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Issue Date: September 28, 2008
To calm down, hold hands
Stressed out? Here's a surprisingly simple way to calm down: Hold hands. That's the buzz from James A. Coan, a neuroscientist in the University of Virginia's psychology department. Brain scans of women under stress show they get calmer when holding a man's hand, even that of a stranger. Stress reduction was most dramatic when the woman and man had close emotional ties. The greatest beneficiaries: happily married women who held hands with their spouses. Holding hands also may lower a woman's perception of pain, much like taking a painkiller.
This fall, Coan hopes to release new research on hand-holding between lesbians. He predicts it will "have a major impact on debates about gay and lesbian marriage ... particularly hospital visitation rights. It's a public health issue." Bottom line: "Touch is a really, really powerful thing."
To read more: Visit the UVA research site, affectiveneuroscience.org.
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Celiac: a gut reaction
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National Institutes of Health
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Roughly twice as many women as men endure a miserable condition called celiac disease -- a bad gut reaction to eating gluten in grains and other foods. Many women with the condition don't even know they have it. A friend in her mid-70s recently learned she had celiac disease (aka celiac sprue) after years of intestinal distress.
Only 3% of celiac cases are correctly diagnosed.That's why the National Institutes of Health has begun a celiac disease awareness campaign.
This inherited autoimmune disorder damages the small intestine, triggering chronic gas, diarrhea, stomach pain, weight loss, fatigue, mood changes and reduced absorption of nutrients. Doctors rarely test for it. If you suspect celiac disease, ask your doctor to do a blood test and, if warranted, a biopsy.
The cure is clear: lifelong avoidance of gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.
To read more: Go to celiac.nih.gov, csaceliacs.org or americanceliac.org.
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Better way to detect breast cancer
If your greatest health fear is breast cancer, the news is excellent. Breast cancer rates are down, survival is up, and, while a yearly mammogram is still the best screening for most women 40 and older, we have ever better ways of detecting it early.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans detect breast tumors that are present 71% to 100% of the time, compared with 16% to 40% for mammography, says the American Cancer Society. That group now recommends that some high-risk women get a yearly MRI along with a mammogram. High risk means your lifetime risk of breast cancer is above 20%. Ask your doctor or do a quick risk assessment online.
To read more: Find your lifetime risk at cancer.gov/bcrisktool.
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