The New York Times Book of Women's Health

by Brody, Jane E.; Grady, Denise

• ISBN13: 9780867308068
• ISBN10: 0867308060
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Lebhar-Friedman Books

Summary

Written by renowned health reporter and columnist Jane E. Brody and the reporters for "The New York Times, " this book features 180 articles on women's health concerns, all organized into 13 useful sections. 30 photos and illustrations.

Author Biography

Jane E. Brody is the Personal Health columnist for The New York Times.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
SECTION 1 Nutrition
Links Between Food, Health and Disease
People Who Skip Breakfast Pay a High Price	3	(1)
Calcium Takes Its Place as a Superstar of Nutrients	4	(3)
Finding Calcium Sources Outside the Dairy Case	7	(2)
Osteoporosis Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency	9	(1)
Diet-Diabetes Link Reported	10	(2)
Fiber Does Not Help Prevent Colon Cancer, Study Finds	12	(1)
Keep the Fiber Bandwagon Rolling, for Heart and Health	13	(2)
Diet Is Not a Panacea, But It Cuts Risk of Cancer	15	(2)
Now, a Food Pyramid to Guide the Elderly	17	(2)
Women's Heart Risk Linked to Types of Fats, Not Total	19	(3)
Fat Debates, Sustacal Shakes: It's Life in the Diet Blender	22	(5)
SECTION 2 Life-Style: Exercise for Health and Pleasure
Even a Modest Exercise Program is Beneficial
A Leap from Childbirth to Ballet Stage	27	(1)
The Athlete's Secret to Warding Off Overuse Injuries: Good Technique	28	(2)
After 100,000 Miles, Even Soles on Feet Wear Out	30	(3)
Female Bodybuilders Discover Curves	33	(2)
How to Build Abs of Undulating Steel	35	(3)
How Errol Flynn Made It Look So Easy	38	(1)
Persuading Potatoes to Get Off the Couches	39	(2)
Crunches, Not Devices, Help Tighten Abdomen	41	(1)
For Younger Muscles, Just Pump Away	42	(2)
Learning Pilates, One Stretch at a Time	44	(2)
Medicine Ball Pops Back Into Vogue	46	(2)
Some Shape Up by Surfing the Internet	48	(5)
SECTION 3 Gains and Losses: Women and Weight
Common Sense Diet and Exercise Win Out Over Drugs and Special Foods
New Guide Puts Most Americans on the Fat Side	53	(1)
The Fat Get Fatter, Overweight Was Bad Enough	54	(2)
Scientists Unmask Diet Myth: Willpower	56	(2)
95% Regain Lost Weight. Or Do They?	58	(2)
Just How Perilous Can 25 Extra Pounds Be?	60	(2)
Gaining Weight on Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Diets	62	(2)
Doubts Fail to Diter ``The Diet Revolution''	64	(3)
New Look at Dieting: Fat Can Be a Friend	67	(3)
F.D.A. Approves Fat-Blocking Anti-Obesity Drug	70	(2)
Obesity Drug Can Lead to Modest Weight Loss, Study Finds	72	(2)
History Counsels Caution on Diet Pills	74	(1)
Weight Loss the Herbal Way. No All-Natural Silver Bullet	75	(4)
SECTION 4 Emotional Health
Stress and Depression are Widespread
Human Nature: Some Fear Everything, Even Fear Itself	79	(2)
Study Challenges Idea of PMS as Emotional Disorder	81	(1)
Study Disputes Abortion Trauma	82	(2)
Hypnosis May Cause False Memories	84	(1)
For Employed Moms, the Pinnacle of Stress Comes After Work Ends	85	(2)
Rising Stress of Raising a Grandchild	87	(2)
When Symptoms Are Obvious, but Cause Is Not	89	(2)
Trying to Cope When a Partner or a Loved One Is Chronically Depressed	91	(2)
Depressed Parent's Children at Risk	93	(1)
Some Still Despair in a Prozac Nation	94	(3)
New Tack Promising on Winter Depression	97	(2)
Coming to Terms With Grief After a Longtime Partner Dies	99	(3)
When a Loss Remains Unresolved	102	(5)
SECTION 5 Violence
Threats Arise From Inside and Outside the Home
Battered Women Face Pit Bulls and Cobras	107	(3)
