Health aNd Fitness Guide

Babies born to women who were stressed out during pregnancy have a greater risk of developing asthma and all allergies later in life. Harvard Medical School researchers measured the levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE, an antibody involved in allergic and asthmatic reactions) in the umbilical cord blood of 387 babies and found that women who → Continue reading »

Women who consume 200 milligrams or more of caffeine (equivalent to 2 or more cups of coffee) a day may double their risk of miscarriage. Even women who consume less than 200 milligrams may have a 40 per cent chance of miscarriage, says a new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. → Continue reading »

Mammograms, which help detect breast cancer, may also help identify women who are at risk for strokes. Benign arterial calcifications found in blood vessels of the breasts were more commonly found on the mammograms of women who had suffered a stroke. Researchers at the University of Missouri looked at 793 mammograms of women aged 40 → Continue reading »

Birth control pills provide long-term protection against ovarian cancer, and the benefits continue even 30 years after the pill is discontinued. The study published in Lancet says that so far the pill has prevented 200,000 women from developing the disease and 100,000 ovarian cancer deaths worldwide. The researchers, led by Valerie Beral from the University → Continue reading »

Husbands create seven extra hours of housework per week for women. Wives save their men an hour of chores each week, according to researchers at the University of Michigan. The study, based on time diaries kept by participants and questionnaires, found that on average household chores for women dropped about 35 per cent, from 26 → Continue reading »