However, I think I’m going to stop posting for awhile. I have proven to myself that although I am technologically inept, I am a hard worker with a stubborn, almost mule-ish tendency to never stop trying, even if I have no idea what I am doing. I’ve struggled with a digital camera without a memory card (I used a cell phone), my tendency to be long-winded (sometimes, you just need to learn when to shut yourself up), my inability to understand how to post and convert sound files (hopefully, my Soundcloud player for my previous post will work eventually), a bout of homelessness (I was tempted to post about it… but I didn’t), along with the other trials and tribulations of your average college student.

But let’s not focus on the negative- I’ve learned so much from this blog, and it really shows in some of my “greatest hits”:

• How to (Beat Breast Cancer) 101
  
• Health Condition Profile: Mindy McNally
• Is Gard(asil) Asleep at the Gate?
• Fibromyalgia
  
• Live for Today, Live for Tomorrow

If I do stop blogging, I’m certainly not going to stop researching and learning about women’s health – or rather, my health. I would like to thank everyone who has been following me or giving me their feedback, because it has helped me on this journey.

It’s been real,

- R.

• The Full Text of the Healthcare Bill
  
• The Huffington Post’s The Health Care Bill and Women’s Health: Wins, Losses, and Challenges
• The New York Times’ For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes
• The New York Times’ interactive feature: How Different Types of People Will Be Affected by the Health Care Overhaul

I decided to speak to one former teacher and one current teacher of mine on the bill’s importance, and whether it signifies the beginnings of a positive, negative, or minimal change in the way we view healthcare in the U.S.

Dr. Maria Tahamont is a professor of Biological Sciences and is also one of Honor’s Women’s Health professors, the class that inspired me to start this blog. She gave me a woman’s perspective on the healthcare bill, and spoke to me about demographics who are under served by the healthcare system, among other issues.

(Image taken from his Facebook page)

Stuart Wexler was my A.P. Government teacher from my alma mater, Hightstown High School, as well as my debate team coach. I spoke to him about the status of health care before the bill was passed, how the healthcare bill has affected the American public, the future of healthcare, and the public’s reaction to the bill. I provided an excerpt of the interview below:

RB: What was the status of healthcare up until the passing of the healthcare bill? What was the status of healthcare for women?

SW: Many Americans agreed that our health care system needed to be fixed in some way, shape or form. They had different reasons for this. Some felt that the system was too costly and that, if that continued, the programs we currently have to provide subsidized access– Medicare and Medicaid– would be unsustainable. Others worried that even these programs did not go far enough to provide access to the poor. And many saw the figures on obesity and other problems and felt the quality of health outcomes was problematic. All of these problems tend to affect women more as they are more likely to receive subsidies as single mothers, earn less on average than do men and tend to be less studied as a separate group in medical research.

RB: What have you read or seen in the media about the healthcare bill? How do you think the media has portrayed the bill?

SW: I followed the media coverage quite closely. Coverage of the bill tended to follow the ideological outlook of the news program that delivered it. Fox tended to provide stories that questioned the bill’s intent and effectiveness, while MSNBC tended to laud the bill. General news programs tried to separate fact from fiction. I thought too many stations, however, were too strident in taking sides.

RB: What do you think has been the public reaction to the bill? What was your personal reaction?

SW: I think the public followed the bill closely but not necessarily with their critical thinking caps on. It became an echo chamber where people heard what they anticipated they would hear. I personally am cautiously hopeful that the bill will provide access while lowering costs of premiums per person, but I have serious skepticism about the overall costs.

RB: How will the future of the United States and its healthcare system be affected by the passage of this bill?

SW: It is very difficult to say how the bill will affect the future of healthcare other than the fact that it will certainly involve government more in the industry, both at a national level, where more and more healthcare will be subsidized, and on a state level, where the bill encourages states to experiment with different solutions to the cost/access/outcomes problem.

- R.

We’ve been hit with headlines like Killer at college: Meningitis threatens students, Officials: Bacterial meningitis kills two Oklahoma students, and tragic stories such as the death of a pre-med honors student who was also the member of the school’s baseball team.

The Centers for Disease Control explain that the risk of college freshmen contracting bacterial meningitis was such a big threat that colleges created a plan of action:

On September 30, 1997, the American College Health Association (ACHA), which represents about half of colleges that have student health services, released a statement recommending that “college health services [take] a more proactive role in alerting students and their parents about the dangers of meningococcal disease,” that “college students consider vaccination against potentially fatal meningococcal disease,” and that “colleges and universities ensure all students have access to a vaccination program for those who want to be vaccinated.”

