2 Glasses Of Milk A Day Tones Muscles, Keeps The Fat Away In Women, Study Shows

Women who drink two large glasses of milk a day after their weight-lifting routine gained more muscle and lost more fat compared to women who drank sugar-based energy drinks, a McMaster study has found.



The study appears in the June issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise.



"Resistance training is not a typical choice of exercise for women," says Stu Phillips, professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. "But the health benefits of resistance training are enormous: It boosts strength, bone, muscular and metabolic health in a way that other types of exercise cannot."



A previous study conducted by Phillips' lab showed that milk increased muscle mass and fat loss in men. This new study, says Phillips was more challenging because women not only steer clear of resistance training they also tend to steer away from dairy products based on the incorrect belief that dairy foods are fattening.



"We expected the gains in muscle mass to be greater, but the size of the fat loss surprised us," says Phillips. "We're still not sure what causes this but we're investigating that now. It could be the combination of calcium, high-quality protein, and vitamin D may be the key, and. conveniently, all of these nutrients are in milk.



Over a 12-week period, the study monitored young women who did not use resistance-training exercise. Every day, two hours before exercising, the women were required not to eat or drink anything except water. Immediately after their exercise routine, one group consumed 500ml of fat free white milk; the other group consumed a similar-looking but sugar-based energy drink. The same drinks were consumed by each group one hour after exercising.



The training consisted of three types of exercise: pushing (e.g. bench press, chest fly), pulling (e.g. seated lateral pull down, abdominal exercises without weights), and leg exercises (e.g. leg press, seated two-leg hamstring curl). Training was monitored daily one on one by personal trainers to ensure proper technique.



"The women who drank milk gained barely any weight because what they gained in lean muscle they balanced out with a loss in fat" said Phillips. "Our data show that simple things like regular weightlifting exercise and milk consumption work to substantially improve women's body composition and health." Phillips' lab is now following this study up with a large clinical weight loss trial in women.



Funding for the study was provided by McMaster University, CIHR, and the Dairy Farmers of Canada. McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 145,000 alumni in 128 countries.



Source: McMaster University

Planned Parenthood Affiliate Files For Federal Injunction Against Missouri Law Designating Some Clinics As Ambulatory Care Centers

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri on Monday filed a lawsuit that asks a federal court to block enforcement of a new Missouri law (SB 370) that will designate facilities performing second- or third-trimester abortions or more than five first-trimester abortions each month as "ambulatory surgical centers," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Franck, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/21).

Clinics designated as ambulatory surgical centers are subject to increased regulation from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. The health department said the law requires that three clinics in the state be licensed (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/11). According to the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, the law, which is scheduled to take effect Aug. 28, will require that hallways be at least six feet wide and doors at least 44 inches wide. The clinics must also have separate male and female changing rooms for staff and a recovery room with space for a minimum of four beds with three feet of clearance around each bed (Lieb, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 8/20).

The suit alleges that the new regulations are unnecessary and are not meant to improve safety but to interfere with a woman's constitutional right to abortion. PPKM in the suit also is asking that its Columbia and Kansas City clinics be exempt from the law because they were open before the law was passed, the Post-Dispatch reports (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/21). The organization has said the law could force the group to spend up to $2 million to remodel its clinic in Columbia or be forced to stop providing abortions (AP/Columbia Tribune, 8/18).

The law also will give public school districts the option of teaching an abstinence-only sex education course. School districts previously were required to include information about contraception in sex education classes. In addition, the law prohibits people affiliated with abortion providers from teaching or supplying sex education materials to public schools (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/11).

Comments
PPKM CEO Peter Brownlie said the law is a "blatant attempt to close down clinics and deny women their right to health care." He added that the regulations "would have no impact on family planning services or the quality of care that patients receive." Nanci Gonder, a spokesperson for the health department, said she cannot comment until the agency reviewed the lawsuit (Bauer, Kansas City Star, 8/20). A spokesperson for Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon (R) said the attorney general's office "will continue our constitutional duties" by defending the law in court.

State Sen. Delbert Scott (R), who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said that while he hopes the law decreases abortions, the purpose is to ensure that abortion clinics meet the same safety standards as other outpatient clinics. Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, said the group is deciding whether to challenge the section of the law prohibiting abortion providers from providing sex education, the Post-Dispatch reports (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/21).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Endometriosis Association Joins Overlapping Conditions Alliance

In an effort to help people suffering from multiple chronic medical conditions, the Endometriosis Association has joined five other nonprofit organizations to form the Overlapping Conditions Alliance. The other five organizations are the Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America; the Interstitial Cystitis Association; the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders; the National Vulvodynia Association; and the TMJ Association.


