Preliminary Discussion of Adverse Health Effects in DES Granddaughters

If you’re not familiar with DES (Diethylstilbestrol), it’s a drug that was given to women to prevent miscarriages and premature births from 1938-1971, a practice that ended when the FDA issued a warning because of unusual vaginal cancers found in the daughters of women given the drug. The CDC estimates that “5-10 million pregnant women and the children born of these pregnancies were exposed to DES,” and that the grandchildren of these women are just now reaching an age at which third generation effects can be studied.

In fact, a CDC bibliography of research publications on effects in the 3rd generation currently includes only six papers. A newly released and very preliminary study in the journal Epidemiology suggests that ovarian cancer rates may be increased in these “DES granddaughters,” although it is based on only three cases. The authors clearly point out that “[the] finding may be due to chance or possibly to bias, and should be considered preliminary,” but that “our observation reinforces the need for continued follow-up of the third-generation women.”

More information for those who think they may have been exposed to DES is available from the CDC. To learn more about the history of DES, visit this page. It points out that “In 1953, published research showed that DES did not prevent miscarriages or premature births.” In other words, the drug was prescribed for nearly two decades after it was demonstrated that it did not work for its intended purpose.

New Research on Health Disparities

A summary of three new articles on racial and other disparities in cancer care is available in my most recent post at Our Bodies Our Blog.

Quality of Breast Cancer Information on the Web?

In a new post at Our Bodies Our Blog, I address the recent study of the quality of websites providing breast cancer information. I don’t agree with all of the assumptions the authors worked from in assessing “technical quality” of sites*, but their findings are worth a look. I also think they should have called out the websites that provided inaccurate breast cancer information and explained what the common inaccuracies were, and why .edu sites fared so poorly compared to .com, .gov, and other sites.

Head on over, and leave us a comment or two, wontcha?

*I hesitate to explain further because it’s kind of a librarian/wonky thing, as are my criticisms of the authors’ stats as presented (I’d like confidence intervals for those odds ratios, blah, blah), but if you’re interested, I will.

Things You Don’t Hear About Every Day

Farrah Fawcett has anal cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, 4,650 new cases of the disease are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, and 690 annual deaths are attributed to it.

Info on the condition:

• MedlinePlus: Anal Cancer - National Library of Medicine
  
• Anal Cancer - National Cancer Institute
  
• Overview: Anal Cancer - American Cancer Society

Oral Contraceptives and Cervical Cancer

Last week, I posted to Our Bodies Our Blog about a preliminary finding on oral contraceptives and heart disease, and how women probably shouldn’t panic because there’s no need to immediately ditch their pills. The Blog That Ate Manhattan (a 20-year gynecology veteran) has a similar “don’t panic” message about a new meta-analysis on oral contraceptives and cervical cancer:

Because the risk is really small. How small? Well, if you live in a developed country (meaning you have access to Pap smears), use of the pill for 10 years increases your chance of having cervical cancer from 3.8 per 1,000 to 4.5 per 1,000.

TBTAM makes this very important point about the analysis: “The other big factor may be that women taking the pill may use condoms less frequently, thus making them more likely to get HPV.” The analysis did attempt to look at “ever” and “never” condom use, but couldn’t really say whether women on the pill were using barrier methods that would reduce risk less frequently.

Very good perspective over there - check it out.

Rates of Elective Double Mastectomy Rise

The rates of women electing to have the second breast removed as a preventive measure following a one-sided breast cancer diagnosis has increased, but it may not necessarily increase their survival. Get the details at Our Bodies Our Blog.

Two New Posts at OBOS - Breast Cancer, Violence in the Congo

War on Women Continues in the Congo, on the rape epidemic in the eastern region of the DRC.

The Obligatory Breast Cancer Post, because it’s breast cancer awareness month.

Pushing a Genetic Test Most Women Don’t Need (or, Be afraid! Pay money!)

I’ve been slightly less prolific here recently than I like to be, due to prepping the garden, my real job, and life in general. Luckily, the OBOS folks keep me on a bloggy schedule.

Yesterday’s post at Our Bodies, Ourselves, “Selling Women Fear Through Genetic Testing Advertisements,” addresses a company that is marketing a genetic test for breast and ovarian cancer risk factors to the masses, despite how few women need the test, the outrageous cost, and the limited evidence on whether acting on the test results actually helps to prolong women’s lives.

An excerpt:

Essentially, Myriad is attempting to convince women to be afraid of what lurks in their genes (understanding that many women are not knowledgeable about this topic), and to convince them to seek this expensive testing, ultimately benefiting Myriad’s bottom line if not the women themselves.

For more, head on over to OBOS. I’d love to see some of my regulars here get involved in the discussion there. Don’t be put off by the comment moderation - it’s just to prevent spam, and we’re quick on ‘em.

PS Post: The Pill and Cancer

Yes, I know there is a new study out suggesting oral contraceptives may reduce the risk of certain cancers. I’m not blogging about it in detail yet because I haven’t read the study yet. Look for updates later in the week after I do.

PS #2: Ebola freaks me out more than just about anything.

A Bit of Housekeeping

I wanted to have a collection of links to my guest-posts at Our Bodies Our Blog in one place for my own future reference. Check ‘em out if you haven’t already.

-Midwifery on the Rise in Afghanistan to Combat Maternal Deaths (8/21)
-Double Dose: Sex Ed via Text Message, Abortion Access, Female Circumcision in Egypt, and More (8/20)
-BlogHer Poll to Set Global Health Agenda (8/1
-Anti-Choice Judge Steps Aside in Tiller Case (8/17)
-Pregnant Woman Denied Care Over VBAC - (8/17)
-Racial Bias in Heart Disease Treatment (8/16)
-HPV Vaccine is for Prevention, not Treatment (8/15)