Planning to Escape From an Abusive Relationship	110	(2)
Many Prostitutes Suffer Combat Disorder	112	(1)
A Fistful of Hostility Is Found in Women	113	(1)
Genetic Ties May Be Factor in Violence in Stepfamilies	114	(3)
Researchers Unravel the Motives of Stalkers	117	(3)
Dos and Don'ts for Thwarting a Stalker	120	(2)
Call for New Sex-Abuse Trial is Said to Harm Rape Shield Law	122	(3)
SECTION 6 Sexuality
Drugs can Help, But the Emotional Part Remains Key
Women and Sex: On This Topic, Science Blushes	125	(2)
The Pill at 40: Renewed, Improved and in Its Prime	127	(2)
Morning-After Contraceptive To Be Marketed	129	(1)
Better Loving Through Chemistry. Sure, We've Got a Pill for That	130	(2)
Male Hormone Molds Women, Too, in Mind and Body	132	(3)
Facing Viagra's Emotional Ripples	135	(2)
Sour Note in the Viagra Symphony	137	(2)
In the History of Gynecology, a Surprising Chapter	139	(2)
Issues of Gender, From Pronouns to Murder	141	(1)
Group Sends Book on Gay Tolerance to Schools	142	(2)
U.S. Awakes to Epidemic of Sexual Diseases	144	(5)
SECTION 7 Pregnancy, Childbirth and Matters of the Womb
Mysteries Remain amid Technological Advances
$50,000 Offered to Tall, Smart Egg Donor	149	(1)
Quandary on Donor Eggs: What to Tell the Children	150	(3)
Researchers Report Success in Method to Pick Baby's Sex	153	(3)
Dancer's Ovarian Tissue Transplant Gives Hope to Other Young Women Facing Infertility	156	(1)
Big Study Finds No Link in Abortion and Cancer	157	(2)
Drugs, Safe and Not Safe, in Pregnancy	159	(2)
Herbal Remedies Tied to Pregnancy Risks	161	(1)
A Study Finds Link Between Birth Defects and Solvents	162	(1)
No Benefit Found for Fetal Monitors	163	(1)
Ultrasound and Fury: One Mother's Ordeal	164	(3)
Why Babies Are Born Facing Backward, Helpless and Chubby	167	(4)
What's Missing in Childbirth These Days? Often, the Pain	171	(2)
Doctors Report Rise in Elective Caesareans	173	(2)
Benefits of Assistant for Childbirth Go Far Beyond the Birthing Room	175	(2)
Deaths Linked to Sex After Childbirth	177	(1)
Breast Is Best for Babies, but Sometimes Mom Needs Help	178	(2)
Estrogen Patch Appears to Lift Severe Depression in New Mothers	180	(2)
Diagnosing Fibroids Is Simple; Deciding What to Do Is Hard	182	(2)
A Less Invasive Alternative for Fibroids	184	(5)
SECTION 8 The Teenage Years: Raising Healthy Daughters
Physical and Emotional Challenges During Life's Second Decade
A Sex Guide for Girls, Minus Homilies	189	(2)
Eating Disorders Haunt Ballerinas	191	(2)
Efforts to Fight Eating Disorders May Backfire	193	(2)
Girls and Puberty: the Crisis Years	195	(1)
Yesterday's Precocious Puberty Is Norm Today	196	(2)
Parents Can Bolster Girls' Fragile Self-Esteem	198	(1)
Emotional Ills Tied to Stunted Growth in Girls	199	(1)
Study Finds TV Alters Fiji Girls' View of Body	200	(2)
In Quest for the Perfect Look, More Girls Choose the Scalpel	202	(3)
Birth Rate at New Low as Teenage Pregnancy Declines	205	(1)
Teenagers and Sex: Younger and More at Risk	206	(3)
Coping with Cold, Hard Facts on Teenage Drinking	209	(1)
Steroid Use by Teenage Girls Is Rising	210	(5)
SECTION 9 Menopause and Aging
Balancing the Body's Chemistry Later in Life
Theorists See Evolutionary Advantages in Menopause	215	(3)
Menopause Begins Silently, Before Its Symptoms	218	(1)
Scientists Now Envision Life Without Menopause	219	(2)
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Hormone Therapy	221	(2)
A Study Plays Down Estrogen Link to Breast Cancers	223	(2)
Hormone Use Helps Women, a Study Finds	225	(2)
A Tad of Testosterone Adds Zest to Menopause	227	(1)