Millions of people suffer from one or more of these conditions, while healthcare providers receive limited training on these conditions, leading to frequent misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Now that studies indicate these conditions "overlap," we need much more research to understand the connections and develop more effective treatments. All of these conditions cause enormous physical and emotional distress for sufferers and their families. In addition, monetary costs are high due to medical expenses and lost productivity.


The mission of the Overlapping Conditions Alliance is to change this situation by advancing the scientific, medical, and policy needs of individuals afflicted with multiple chronic conditions. The new group will promote research into the underlying connections between these coexisting conditions.


To learn more, visit OverlappingConditions.

Source
Endometriosis Association

Reduction In Sexual Satisfaction Is Not Associated With Cardiovascular Disease In Postmenopausal Women

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) and collaborators nationwide have found that decreased sexual satisfaction in postmenopausal women, is not clearly associated with cardiovascular disease. This study appears in the April 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.



Female sexual dysfunction is a common condition and has been linked to a higher burden of medical illnesses that can cause cardiovascular disease. In men, erectile dysfunction is clearly linked to the development of cardiovascular disease. Many of the same mechanisms known to be risk factors for cardiovascular disease are thought to be responsible for sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women, but this association has not been previously examined using prospective data.



Researchers examined data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Participants were sexually active postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years, recruited at 40 clinical centers throughout the United States and followed for 8-12 years. Based on responses to a baseline survey, subjects were classified as sexually satisfied or dissatisfied.



Researchers identified cardiovascular disease at baseline and over the follow-up period. The presence of cardiovascular disease was defined as a self-reported history of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or coronary revascularization procedure. Related cardiovascular problems, including congestive heart failure, peripheral arterial disease and angina were also examined.



According to researchers, there was a modest association between being dissatisfied with sexual activity and having peripheral arterial disease, and angina was decreased among those dissatisfied with sexual activity. However, there was no association between sexual dissatisfaction and the presence of any other form of cardiovascular disease including heart attack or stroke. More importantly, there was no association between sexual dissatisfaction at baseline and the development of cardiovascular disease in the future.



"In men, erectile dysfunction is a manifestation of cardiovascular disease, and can predict the development of adverse cardiovascular outcomes such as heart attack," said lead author Jennifer McCall-Hosenfeld, MD, MSc, a fellow in the Department of General Internal Medicine at BMC and Women's Health at BUSM. "In our study, we used decreased sexual satisfaction as a proxy measure for sexual dysfunction, and controlled for lifestyle issues and other factors that might impact sexual satisfaction. We did not find that sexual satisfaction predicted cardiovascular disease in the future.



"Our study of sexually active postmenopausal women found dissatisfaction with sexual activity was not predictive of incident cardiovascular disease which may be due to physiological differences in sexual functioning between men and women, or to difficulty measuring sexual dysfunction in women," added McCall-Hosenfeld.







The Women's Health Initiative program was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Jennifer McCall-Hosenfeld was supported by a Department of Veterans Affairs Special Fellowship in the Health Issues of Women Veterans.



Source: Gina DiGravio


Boston University

Minn. Legislature Considers 'Abstinence-Plus' Sex Education Bill

A bill (SF 2645) in the Minnesota Legislature would require each school district to create an "abstinence-first" sex education curriculum with "age-appropriate" lessons on human sexuality and information about condoms and other contraceptives, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Current state law requires school districts to implement sex education programs that "includ[e] helping students to abstain from sexual activity until marriage." The legislation also would require, for the first time, that sex education programs address prevention of sexual violence. Parents could elect to exclude their children from the programs.

Lorie Alveshere, policy director for the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting, said the bill "is meant to be the standard, and then an individual school district gets to choose the curriculum."

Although the proposal has been discussed around the Capitol for several years, it has faced resistance from Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), according to the Pioneer Press. Because of opposition from Pawlenty and others, the bill's prospects are "doubtful," the Pioneer Press reports.

Minnesota has one of the lowest overall teen pregnancy rates among states, but its pregnancy rate among black teens is the fifth-highest in the nation (Hoppin, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 3/3).


Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.


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