OBGYN.net Staff

Health care professionals can play a big role in helping overweight patients lose weight and maintain weight loss, starting with acknowledging their overweight status in the first place, according to two studies published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

News of KV Pharmaceutical’s plan to sell Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection) at up to $1500 per injection is receiving some serious backlash. The drug-perhaps best known to physicians as 17P-has been used for years to prevent preterm deliveries. Before Makena’s FDA approval last month, 17P had an “orphan drug” designation; forms of the medication were custom-compounded in pharmacies, which were then provided to patients at a cost of around $10.

Female childhood cancer survivors should be encouraged to breast-feed as a health behavior that is protective against many late effects of cancer treatment, according to a review published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help prevent birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy in women who have had at least one prior early delivery.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has compiled a series of evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), and specifically for its management during pregnancy and postpartum, detailed in a statement published online Feb. 3 in Stroke.

For women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy, breast cancer risk is greater among users of estrogen-progestin formulations, and those who begin treatment earlier, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The U.S. teenage birth rate has resumed its decline, reaching a historic low in 2009, according to a report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) February Data Brief.

Sex during pregnancy is generally safe, and abstinence should be recommended only for women at risk of preterm labor or antepartum hemorrhage due to placenta previa, according to a primer published online Jan. 31 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.

Overnight closed-loop insulin delivery appears to be safe among pregnant women, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.

Failure to follow up on test results is a considerable problem, which can negatively impact patient health, according to a review published in the February issue of BMJ Quality & Safety.

In 2008, male physicians who were newly trained in New York State made an average of $16,819 more than newly trained female physicians, compared to a $3,600 difference in 1999, according to a study published in the February issue of Health Affairs.

The risk of false-positive results is lower with digital mammography compared to screen-film mammography, with no significant difference in the cancer detection rate between the two, according to a study published in the February issue of Radiology.

The majority of medical devices recalled from 2005 to 2009 for risk of serious health hazard or death were approved by the less strict 510(k) process intended for devices considered low or morderate risk, according to a study published online Feb. 14 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

One serum blood test is sufficient to diagnose hyperprolactinemia, and dynamic testing of prolactin secretion should be avoided, according to new guidelines published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Alcohol intoxication elevates subjective sleepiness and disrupts sleep objectively in women more than in men, regardless of family history of alcoholism, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Injectable terbutaline should not be used for prevention or prolonged treatment of preterm labor in pregnant women because of the potential for serious maternal heart problems and death, according to a warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency also warned that oral terbutaline should not be used for prevention or any treatment of preterm labor because of similar safety concerns and the fact that it has not been shown to be effective.

Use of oral bisphsphonates ofr more than one year in postmenopausal women is associated with a 59 percent decrease in the relative risk of colorectoal cancer, according to a study published online Feb. 14 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Premenopausal women who schedule regular mammograms may benefit by undergoing screening during the first week of their menstrual cycle, according to research published in the February issue of Radiology.

Both patients and physicians can bring qualities to a clinical encounter that result in its being perceived as difficult, and patients involved in these types of encounters have worse short-term outcomes, according to research published online Jan. 25 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Adequate breast-feeding of a baby exposed to diabetes in utero may protect against childhood adiposity, according to a study published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.

Emotional distress some women experience prior to undergoing fertility treatment appears to have no bearing on the likeihood that the treatment will result in a successful pregnancy, according to a literature analysis published Feb. 23 in BMJ.

In women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer, treatment with trastuzumab for one year after chemotherapy is associated with significant disease-free survival at a four-year follow-up, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in The Lancet Oncology.

Postpartum teens who eat breakfast on most days consume fewer calories from snacks and sweetened drinks, and have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who tend to skip breakfast, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has issued updated guidelines for the use of bone-modifying agents (BMAs) in treating breast cancer patients with bone metastases to include a new drug, denosumab, and provide new advice regarding a potentially serious complication of treatment, osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ); an overview of the guideline update was published online Feb. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who are treated with bupropion (BU) for major depressive disorder (MDD) show significant improvement in sexual function, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.

Nitroglycerin ointment appears to increase bone mineral density (BMD) and decrease bone resorption in postmenopausal women when administered daily, according to research published in the Feb. 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Although mothers with type 1 diabetes are less likely to partially or exclusively breast-feed at two months, diabetes is not an independent risk factor for the initiation and maintenance of breast-feeding, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.

Mammography screening for breast cancer may be less accurate among women with a personal history of breast cancer (PHBC), despite a higher underlying cancer rate, relative to women without PHBC, according to a study published in the Feb. 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified health care providers that the Pregnancy section of drug labels include additional and consistent information regarding the potential risk for abnormal muscle movements (extrapyramidal signs [EPS]) and withdrawal symptoms among newborns whose mothers received the drugs in the third trimster of pregnancy.

Interpreting a high volume of mammograms ma not lead radiologists to find more cancers but my help them to better distinguish between malignant and non-malignant lesions, according to research published online Feb. 22 in Radiology.