HealthNews Dozen – Top Medical Advances for Women

There are new medical advances being discovered every year, as researchers and scientists work continuously and tirelessly to make life easier for those with various ailments, diseases, and discomforts. And while many scientific finds can be applied to diseases as a whole, the differences between the bodies of men and women often require solutions unique to one gender.

Researchers know this, and Health Magazine focused on this when determining the most beneficial and ground-breaking advances for women during the 2008 calendar year. Some of the medical breakthroughs were unisex in nature, but the list focused on beneficial health discoveries that were of particular interest to their female reading audience and made—or will make—significant differences in the lives of women in general.

Leptin made it to the top of the list because obesity continues to be one of the major concerns of women in the United States. The hormone was first connected to weight loss in 1994, but it wasn’t until 2008 that scientists at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City discovered that leptin spurred more brain activity in the area of the brain that led to appetite suppression. Not only is leptin being strongly pursued as a means to control appetite, but it may be a useful aid for long-term weight control.

MRSA hit the second spot on the list because of its ever-growing presence in hospitals and medical facilities; in fact, MRSA currently kills more Americans than AIDS. The MRSA infection typically occurs in older people with weaker immune systems but is more and more common in various health care settings and can lead to deadly infections and pneumonia. Several treatment and prevention options have been discovered, and the hope of controlling MRSA is greater than ever.

Addiction is an overwhelming problem to many people, but visits to emergency rooms have been intercepted by ER doctors who train to conduct brief interventions, which has reduced return substance-abuse returns to the ER by 50 percent. Infertility is another issue close to women’s hearts, and the freezing of embryos gives hopeful parents additional chances during the in vitro fertilization process.

Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, colon cancer, and breast cancer have seen great strides made in their individual areas of medical expertise that look to improve treatments, ease the processes of or replace chemotherapy, and come ever closer to finding cures. From stem cells to radiation treatments, scientists are consistently making breakthroughs for the millions of people suffering from these illnesses.

Interesting items made it on the list because of their importance to women’s health. Dark chocolate has not only been found to improve moods but help overall heart function and lead to less cardiovascular distress. Herbal remedies have grown to include black cohosh, a plant extract that may stop the growth of certain breast cancer cells. Improvements to anti-aging skin treatments have led to medical benefits, like actual strengthening of the skin, that are more than merely cosmetic in nature. And the importance of sleep to women’s cardiovascular health has been studied in more depth. More emphasis has been placed on informing women about resolving sleep problems to improve blood flow and lower the risk of diabetes.

Other items that made it to Health Magazine’s top twenty list included the reduction of stress as a key to living longer and staving off diseases like heart disease and osteoporosis, and more treatments being discovered for acne. A testosterone-based gel is being researched as a sexual enhancement drug for women, and stem cells from liposuction-removed fat may hold the key to fighting spinal cord injuries and brain diseases.

Resveratrol is another compound found in grapes and win that may enable a stronger fight against diabetes and cancer, and advances in chemotherapy have led to theories that less is more when treating cancer cells. Endometriosis is a surgery for prostates that may soon be routinely performed by robots and require a much shorter recovery time for patients. And lastly, eating disorders may now be able to be detected in MRI scans because of brain activity research.

All in all, women can look back at 2008 as a banner year for developments and information that can lead to better overall health and keys to reducing many illnesses that plague the female gender. And with research on top of research in 2009, there is no telling what science may bring.