Contemporary OB/GYN Staff

Only 11% of Americans have a high level of understanding of the key aspects of federal health reform, despite substantial media coverage in the 2-plus years since the legislation's passage.

A large population-based Australian cohort study suggests that incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer may be on the rise and suggests a link between multiple gestation and large-for-gestational age (LGA) size at birth. Published in BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the study finding of increased incidence is only partially explained by increases in maternal age.

The FDA recently announced that an ultrasound (U/S) device for breast cancer screening– the somo-v ABUS–has been approved for use in women with dense breasts.

Electronic health record (EHR) systems affect small-practice physicians’ workflows mostly negatively, whereas their staff members’ workflows are generally improved, according to recently published research.

Annual screening with transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) and CA-125 doesn’t reduce deaths from ovarian cancer, and the harms outweigh the benefits for asymptomatic women. So says the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in reaffirming a 2004 recommendation, based on a new literature review.

A longitudinal study of more than 10,000 children born in the United States suggests that maternal depressive symptoms are connected to growth patterns in preschool- and school-aged children. The research, by investigators from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, underscores the importance of prevention, early detection, and treatment of depression in the first year postpartum.

Prone—rather than supine—positioning during breast radiation therapy for breast cancer reduces the amount of radiation that reaches the heart and lungs without sacrificing efficacy, according to a research letter published in JAMA. The finding, according to the letter, is important considering that the risks to the heart and lungs can remain for up to 20 years after treatment.

Children exposed in the womb to the commonly used pesticide bolstering agent piperonyl butoxide (PBO) are more likely to suffer from a noninfectious cough at ages 5 to 6 years than those with no such prenatal exposure, according to researchers from the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health and of Columbia University Medical Center.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has once again issued a lengthy report indicting the US healthcare system as falling abysmally short, using just about any means of measure. The report says that based on 2009 figures, the United States is wasting approximately $750 billion per year on the care of its people.

Women who sleep less are more prone to breast cancer recurrence, according to the first study to show such an association. The findings suggest, according to the Case Western Reserve researchers, that lack of sleep contributes to biologically more aggressive tumors.

Giving up desserts, soda, and eating out produce short-term weight loss in postmenopausal women, but other strategies are necessary for longer-term reductions. So say results of a 4-year study by researchers from Pittsburgh of nearly 500 overweight and obese postmenopausal woman.

The more induced abortions a woman has had, the greater the odds her first delivery will be very preterm (< 28 weeks), according to a new study.

Research has shown that use of bisphosphonates for bone loss may be associated with reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence, but the role of treatment duration is unclear.

The spread of antimicrobial resistance has claimed another victim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gonorrhea should no longer be treated with cefixime as a first-line therapy.

Diabetes is known to be associated with infectious complications after orthopedic procedures, and a recent study indicates that obesity and diabetes are independent risk factors for postoperative surgical-site infections (SSIs).

Some studies indicate that planned cesarean delivery may reduce neonatal mortality compared with vaginal delivery for early preterm births. The safety of vaginal delivery in this scenario may depend on vertex versus breech presentation, however, according to a recent retrospective, multicenter cohort study.

Despite the occurrence of more neonatal and obstetrical events in women receiving chemotherapy during pregnancy than in those who wait until after, a recent study in the online edition of the August 16, 2012 Lancet Oncology finds the differences clinically insignificant. Researchers say that differences in outcomes are more the result of premature delivery than they are of chemotherapy.

It seems Dad’s age at conception—not Mom’s—may be the primary predictor of whether a child develops a condition such as autism or schizophrenia.

Women with dense breasts are at increased risk of developing breast cancer but not of dying from the disease. So say results from a prospective study of more than 9,000 women with breast cancer by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium.

At their first dose of quadrivalent vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), more than 11% of young women aged 13 to 21 years who had never had sexual intercourse were already infected with 1 or more strains of HPV, a study has found.

Researchers working together from around the country have identified a compound originally intended to treat cancer that may well become the first male contraceptive agent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its treatment recommendations for gonococcal infections because of growing resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to the 1 class of antibiotics—cephalosporins—that remains to treat them.

A mother’s weight during pregnancy may affect her infant’s growth after birth, a new study finds. A small prospective cohort study reported online by the Journal of Pediatrics finds that maternal overweight or obesity decreases infants’ size and adipose tissue mass at age 3 months.

Rethinking the “biological clock,†a new study suggests that women’s ovaries continue to form new eggs throughout life. Analyzing an earlier study, reproductive biologists argue in PLoS Genetics that oocyte-producing stem cells (OSCs) in ovaries continue to divide after birth, producing new eggs even into adulthood.

Weight loss and a healthy diet may improve more than just a woman’s waistline. A low-fat diet reduced postmenopausal women’s hot flashes and night sweats in a study reported online by Menopause.

Women with vulvodynia are at increased risk having fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis (IC), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). So say the results of a population-based cohort study recently published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Bicycle setup may be related to genital numbness in women cyclists, according to a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. Bike handlebars positioned lower than the saddle were associated with decreased genital sensation and increased perineal saddle pressures.

Risk of surgical site infection after cesarean section (C/S) is increased in women who are overweight, according to a study released online by BJOG.

Researchers are about to launch a large, multinational Phase III clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of a vaginal ring containing the experimental antiretroviral (ARV) drug dapivirine. The ring is intended to provide women with another means to prevent HIV acquisition through vaginal intercourse.

Although previous research suggests that vitamin D deficiency increases a woman's risk of depression, a new study- The Women's Health Intiative Calcium and Vitamin D Trial-finds no associations between 2 years of vitamin D and calcium supplementation and depressive symptoms.