Week in Health March 27, 2011
EmpowHER correspondent Bailey Mosier recaptures the latest health news.
More Videos from EmpowHER 222 videos in this series
Bailey Mosier:
Once only recommended for emergency use, ‘the morning-after pill’ is shown to be more effective in preventing pregnancy than condoms. The study reports a 5% chance of pregnancy for women taking ‘the morning-after pill’, compared with a 16% chance for women whose partners used condoms.
While not as effective as the patch or a daily birth control pill, ‘the morning-after pill’ is now believed to be safe to use on an ongoing basis.
Each year, about one million U.S. women endure a miscarriage or stillbirth. Only recently have researchers begun to look at the long-term effects of miscarriage on women’s mental health. Doctors previously believed that women who go on to welcome a child after miscarriage or stillbirth are fine. They are finding that’s not always the case.
A study published in the “British Journal of Psychiatry” found that up to 20% of women who had a miscarriage or stillbirth before delivering a healthy baby still had symptoms of depression two to three years after the birth of the healthy child. Ongoing research is being conducted to better learn how to help women cope with depression from losing an infant.
In a recent study published in “Archives of Internal Medicine” examine the cost savings to U.S. if more of us purchased generic drugs when filling our prescriptions. The savings – 6 billion dollars annually, as a nation, to choose generic over brand names for something as simple as say, prescription-strength ibuprofen.
The cost savings per person would be less than $20.00 per year, but the bigger picture would pay large dividends – something to consider the next time you head to the pharmacy.
That wraps up your EmpowHER week in health.
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