Women's Health Research e-Newsletter

November 12, 2009

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SWHR'S LATEST NEWS

• SWHR's Signature Piece of Legislation Included as a Provision in Historic Healthcare Reform Bill
  The House of Representatives made history Saturday November 7, 2009 by passing the Healthcare Reform Bill, H.R. 3962: The Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009. SWHR's signature piece of legislation, the Women's Health Office Act (WHOA) was included as a provision in the historic Healthcare Reform Bill, making this a tremendous accomplishment for womens health research. READ MORE
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• SWHR  Accepting Nominations for 2010 Prize for Scientific Contributions to Women’s Health
  SWHR is accepting nominations for the 2010 Society for Women’s Health Research Medtronic Prize for Scientific Contributions to Women’s Health. This $75,000 annual prize recognizes one woman scientist and/or engineer for her contributions to women’s health. The annual prize encourages women scientists and engineers to work on issues uniquely related to women’s health, rewarding women who have devoted a significant part of their careers to this area.
  To read more and/or download the nomination form, click here.
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SWHR EVENTS

• 2009 Annual Corporate Advisory Council Meeting
  “Adherence to Medical and Health Advice: Barriers and Options for Success"
  Thursday, November 19
  Mandarin Oriental Hotel
  Washington, D.C.
  More Information
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• 2010 Annual Gala Dinner
  Monday, May 3, 2010
  Mandarin Oriental Hotel
  Washington, D.C.
  More Information
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• OSSD Fourth Annual Meeting
  June 3-5, 2010
  Ann Arbor, Michigan
  www.ossdweb.org/

HEALTH RESEARCH NEWS

• Post-menopausal Women With Higher Testosterone Levels May Have Increased Health Risks
  Researchers claim this new information is an important step towards understanding the role that hormones play in women's health. The connection between higher levels of testosterone and these health risks may be explained by the researcher's finding of a greater degree of insulin resistance in women with the highest testosterone levels. Insulin resistance is a metabolic disturbance that prevents  the body from  using insulin efficiently and is itself a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. READ MORE
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• The Truth About Women and Pain
  Basic Pain: Management Techniques Pain is a regular, if unwelcome, reality for many women, perhaps even more than it is for men, and yet, according to the American Pain Foundation, they are often undertreated. Most women have pain with menstruation at some point in their lives, as well as during childbirth. Some common disorders of the female reproductive tract are painful.  Also, painful autoimmune diseases are much more common in women. To cope with their pain, women tend to use more approaches than men, such as learning about their condition, turning to others for support, and finding ways to relax more and manage stress. READ MORE
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• Women Veterans Less Likely To Report Pain Than Male Counterparts
  In 2008 the Department of Defense listed 1.4 million active duty military personnel with 200,337 of those women. The number of women in armed service is expected to continue to increase. Researchers hypothesize that the lower pain prevalence in women Veterans may reflect differences in exposure to combat trauma and injury between male and female soldiers. Though women do not serve in direct combat roles, they have supportive roles that may put them in harms way making it difficult to assess the true injury risk for female Veterans. Related studies also indicate women are more reluctant to seek VA treatment and report more barriers to seeking treatment which could result in lower rates of reported pain in female Veterans. READ MORE
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• Women with Chronic Kidney Disease More Likely than Men to Go Undiagnosed
  “Chronic kidney disease is very prevalent, uses a great deal of Medicare dollars and needs to be detected early in order to begin an effective treatment plan. Without early diagnosis and treatment, the patient may be more likely to need dialysis and suffer related consequences, such as heart disease,” said Dr. Rao. “This study shows that CKD is still being missed by primary care physicians, especially among women patients, and that more education is needed to ultimately improve early detection and diagnosis.” READ MORE
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NOVEMBER HEALTH UPDATES

November has several health awareness campaigns. SWHR supports many of these campaigns and works to not only increase awareness but also encourages research to improve health outcomes for these conditions. 

• LUNG CANCER MONTH - Did you know that lung cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States among women and men? KNOW THE FACTS 
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• NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S AWARENESS MONTH - Some memory problems can be treated when caused by vitamin deficiencies or thyroid problems.  Other memory problems like Alzheimer’s are not reversible..  National Memory Screening Day is November 17, 2009.  For additional information on National Memory Screening Day, please visit: WWW.NATIONALMEMORYSCREENING.ORG
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• AMERICAN DIABETES MONTH - Do you realize that over 18 million people — more than 6% of the population — in the United States have diabetes. KNOW THE FACTS
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WOMEN'S HEALTH EVENTS

• November 14
  A Woman's Journey:  This one-day conference offers a unique day of learning about recent medical breakthroughs from renowned John Hopkins faculty and physicians.  -- LEARN MORE
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• December 7-9
  Women's Health Conference
  For additional information contact Gia Bosch @: 414.221.1700 x130 or via email @: gbosch@acius.net.  LEARN MORE
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GRANT/AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS  

• National Institutes of Health Wants to Hear from You!
  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Communication and Public Liaison and the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives have partnered to develop a Consumer Health Information RFI in response to a Directive by President Barack Obama to all Federal agencies calling for greater transparency, public participation, and collaboration.
  
  In conjunction with the NIH goals for public input and effective dissemination of science-based health resources and information to the public, the RFI will provide insight and better understanding of the health information needs and information-seeking behaviors of NIH health consumer audiences.  Information gathered will assist the agency in developing and disseminating health, medical, and scientific information to a broader variety of audiences.
  
  The RFI may be completed online in English or downloaded from the Web site in Spanish. For more information please visit http://nihhealthinforfi.nih.gov/  
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• Dr. Stanley C. Marinoff Vulvodynia Career Development Award
  
  The Dr. Stanley C. Marinoff Vulvodynia Career Development Award was established to encourage medical professionals to pursue a clinical and/or academic interest in vulvodynia. The purpose of the award is to provide seed money for one of the following: (i) medical research, (ii) the establishment or enhancement of a vulvar pain clinic, or (iii) a written publication on vulvodynia. The NVA's intent is to encourage a medical professional's interest in this field and enable him/her to pursue further clinical or academic opportunities.
  
  For more information on the award, visit the National Vulvodynia Association: http://www.nva.org/index.html
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• Apply for an NIH Director's Pioneer Award
  If you're a new investigator, you're also eligible for an NIH Director's New Innovator Award. Both programs are part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and support exceptionally creative scientists who propose highly innovative-and often unconventional-approaches to major challenges in biomedical or behavioral research.
  
  Women and members of groups that are underrepresented in NIH research areas are especially encouraged to apply. For more information click here. 

Disclaimer: Although the SWHR e-newsletter may include links providing direct access to other Internet sites, SWHR has not participated in the development of those other sites, does not monitor such sites, and does not exert any editorial or other control over those sites. SWHR, therefore, takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, or reliability, security, or privacy policies of those other sites.

Society for Women's Health Research, 1025 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-223-8224 | Fax: 202-833-3472 | Web: www.womenshealthresearch.org