Women's Health Research

Three quick hits this afternoon (courtesy Rebekah Spicuglia) regarding new info about women's health here and abroad:

Saving Mothers, One at a Time
7/15/08
NY Times: According to a 2007 study of global maternal mortality rates, more than two-thirds of deaths among Malawian women of reproductive age are linked to pregnancy or childbirth - a larger proportion than in any of the 171 countries in the study.

Teen Sexual Behavior Does Not Predict HPV Risk
7/16/08
RHRealityCheck.org: A teen's sexual activity doesn't predict her future risk for HPV, and shouldn't determine whether she receives the HPV vaccine, according to University of Michigan researchers. HPV, genital human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Study Questions Breast Self-Exams
7/15/08
Boston Globe: Although most women are told to examine their breasts every month for lumps, new research confirms that the practice - on its own - may do more harm than good. Self exams, and those by healthcare providers, actually produce an increase in benign biopsies, but don't get the patient into treatment earlier or save her life.

(Image is from Women's Health 2009: The 17th Annual Congress)

Beauty Myths, Dove, Naomi Wolf, and Woodhull

So Dove has a new spot--which, sorry, I think is pretty great--called "Onslaught." Broadsheet's Catherine Price thinks it's pretty nifty too:

The Dove ad team is at it again with this spot, set to a song called "Here It Comes" that starts with an innocent-looking young girl who is then subjected to an onslaught of images of models on bus stops, women binging and purging, plastic surgeries and TV commercials telling her to lose weight. The tag line? "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does" -- followed by the suggestion to download Dove's self-esteem kits. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's an attempt to recast skin and beauty products as "self-esteem boosters," but I'll admit it: I like Dove's ads.

What do you think?

And speaking of beauty myths, Naomi Wolf is having a book party tonight to celebrate her new one (which just hit the New York Times bestseller list), The End of America: Letter to a Young Patriot Congrats, Naomi!

Meanwhile, the Woodhull Institute's online trainings continue over at Dove's Real Women, Real Success stories site. Our "Financial Literacy" units are now all live, and next week begins "Authentic Voice and Advocacy." Spread the word!

Beauty Skin Deep

So it's Fashion Week in London, and I just had to post this photo appearing in the New York Times cause I love me a cute hat. Meanwhile back in Kansas, as the Style section also reports, women are apparently flocking to get a not-yet-FDA-approved anti-fat injection called lipodissolve. Scary, because:

Neither the drug formula used in lipodissolve nor the method of treatment is standardized. And researchers disagree whether the shots eliminate fat cells, or merely liquefy fat so that it shifts around in the body, raising the possibility of long-term consequences such as the aggravation of heart disease.

Reminds me of that terrifying finding (which I first learned about in Courtney's book) that showed survey respondents preferring thinness to long life. Ugh. Obsession with hats far safer than obsession with fat.