Hyperglycemia Raises
Women's Heart Disease Risk
A new study found that higher blood
sugar levels in women can signal a
higher risk of heart disease. The study
found that heart disease risk for
women occurs at lower blood sugar
levels than for men. Also, for any blood
sugar level, women have a greater risk
of developing diabetes than men. The
findings were published in the January
22, 2008, issue of the Journal of the
American College of Cardiology.
Researchers with the Framingham
Heart Study collected data on 4058 men
and women who were children of the
original Framingham participants. Using
the new guidelines for defining high
blood sugar (between 100 and 125
mg/dL), they found that the higher the
participant's blood sugar level was at
the start of the study, the greater the
chance of developing heart disease. The
researchers also found that women
whose blood sugar was at the level
determined by the older guidelines
(between 110 and 125 mg/dL) had the
same risk of developing heart disease
as women diagnosed with diabetes.
Obesity, Depression
Go Hand in Hand
A study by the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle,
Washington, has found that many middle-aged women
live with obesity and depression simultaneously, and in
most cases one condition helps to fuel the other.Women
diagnosed with clinical depression were more than twice
as likely to be obese (have a body mass index [BMI] of 30
or more) as their nondepressed counterparts. Conversely,
obese women were more than twice as likely to
be depressed, compared with nonobese women. The link
between the 2 conditions remained regardless of other
factors, such as marital status, education, tobacco use,
and antidepressant use.
The researchers also found that women with BMIs of
30 or higher were less likely to exercise, had the poorest
body image, and consumed 20% more calories than
women with lower BMIs. The findings were published in
the January/February 2008 issue of the journal General
Hospital Psychiatry.
Menopause Symptoms
Fade With Time
Women who experience headaches, irritability, and mood
swings during the onset of menopause might be heartened to
know that these symptoms could lessen as menopause progresses.
A new study from the University of Pennsylvania suggests
that, in spite of the belief that menopause symptoms get
worse with time, "a number of women will find relief once
menopause is reached." The findings appear in the January
2008 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Researchers followed the progress of 404 women, aged 35 to
47 years, for 9 years to study how average menopause symptoms,
as well as concentration problems and anxiety, might
change during menopause. They saw that women who tended
to have headaches, irritability, and mood swings experienced a
decrease in these symptoms as menopause drew nearer. The
researchers suspect a correlation between the levels of folliclestimulating
hormones, which rise with the onset of menopause,
and the easing of symptoms.
The Pros and Cons of Caffeine
Two recent reports on the effects of caffeine on women
may have some rethinking their beverage choices. A study
from Harvard Medical School shows that caffeine helps
women stave off ovarian cancers, but researchers at the
Kaiser Permanente Division of Research found that increased
caffeine intake boosts the risk of miscarriage.
The first study examined data taken from health questionnaires
from more than 121,000 women aged 30 to 35 years
who were monitored for alcohol and caffeine intake, as well
as smoking, to determine the impact of these activities on
ovarian cancer risk. Researchers found that women who
drank more caffeine—whether in soda, tea, or coffee—were
at a lower risk. Neither smoking nor alcohol consumption
had a noticeable effect, however. The findings were published
in the January 22, 2008, issue of Cancer.
The second study (n = 1063) found that pregnant women
who consume 200 mg or more of caffeine per day could double
their risk of miscarriage. Of the 264 women who said that
they did not consume any caffeine, 12.5% experienced a miscarriage.
In women who consumed 200 mg or more per day,
however, the miscarriage rate jumped to 24.5%, after other
risk factors were taken into account. The results were published
in the online version of the American Journal of
Obstetrics & Gynecology.
F A S T F A C T : Women who sleep ≤5 hours a night are twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure as
those who sleep ≥7 hours.
