Over the past few years, probiotics have generated quite the buzz, and for good reason too! These good bacteria have been found to help with a myriad of health issues from yeast infections, eczema and embarrassing digestive issues.

Digestive upsets, even occasional ones, are not an easy subject to deal with, or even talk about, but more than 60 million Americans suffer from digestive diseases/conditions and the large majority of them are women. In attempts to manage these, many people invest so much money in digestive products and often fail to get their money's worth when upsets return.

Probiotics are available in various forms, but credible probiotic supplements like Procter & Gamble's Align, are a natural, effective way to help restore balance to the digestive system. In fact, recently, P&G announced that they are now offering a full money-back guarantee on Align, giving those who suffer from digestive upsets a chance to find digestive peace - risk free.

Find out more about Align in their official website.

The Birth Control Patch Well Woman Blog

Teenage pregnancies seem to be on the decline. This is good news. However, the rate is still far too high. Statistics taken from Family First Aid indicate that there are over 800,000 such pregnancies ever year, the majority to unwed mothers. Kids in their teens, with raging hormones and little thought of the consequences, don't want to mess with condoms. They forget to take their pills and have no idea, nor [...] Read More


New Birth Control Pills Pose a Threat Well Woman Blog

Ever since Birth Control Pills came on the market, there's been a worry about side effects, especially life-threatening blood clots. Some lifestyle choices increase that risk, including smoking. New pills come on the market, supposedly improvements on the old. But are they? An article from CBC News warns: Some newer, low-dose birth control pills double the risk of potentially dangerous blood clots compared with older contraceptives and should be banned, a [...] Read More


Birth Control Methods Well Woman Blog

As I mentioned in a previous article, there are many different methods of birth control to choose from. In the Dental and Health articles at Dental.com, there's a detailed description of the many methods available, from the pill: It's been around for about fifty years now, and when taken as prescribed, it is a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy from occurring. to other forms of birth control: Other forms of birth [...] Read More


Overweight Women are at High Risk of Developing Blood Clots from Ortho Evra® Birth Control Patch Straightfromthedoc

It was already known that the Ortho Evra® birth control patch causes blood clots. Now, the maker of the patch is saying that overweight women using the birth control patch Ortho Evra® are at a particularly high risk of developing blood clots. Janssen-Ortho Inc. (part of Johnson & Johnson; NYSE: JNJ), also warns that women should not expose the Ortho Evra® birth control patch to sources of heat such as [...] Read More


Johnson & Johnson facing 500 Claimants in Lawsuit over Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch Straightfromthedoc

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is currently facing 500 claimants in lawsuits related to deaths and injuries caused by the Ortho Evra birth control patch. The claimants are seeking substantial compensation and (where available) punitive damages for alleged side effects from Ortho Evra: blood clots, heart attacks and strokes. Johnson & Johnson's latest SEC filing for the Second Quarter of 2006, did not disclose any settlements of cases reported over the past [...] Read More

To raise awareness about cervical cancer early detection and prevention, the University of Michigan Health System will host free Pap test screenings on January 30.

What: Free Pap Test Screening
When: January 30, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Briarwood Building 2, Suite B on Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor

To schedule a free screening, call the U-M Cancer AnswerLine at 1-800-865-1125.

PromiseToMe.com was just launched to remind and encourage women to schedule their annual gynecological exams.

HOW IT WORKS:

Women sign up on www.promisetome.com for future reminders to schedule their annual GYN exams and pass the message on to their friends.

For each promise that is made and each friend the message is passed to, Hologic, a leader in women's health care, will donate $1 to the National Cervical Cancer Coaliton to fund cervical cancer screenings for uninsured women.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States and is recognized as the leading cause of cervical cancer. About 80 percent of women in the United States will have an HPV infection in their lifetimes. While most of those infections will clear on their own, some will lead to cervical cancer. For this reason, routine cervical cancer screening, which may include Pap and HPV testing, has been effective in identifying this preventable disease early.

From the press release:

Introduced in October of 2009, the Promise to Me initiative is designed to empower women to make their health a priority and encourage them to pass the message on to other women in their lives. The initiative also has a charitable component - for every person who makes the promise and passes it on, Hologic will donate funds to support preventative screening for underinsured and uninsured women.

In honor of National Cervical Health Awareness Month, Hologic is partnering with the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) to fund cervical cancer screening for women in need. For every person that "makes the promise" and passes it on through the Promise to Me website, Hologic will donate $1 towards healthcare for women.

Check it all out at www.promisetome.com.

As recently reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the injected contraceptive has been found to be linked in significant loss of bone mass within two years of use in half the women who used it.

The said injected contraceptive is a shot of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, also known as DMPA or Depo-Provera - a product of Pfizer.

From NY Times:

Almost half of all women who use a popular injected contraceptive lose a significant amount of bone mass within two years, and researchers now say the greatest risk is to smokers, women who don't consume enough calcium and those who have never gone through a pregnancy.

As always, a contraceptive doesn't come with no side-effects.