Mother Daughter Relationship Important Key To HPV Vaccination

College women were more likely to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) if their mothers communicated with them about sex and if they thought their mothers would approve of their getting vaccinated, according to new Dartmouth research.

Meg Gerrard, PhD, of Dartmouth Medical School and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Megan Roberts, a PhD student at Dartmouth College, and their colleagues, surveyed 972 female undergraduates at a large Midwestern university between November 2007 and April 2009.

An anonymous questionnaire assessed the undergraduate’s sexual-risk behavior, knowledge of HPV, perceptions of HPV risk, communication from their mothers about sex-related topics (including HPV), and their current vaccination status.

Sixty-five percent of the women reported being sexually active, and 49 percent reported having received at least the first of the three-shot HPV vaccine series.

Those who were unvaccinated were more likely to be interested in future vaccination if they thought their mothers would approve. The young women’s perceptions of their risk of contracting HPV also contributed to their interest in getting vaccinated. Young women whose mothers had discussed values in relation to sex were, as a group, less interested in being vaccinated.

The authors concluded that “mother-daughter communication and approval of vaccination emerged as important predictors of young women’s HPV-vaccination behavior and intentions, even after the women were old enough to not require parental approval.” They also noted that college-age women “are still a very important population to target for vaccination.”

The study was published in the journal Pediatrics. For more information, visit: www.dartmouth.edu/

Study Finds Fish Oil May Reduce Risk Of Breast Cancer

A recent report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, adds to the evidence that fish oil supplements may play a role in preventing chronic disease.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., led by Emily White, Ph.D., a member of the public health sciences division, asked 35,016 post-menopausal women who did not have a history of breast cancer to complete a 24-page questionnaire about their use of non-vitamin, non-mineral “specialty” supplements in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study.

After six years of follow-up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry.
Regular use of fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, was linked with a 32 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. The reduction in risk appeared to be restricted to invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common type of the disease.

The use of other specialty supplements, many of which are commonly taken by women to treat symptoms of menopause, was not associated with breast cancer risk.

This research is the first to demonstrate a link between the use of fish oil supplements and a reduction in breast cancer. Studies of dietary intake of fish or omega-3 fatty acids have not been consistent.

“It may be that the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil supplements are higher than most people would typically get from their diet,” White said.

However, White cautioned against gleaning any recommendations from the results of one study.

“Without confirming studies specifically addressing this,” she said, “we should not draw any conclusions about a causal relationship.”

Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, agreed.

“It is very rare that a single study should be used to make a broad recommendation,” said Giovannucci. “Over a period of time, as the studies confirm each other, we can start to make recommendations.”
Still, fish oil continues to excite many, as evidence emerges about its protective effect on cardiovascular disease and now cancer.

Harvard researchers are currently enrolling patients for the randomized Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (also called VITAL), which will assess the impact of fish oil supplements and vitamin D on cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The researchers plan to enroll 20,000 U.S. men aged 60 years and older and women aged 65 years and older who do not have a history of these diseases and have never taken supplements.

Recruitment for this National Institutes of Health funded study began in January, and more information can be found at www.vitalstudy.org.

Women Outnumber Men 2-1 In Using Internet For Medical Self-Diagnosis

A recent survey of roughly 500 men and women each found that women outnumber men almost 2 to 1 in using the Internet for initial research on their aches and pains.

Flexcin International, a joint inflammation manufacturer, conducted the study and found 73.6 percent of all women in the survey said they use the Internet for initial research compared with 44.1 percent of men.

All respondents were between the ages of 35 and 60 living throughout different parts of the country. The survey revealed that many women prefer the Internet for initial research because they’ve grown tired of the frustrations in trying to see their primary care physician. The majority of men said they aren’t always sure how to describe the ailment when using the Internet for self-diagnosis.

“Although the Internet doesn’t replace your doctor, I think these results speak to the fact that both women and men are very frustrated with the healthcare industry,” said Tamer Elsafy, CEO and founder of Flexcin.

“If you have general aches and pains or a case of the sniffles, people today are more inclined to research the Internet rather than wait several days to see a doctor and then pay the high cost of prescriptions,” he said.

Women who said they turn to the Internet first said they’re comfortable doing so because they aren’t looking for answers to life-threatening illnesses but rather information on general aches and pains. Men said they’d like to use the Internet more but don’t trust their ability to describe their ailments on their own.

For more information visit http://flexcin.com.