Screening for PCOS in at Risk Adolescents

A recent study has found that there are certain risk factors available to assist physicians to identify adolescents at risk of PCOS, even though the signs can be masked by the normal physiological changes of puberty. It is important for doctors to screen and diagnose adolescent PCOS in order to prevent the development of future infertility, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and endometrial cancer. Lifestyle modification, i.e., healthy diet and exercise, is of the greatest benefit for adolescents to manage their condition.

Treatment for PCOS

A recent study concluded that short-term, high dose metformin exerts minimal effects on both metaboli markers and reproductive hormones in a small sample of overall morbidly obese women. Those who are struggling with PCOS should consider reducing your weight prior to fertility treatment by eating a healthy diet and getting a moderate amount of exercise.

New Mothers and Suicidal Thinking

New mothers who were severely depressed and their babies were recently studied. The mothers suffered from depression, isolation, and extreme difficulties in parenting their infants.Many of these mothers believed that their babies were better off without them, wanted to die, wished to hurt themselves, and felt that killing themselves was the only way out of their terrible situation.

Additionally, these women felt anxious, mentally confused, felt a greater loss of self as a result of having a child, and were more emotionally labile. Importantly, the women felt guilty for feeling poorly after the birth of their child. This is especially important for those who previously experienced infertility and think they should feel happy and grateful that they were able to conceive and give birth.

The women who were studied believed they were less prepared for mothering and were not reacting to the cues their infants gave. Furthermore, their children smiled infrequently and were more fussy than other infants. The depressed mothers were less engaged with their children and were somewhat passive in their styles of mothering.

The study concluded that although the mothers may have been somewhat prepared for the birth of their babies, they were not emotionally prepared and discounted that their lives would need to substantially change. Women who experience postpartum depression can benefit from seeing a psychologist to help them adjust to the new dynamics of their family. Psychologists can help new mothers structure their day, identify tasks that need to be completed each day, and offer guidance about how to tap into their babies' needs so that they can be more attuned to their child. Moreover, learning how and when to tap into their social support system is essential.

Lack of Social Support Predicts Antenatal Depression

Perinatal and postnatal mental health are both important factors to assess. Interventions with an interpersonal focus may prove particularly effective as lack of social support appears to be a significant predictor of antenatal emotional distress.

Migraine Headaches and Cancer Risk

Hormonal changes cause both migraine headaches and breast cancer. Researchers in Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Bethesda, and Springfield, MA., collected data that supported the fact that a history of migraines may be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Obesity and Labor

Maternal obesity was studied at two New York hospitals. It was found that obesity is associated with longer labor.

Hypertension, Endometrial Cancer, and Type 2 Diabetes

A recent study found hypertension was prevalent in approximately 40% of type 2 diabetic pregnant women but only 10% of the non diabetic controls. Those with an increased body mass index were found to have chronic and gestational hypertension, but not pre-eclampsia. Thus, hypertensive diseases did not affect the pregnancy outcome of women in this study.

However, another study recently reported very obese women aged 20-54 have an elevated endometrial cancer risk, which appears heightened by early menopause.

anxiety and yoga

Participation in a two month yoga class may lead to significant reduction in perceived levels of anxiety in women who suffer from anxiety disorders. Yoga can be considered as a complementary therapy to psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. For many years research has been conducted to determine whether yoga can help patients going through infertility treatment. Although not directly responsible for improved pregnancy rates, yoga can help women through this difficult period of time through anxiety reduction. Warning: no hot yoga, however!

Vaginal and IM Progesterone Supplementation

There were found to be no significant differences in treatment outcome between those who took vaginal vs. intramuscular progesterone supplementation. Thus, there were similar rates of pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth rates in the two methods of treatment.

Postmenopausal Weight Gain and Your Brain

The change in a woman's pre- amd post menopausal body mass index, when she has had a substantial weight gain, may account for a greater reduction in her gray matter volume. In other words, to be smarter gain less weight!