|
I hope this finds everyone well. I don’t have
any gripes at the moment other than I’m not sleeping
like I used to. I guess that’s a real gripe.
MY CURRENT OÖNA
STORY
For all of you
folks who are new to the newsletter, I had a baby in September. I
slept fine through the pregnancy and fine until a week or
so ago. I think it’s because my hormones are
shifting again. The baby has discovered that it’s
much faster and more fun to eat a bottle while looking around
then having to “work at it” staring at Mommy’s
underarm…even if they are shaved and smell pretty. I
do still breast feed but I’m down to two times a day
now. As a woman, my body doesn’t seem to know
what to do. I feel consistently like I did before I started
Oöna four or five years ago – a little cranky
(some may argue with the word “little”) with
a sense of real heavy tiredness. I had been off all
herbs since I got pregnant. I’m heavy into DHA
and Omega 3’s. Recently, I did start taking
Oöna PMS1, which was working great and certainly removed
that heavy tiredness. However, it really wants to kick
in my menstrual cycle and the breast feeding really wants
to stop the cycle. The result has been consistent spotting – if
I stop PMS1, the spotting stops, but the tiredness and sleeplessness
returns. I’m not ready to stop breast feeding. It’s
not that the spotting is bad or a health risk in anyway (my
MD says he’s not worried about it) – it’s
just not great for Stella who is trying to get her groove
back. You know what I mean? I think what I’m
going to do is take some Melatonin before bed and in one
more month when my daughter begins to eat – let her
wean herself. (I’m discouraging it now) Then I will
start Oöna PMS1 consistently. If the Melatonin
doesn’t work – I’ll really have to wean
her earlier as I simply must sleep. I’ll
let you know.
Here’s what’s happening… in case you
missed it, January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and
it’s been an interesting topic since it looks like
a vaccine will be available within the next year or so. With
every gym in the country filling up for the month of January,
what is the truth about holiday weight gain? It turns out
there is an interesting aspect to it that may help us to
maintain our weight throughout our adult lives. And finally,
a most interesting piece I came across that correlates the
birth control pill with depression.
CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS AND VACCINE
January
is the awareness month for Cervical Cancer. I just
had a follow up pap smear and when I had to put the feet
in the stirrups, I quipped “My favorite part”… by
which my MD replied, “Oh, let’s call the psychiatrist.” At
least he made me laugh. Needless to say, a vaccine
sounds great to me and I’m sure to most of the readers
of this newsletter.
Here are the facts as I see them:
- Cervical cancer is one of the
most common cancers that affect a woman’s reproductive organs. While
it is very treatable if detected early, more than 10,000
women find out that they have invasive cervical cancer
every year and nearly 4,000 die from it. It is caused
by various strains of the humam papillomavirus (HPV) – a
sexually transmitted infection.
- Worldwide, about 500,000 new cases
of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year, resulting
in 250,000 deaths. In
developing countries, it is the leading cause of cancer
related deaths among women.
- There are over 80 types of HPV. Approximately 30 types
are spread sexually; about half of these have been linked
to cervical cancer.
- Most of the time the body is able to fight the infection.
Almost everyone has had HPV at some time in their life.
- If a woman’s body doesn’t
rid itself of HPV, the virus may cause cervix cells to
change and become precancer cells. Most cells with early
precancer changes return to normal on their own. Sometimes,
the precancer cells may turn into cancer if they are
not found and treated. Only a very small number of women
infected with HPV will develop cervical cancer.
- 11% of American women have do
not get regular screenings and 20% of American women
haven’t had a pap smear
in the last three years. I hope that you are not
one of them.
- Regular screenings greatly reduce
the chance getting cervical cancer. It is preventable
and curable when detected early.
- Early cervical cancer shows no
symptoms. Symptoms
generally appear after the cancer is invasive. This
is why testing is so important.
The Vaccine
- A vaccine may be available as
early as next year. This
vaccine will target one strain of HPV – HPV-16, responsible
for about 50% of all cervical cancers. Most recently,
the vaccine has shown to be very successful in preventing
94% of viruses for a period of four years.
- The vaccine is now targeted towards
younger women before they are sexually active – ages 16-21. It is
unclear what the effects of the vaccine would be for women
who have been sexually active. For now, it is generally
assumed that the vaccine is not effective.
- It is unclear just how long the vaccine will be effective.
- It has been suggested that boys
should also get vaccinated – although
I have not seen anything trials being held on boys.
- Pap smears will still be needed
as HPV-16 is only one strain that causes cervical cancer. Also, pap smears
provide information about the progression of any cervical
cancer and must be used as a back up. It is estimated
that even if the vaccine is 100% effective that it would
be 30 years before a pap smear is not needed.
