Breakthroughs in Women's Health--Part Two

Hi Ladies: Breakthroughs in women's health has become one of the fastest growing areas of research in recent years. For generations, women's health was a completely neglected area of medicine.

Here, we will be taking a look at the remaining three of six recent discoveries that could change the face of women's medicine.

#4) New Breakthrough: Progesterone May Prevent Premature Birth

The New England Journal of Medicine released two studies recently that offer hope to women who may deliver their babies too early (before 37 weeks). The studies showed that progesterone introduced vaginally helped prevent premature labor and birth in some women. This method works mainly on one specific group, women who develop a short cervix during pregnancy, although women who have suffered previous premature births can also be treated in this manner.

Unfortunately, multiple birth pregnancies were unaffected by the progesterone and women expecting twins and triplets who took part in the study still had their babies early. Since multiples are almost always born prematurely, a method of preventing early labor in these cases would be a true breakthrough. Researchers speculate that it may simply be a case of administering more progesterone for multiple babies.

About 1.7% of pregnant women develop a shortened cervix during early to mid-pregnancy and it cannot be predicted ahead of time. With this new progesterone treatment, these women can safely carry their babies to term.

The studies also showed that women who have suffered from previous pre-term births can be treated in the same way. The successful treatment with progesterone means fewer birthing complications and helps children get off to a good start in life, since babies who are born prematurely often deal with developmental delays and health problems throughout childhood.

Progesterone treatment is extremely affordable, costing only about $100 for the entire pregnancy. This puts it within reach of virtually every pregnant woman and the treatment could become very useful in preventing pre-term labor and birth, even in low-income families. It will also save families in hospital fees that preemies usually rack up due to lengthy NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) stays and post-natal care.

#5) New Breakthrough: New Way to Diagnose Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women, although is only makes up a tiny 4% of women who have cancer. Up until January of this year, there was no definite way to check for ovarian cancer, meaning that thousands of women died each from this "silent killer" each year because they were diagnosed too late to be treated effectively.

However, a very recent study has turned up symptoms to look for in the early stages of ovarian cancer which may mean that it is more treatable. Since many of the symptoms, such as bloating and pelvic pain, can be caused by other problems, an index had to be created, based on the experiences of cancer victims, to separate the high risk patients from the ones who were most likely suffering from a less deadly problem.

Now that this is in place, there is a very real possibility of finding ovarian cancer in at least 89% of patients, before it turns lethal. This is a major breakthrough for many women who may suffer from this disease in the future.

#6) New Breakthrough: Up and Coming Drug to Prevent Osteoarthritis

A recent issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism published the preliminary results of a study done on a drug called calcitonin. Calcitonin is already being used as a treatment for osteoporosis, but its uses intreating osteoarthritis are now being explored.

Osteoarthritis is not exclusive to women, but does affect females more than males. This condition affects around 10% of Americans, with nearly all cases in those over 55. Most women with the condition develop osteoarthritis after menopause, when the drop in estrogen levels causes both bones and cartilage to weaken and break down. The loss of cartilage causes joint pain, which can be treated. However, without the cushion between bones, the wear and tear on the joints cannot be prevented.

The hope is that calcitonin will treat both conditions equally well, and the early tests on lab rats are very positive, indicating that this drug is even more effective than estrogen in stopping joint wear and tear. However, we will have to wait at least 3 years before the drug can be tested as a treatment for osteoarthritis in human beings, despite its current use in treating osteoporosis.

Calcitonin is currently on the market in the form of a nasal spray and also as an injection. Neither of these forms has been tested as a treatment for osteoarthritis, an oral form of the drug has been produced specifically for these tests. If it does make it to market as an osteoarthritis treatment, the drug will be presented in oral form.

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