taken place, without giving further details.

French news magazine Le Point says a team of surgeons led by Professor Dubernard and Professor Bernard Devauchelle carried out the operation on Sunday and Monday in the northern French town of Amiens.

In the high-risk operation, a triangle formed by the nose and mouth was grafted on to the patient, from the northern French town of Valenciennes, who was admitted to hospital in May, the weekly said.

The facial tissues, muscles, arteries and veins needed for the transplant were taken on Sunday from a donor in the northern city of Lille, who was in a brain-dead condition, Le Point reports.

Professor Dubernard, a surgeon at the Edouard Herriot hospital in Lyon and a French deputy, performed the world’s first hand transplant in September 1998, followed by the first double hand and forearm transplant in January 2000.

Professor Devauchelle is a facial surgery specialist from the CHU university hospital in Amiens.

- AFP

ABC News Online (AEDT)

Indigenous women more susceptible to cervical cancer

A new report says Indigenous women are five times more likely to develop cervical cancer than other women in Queensland.

The information comes from a national cervical screening program that also shows early detections and treatments are reducing the number of new cases.

The program has shown a sharp decline in new cases of the cancer over the past decade.

Susan Greenbank from the Queensland Cancer Fund says there needs to be more awareness about the importance of screenings in Indigenous communities.

“Indigenous women may not know enough about pap tests or certainly not enough as non-Indigenous women and that may then lead to feelings of shame in regards to not knowing about the tests,” she said.

She says Indigenous women face more barriers to regular participation in screenings.

“They’re often mobile, so they may not be able to be followed up via telephone and then that makes following them up for treatment quite difficult, and similarly if they do require treatment that often would mean travelling to a regional centre, so, for example, travelling to Cairns, which is then taking the woman away from the community,” she said.

ABC News Online (AEDT)