- There is a political component
to this vaccine. Some
groups are protesting the vaccine saying that it encourages
young people to become sexually active.
For more information:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/cancer_11-21.html
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/cervical-cancer-vaccine1102
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00167.html
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/info-cc.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000747.html
HOLIDAY WEIGHT GAIN
I walked into an exercise
class the other day and the Instructor announced that every
year most Americans gain 13-15 lbs over the holiday season
and end up retaining 2 lbs of it every year. I thought
to myself, “Is that true?” Turns out, it’s
not.
Believe it or not, most of us believe
that we gain more during the holidays than we actually
do. In an NIH
study back a few years ago, it was determined that fewer
than 10% of those in the study gained 5lbs during the holiday
season. On average between Sept/Oct and Feb/March they
gained 1.05 lbs, .8lbs or a little more than half was put
on during the holidays. The problem is that this weight
is not lost during the rest of the year and the cycle starts
all over.
What is interesting is that the cumulative weight gain over
the holidays is a substantial cause of increased body weight
during adulthood.
Therefore, a clear strategy is to
stabilize your weight during the holidays and you are basically
done for the year! Obviously,
we must be mindful for the rest of the year but it appears
that this can really work to combat age related weight gain. I
like this theory as I think I can do this.... admittedly
I love the carmel popcorn that gets delivered every year
in one of those big tubs… but I think if I keep it
to a few favorites and make sure it disappears as quickly
as possible by sharing, I’m in good shape.
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/new/releases/holidayweightgain.cfm
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AND DEPRESSION
This
is a single article that I came across this past month that
impressed me the most. I tend to respond strongly to
things that we women know intuitively even though the science
may say the opposite. This is an example. I’m
not sure if there is a lot of science on this issue and we
just haven’t seen it but it certainly doesn’t
seem to me that occurrence of side-effects from the pill
have been adequately addressed. I certainly understand
that one study doesn’t prove anything but I’m
hoping more people notice this issue and we begin to move
it in the right direction.
As pointed out in this article, there
has been anecdotal evidence that women taking the pill
have a higher incidence of depression. It is also a known fact that production
of related hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone
play a significant role relating to serotonin levels in the
brain. Serotonin levels are a known factor relating
to depression. Further, we know that hormone fluctuations
during pregnancy and menopause can cause significant mood
changes, how are birth control pills any different? Are
they not an artificial manipulation of hormones? And
let’s not forget that in some cases the change in mood
is markedly for the better. Unfortunately, it appears that
this is not the norm.
This article highlights a study that
was conducted in Australia as well as a survey the website
conducted on it’s own
having received an overwhelming amount of emails on the issue. The
Australian study found the following:
“Results showed women using
the Pill had an average depression rating scale score of
17.6, compared to 9.8 in the non-user group. The women
involved in the study were aged over 18, not pregnant or
lactating, had no clinical history of depression and had
not been on anti-depressant medication in the previous
12 months.”
The website survey found:
“57 percent of respondents reported mood swings,
63 percent were irritable, 65 percent experienced irrational
crying, and 69 percent felt anxious and depressed after
taking hormonal contraceptives.
Furthermore, of the 66 percent of respondents who stopped
taking hormonal contraceptives because of side-effects, nearly
two-thirds noticed partial or complete recovery from their
symptoms.
Other statistics from the survey revealed that 73 percent
of respondents stated hormonal contraceptives had a negative
impact on their lives, and over 50 percent of respondents
who were taking anti-depressant medication were doing so
to treat depression that occurred after beginning hormonal
contraceptives.
…Perhaps even more worrying than
the number of survey respondents experiencing negative
side-effects after taking hormonal contraceptives is the
fact that nearly 70 percent of them claim they were not
warned of the possible hazards by their doctors.
There is also evidence from the survey that indicated many
women believe they were not taken seriously when speaking
to their doctors about their symptoms. It appears that with
no concrete medical evidence to prove otherwise, some doctors
do not believe their patients claims of mental health problems
experienced as a result of taking hormonal contraceptives.
My hope is that there is more honesty about just how strong
the pill is and that it is more than just a contraception. It
is a fact that more women are diagnosed with depression than
men, and it may not be our genetic makeup or our culture. With
10 million women using the pill, it may be our birth control. Having
said that, the focus should not be a “blame game” but
as the researcher from Australia states, “We hope to
improve the quality of mental health care for women, and
improve the development, understanding and use of contraception.”
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com. In Good Health,
The Oöna Team
Questions or comments? Write valerie@oonahealth.com
|