Keeping Clinical Depression Out of the Aging Formula	228	(3)
Test at Onset of Menopause Can Avert Bone Loss	231	(1)
Guidelines Offer an Earlier Blueprint for the Battle Against Bone Loss	232	(3)
New Drug Helps Delay Bone Loss	235	(1)
For Some Women, Losing Pounds Could Add Up to a Hip Fracture	236	(5)
SECTION 10 Women's Greatest Fear: Breast Cancer
Detection and Treatment Continue to Improve
In Breast Cancer Data---Hope, Fear and Confusion	241	(2)
Coping with Fear: Keeping Breast Cancer in Perspective	243	(2)
Software to Compute Women's Cancer Risk	245	(1)
Sorting Out Contradictory Findings About Fat and Health	246	(2)
Studies Confirm Relationship of Alcohol to Breast Cancer	248	(2)
Do Breast Self-Exams Save Lives? Science Still Doesn't Have Answer	250	(2)
Living Proof: Mammograms Are Not Always Enough	252	(2)
Cancer Gene Tests Turn Out to Be Far From Simple	254	(3)
Breast Cancer Drug Dilemma: Who Should Take It, and When?	257	(2)
Round 3 in Cancer Battle: A 5-Year Drug Regimen	259	(3)
Drugs to Fight Breast Cancer Near Approval	262	(3)
Hope for Sale: Business Thrives on Unproven Care, Leaving Science Behind	265	(5)
Reactions of Women With Cancer	270	(1)
Breast Surgeons Turn to a Gentler Biopsy	271	(1)
Removal of Healthy Breasts Is Found to Cut Cancer Risk	272	(3)
Study Says Few Women Rue Preventive Breast Operation	275	(2)
Breast Reconstruction: All at Once or Not at All?	277	(4)
SECTION 11 Heart Disease
More Needs to Be Done to Curb the Number One Killer of Women
Paradox or Not, Cholesterol in France Is on the Rise	281	(3)
What Women Can Do to Escape Heart Disease	284	(1)
Protein May Be Heart Risk Factor	285	(2)
Study Finds Secondhand Smoke Doubles Risk of Heart Disease	287	(1)
Study Cites Risks for Women Under 50 With Heart Attacks	288	(2)
Yet Another Reason to Fight the Fat	290	(2)
Savory Diet That's Good for the Heart? Let's Eat	292	(3)
There's Plenty of Choice in a Diet for a Healthier Heart	295	(2)
Drink a Day Can Lower Death Rate By 20 Percent	297	(1)
High Intake of 2 Vitamins May Lower Coronary Risk	298	(5)
SECTION 12 Image and Self-Image
The Surgical Path to Appearance Changes
A Question of Beauty: Is It Good for You?	303	(3)
Life's Wrinkles, Some of Them Ugly, Afflict the Beautiful, Too	306	(2)
Cosmetic Breast Enlargements Are Making a Comeback	308	(2)
Panel Confirms No Major Illness Tied to Implants	310	(2)
... But Panel Calls for Study of Some Implant Risks	312	(1)
Via Microtechnology, an Alternative to Glasses and Contacts	313	(2)
Promise and Risks of Laser Eye Surgery	315	(2)
As Ethnic Pride Rises, Rhinoplasty Takes a Nose Dive	317	(1)
In the Golden Age of Teeth, a Smile Can Be Perfected	318	(2)
The Joy of a New Neck	320	(1)
Doctor's Review of 5 Deaths Raises Concern About the Safety of Liposuction	321	(4)
SECTION 13 Herbs, Supplements and Alternative Medicine
Caution Is Needed as Offerings Multiply
Alternative Medicine Makes Inroads, but Watch Out for Curves	325	(2)
Taking Stock of Mysteries of Medicine	327	(1)
Articles Question Safety of Dietary Supplements	328	(3)
Americans Gamble on Herbs as Medicine	331	(6)
Seeking Help for the Body in the Well-Being of the Soul	337	(2)
Puzzle in a Bottle: In Vitamin Mania, Millions Take a Gamble on Health	339	(9)
U.S. Panel on Acupuncture Calls for Wider Acceptance	348	(1)
The Arthritis Is at Bay, Thank You	349	(2)
Kava May Soothe Jagged Nerves, but Is It Safe?	351	(2)
Study on Using Magnets to Treat Pain Surprises Skeptics	353	(2)
Words of Caution About a Hot Potato	355	(1)
Behind the Hoopla Over a Hormone	356	(3)
Index	359