MSNBC follows the tragic story of a young woman who contracted bacteria meningitis in college and had to get multiple surgeries, and a foot and 3 fingers amputated. I got vaccinated before I moved in to my school as a Freshman, and I’m pretty sure it’s required by all schools in the U.S. to get the vaccination.

The question remains, how effective is the vaccine? Also, how many people have the disease or is the risk being blown out of proportion? Ever since I researched Gardasil, I’ve been especially wary of vaccines.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Should colleges require students to get a vaccination that costs $60, according to CNN? Where does governmental jurisdiction end and personal choice begin?

- R.

(Image taken from here)

Studies show that “a genetic variation leads to a nearly four-fold increase of melanoma in women under the age of 50,” according to ScienceDaily. The publication adds that melanoma, which is the most serious type of skin cancer,  ”is more common among women than men under the age of 40. Between 40 and 50 the incidence is about equal in both sexes, and over the age of 50, melanoma incidence skews markedly toward men.” Researchers suspect that this spread may be connected to estrogen levels in women.

The Washington Post claims that, “An analysis of government cancer statistics from 1973 to 2004 found that the rate of new melanoma cases in younger women had jumped 50 percent since 1980 but did not increase for younger men in that period.” Part of this is due to the fact that women are more likely than men to hit the tanning salons, or even lay out in the sun to tan. CBSNews joins in on the red alert, explaining that the thinning atmosphere and an increase in leisure time for young women contribute to the increase in young women with melanoma.  

If you’re worried, Women’sHealthMatters has a guide on how to diagnose melanoma and how to determine whether or not you’re in danger. Talk to a doctor immediately if you’re showing signs of melanoma.

- R.

(Image taken from here)

- R.

(Image taken from ScopeBlog)

Actress Suzanne Somers has been taking the aging process very hard, which can be attributed in part to her bouts with breast cancer. Yet Somers has taken it to a whole new level- she has become a staunch promoter of hormone replacement therapy. She has even written a book entitled “Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness,” which pushes post-menopausal women to take bioidentical estrogen and progesterone supplements.

Watch this clip from the Oprah Show in which Suzanne Somers shows the audience her daily routine, which the Huffington Post describes with every detail that you really don’t want to know:

First she rubs hormone lotion on the inside of her upper arm, always estrogen and two weeks a month progesterone. She then injects estriol vaginally, which she did not let cameras see. Then there are her pills, all 60 of them. 40 in the morning with a smoothie and the rest at night. She admits the pill quantity is extreme, saying, “I know I look like some kind of fanatic.”

(image taken from USNews)

It’s pretty disturbing. The medical community has mostly responded that Somers is on a frantic and obsessive search for the fountain of youth, and that her preaching has little to no grounds in scientific fact.

What do you think? What is the answer to staying healthy? Is it fighting against the aging process?

- R.

I know of several women within my age group who either have Crohn’s or some form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, so I decided to research further.

There has been a recent, better development in treatment for Crohn’s Disease: Women’sHealth.gov explains, “Combination therapy with two drugs that control an unruly immune system provided the best relief yet seen for Crohn’s disease, a condition in which the body mistakenly attacks its own intestinal tissue”, although doctor’s usually start patients on steroids.

The Mayo Clinic adds that Crohn’s can eventually go into remission with the help of therapy, or at least a patient can learn to live and go out without thinking too much about Crohn’s.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America explains that genetics, the immune system, and the patient’s living environment often contribute to whether or not a patient will contract Crohn’s Disease.

- R.

To see my timeline of “Women’s Health Legislation and Reforms”, please click here.

The Healthcare Economist adds,

Despite the fact that the U.S. has the highest healthcare spending per capita and the highest spending as a percentage of GDP, it seems that Americans are not happy with the quality of care they receive. One reason, is that Americans are paying more for their health care. We pay more as a society, but probably more importantly for these ratings, Americans pay more out-of-pocket when they do fall ill. “One-fifth of U.S. adults reported serious problems paying medical bills in the past year—more than double the rates in the next highest countries.”

My question is, as an American citizen, how do the individual state policies hold up?

The National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health & Science University has a report card that “assess[es] the overall health of women at the national and state levels.” You can pick a state (in my case, New Jersey) or select an issue to explore it. When you view the state’s individual report card, it also breaks women down into their respective demographic groups so you can see how each is affected by the policy. I found the “Addressing Wellness and Prevention” category the most interesting because is analyzes tests such as Pap Smears and Mammograms.

- R.