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EAP Newsletter - October 2003

In This Issue:

Longevity Facts

Prepare for Emergencies By Saving Vital Data

A New Approach to Marriage?

Estrogen-Alone and Birth-Control-Pill Safe

Longevity Facts

Being overweight may increase cancer risk. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine followed 900,000 adults for 16 years. High body mass index (weight relative to height) was associated with up to 20% of cancer deaths in women, and 14% in men.

The first state-by-state survey of arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the United States, shows this condition is more common than previously thought. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed that 1 in 3 adults - or 70 million Americans (27 million more than the last estimate) - suffers from some form of degenerative joint disease, primarily osteoarthritis.

Each year influenza kills 36,000 Americans and between 250,000 and 500,000 people worldwide. A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that flu shots reduce the risk of flu-related hospitalization by up to 32% and the risk of death from any cause by 50%.

Avoid unsafe body art. If you or your child or grandchild is planning to get a tattoo or body piercing, look for a studio that follows appropriate safety procedures. Equipment should be sterilized in an autoclave machine; needles should be sterile, unwrapped in front of you, and discarded after use; ink should be changed after each tattoo customer; and staff should wear fresh gloves for each procedure and after contact with nonsterile items.

Note: Health information is reported from a variety of public sources; the information is not intended to be used as medical advice.

• Copies of tax returns for the last five years
• A copy of the deed to your house
• A listing of major improvements to your home in the past few years with receipts
• Copies of birth certificates, driver's licenses, car titles and registrations
• A list of current family prescription medications and doctors' phone numbers
• Photos of each room in your home displaying major appliances, computers, etc.
• Copies of homeowners and automobile insurance policies
• An up-to-date list of all household credit cards
• Copies of important investment instruments, such as certificates of deposit
  

1. Psychological intimacy, by which we endeavor to learn all we can about the other
   person including little things (like their birthday and food preferences) and big
   things (like their personal and family histories).
2. Relationship skills, including communication and conflict-resolution abilities;
   stress management techniques and self-monitoring skills.
3. Realistic expectations, whereby the couple focuses on the way their relationship
   will look and feel five, ten or twenty years down the road.
   

Estrogen-Alone and Birth-Control-Pill Safe

UNOPPOSED ESTROGEN

Researchers called a halt to part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) last summer when they saw a marked increase in the risk of heart attack and breast cancer among women taking combined estrogen and progesterone. But they allowed the other part of the study to continue, since they saw no increase of similar magnitude among the 11,000 women who had had hysterectomies and were taking estrogen alone.

Women who have had their uterus removed don't need progesterone, since that hormone is added simply to prevent uterine cancer, a well-established risk of unopposed estrogen. And there are reasons to think that if you don't need progesterone, you're better off without it. Laboratory research shows that cancerous cell changes in breast tissue may be greatest when progesterone levels are highest. And most previous human studies found higher rates of breast cancer in those taking combined hormone therapies than in those on estrogen alone. Similarly, the strongest evidence linking estrogen to coronary protection came from studies of unopposed estrogen.

Still, our medical consultants say that the clear heart-attack risks found in the WHI make it unwise to take unopposed estrogen solely for disease prevention. If you're taking unopposed estrogen for disruptive menopausal symptoms, consider a lower dose and other measures described in the main article.

ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES

Given the new findings on hormones, younger women may be concerned about using birth-control pills, which contain roughly four times as much estrogen and progesterone as the amount in formulations used by women after menopause. Some studies have linked oral-contraceptive use to a slightly increased risk of breast cancer. And women who smoke and take the pill face a much higher risk of blood clots.

However, most research hasn't found any increased cardiovasular risk in nonsmokers, or breast-cancer risk in any wonen. Last summer,in the largest study yet to look at breast cancer and oral contraceptives, researchers at the Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention found no connection, even among women who had a family history of the malignancy. And Canadian researchers who combined the results of seven recent studies on heart attackes and oral contraceptives also found no risk in the oral contraceptives currently being used.

Still, researchers can't definitively say that the oral contraceptives are completely safe, since no randomized trials of the therapy can be done because it would be unethical to give some women active and some women placebo birth-control pills. So women considering going or staying on the pill should carefully review the unknowns and the risks - including the risk of unwanted pregnancies - with their doctor.

Consumer Reports on Health

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The above articles were gathered from a variety of news sources.

Employee Health Systems 2003

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