South Asia | India | Career

Between domestic chores and agricultural work, rural Indian women have no time for child-rearing

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Working in agriculture-related jobs brings financial freedom to Indian women, but it comes at a cost. Intense work leads to stress and compromises in care responsibilities towards children and also affects the women’s own health, according to recent research published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). “Women’s work in agriculture seems to have a negative effect on household nutrition through two pathways: lack of adequate time for care work in peak agricultural seasons and seasonal energy with consequent losses in body weight,” the study notes. “Recognition of women
Latin America | El Salvador | Crimes

Violence Against Women in El Salvador Is Driving Them to Suicide — Or to the U.S. Border

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It’s hard to grasp the scale of El Salvador’s problem with gender violence. In the Central American country of just six million people, one woman was the victim of a femicide — a man murdering of a woman or girl because of her gender — every 24 hours in 2018. That’s one of the worst rates of femicide in the world, according to the United Nations. Sixty-seven percent of Salvadoran women have suffered some form of violence in their lifetime, including sexual assault, intimate partner violence and abuse by family members, a 2017 national survey found. But only 6% of victims had re
North America | United States | Health

Asbestos found in some Claire’s makeup, FDA says

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The FDA issued a warning advising consumers against using certain makeup products from Claire's, as they could be contaminated with asbestos. The FDA said samples of the following products tested positive for tremolite asbestos: o Claire's Eye Shadows - Batch No/Lot No: 08/17 o Claire's Compact Powder - Batch No/Lot No: 07/15 o Claire's Contour Palette - Batch No/Lot No: 04/17 The FDA sampled and had tested targeted cosmetic products following reports of contaminated cosmetics marketed by Claire's. Testing was conducted on behalf of FDA by the Occupational Safety and Health Administra
North America | United States | Corruption

FDA: Government Recommends Untested, Unlicensed Vaccines for Pregnant Women

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In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the FDA has admitted, for the first time, that government agencies, including the CDC, are recommending vaccines for pregnant women that have neither been licensed for pregnant mothers by FDA nor tested for safety in clinical trials. The lawsuit, filed by Children’s Health Defense (CHD) attorney, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on behalf of Informed Consent Action Network(ICAN), a vaccine safety advocacy group, sought all clinical trial data used by FDA to approve influenza vaccines for pregnant women. The FDA’s terse reply: “We
Europe | U.K. | Health

The rate of suicides among women has increased to its highest level in a decade

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The number of suicides among women in the UK has increased to its highest level since 2005. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 6,188 people in the UK intentionally took their own lives in 2015, up from 6,122 in 2014. This increase was driven by a rise in deaths by suicide among women with the rate rising from 5.2 to 5.4 per 100,000 people. It means that the rate of suicides among women has now reached its highest level since 2005, although it is still significantly lower than in 1981 when 10.6 per 100,000 women intentionally took their own lives.
Latin America | El Salvador | Health

El Salvador Advises Women to Delay Pregnancies Due to Virus

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Public health officials in El Salvador are advising women to put off pregnancies for the next two years to avoid passing on complications from the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Vice-minister of public health Eduardo Espinoza said Thursday women who are already pregnant should stay covered outdoors to reduce the risk of mosquito bites. There are 96 suspected cases of pregnant women with the virus in El Salvador. Some countries with Zika, such as Brazil, have seen spikes in the number of cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies. The infants tend to have smaller than normal heads a
North America | Canada | Health

Pregnant Women on Antidepressants More Likely to Have Child With Autism

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A new study shows that women who take antidepressants in the later stages of pregnancy are more likely to have a child with autism. The study specifies one particular group of antidepressants in particular — the SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil. "Use of antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, during the second and/or third trimester increases the risk of autism spectrum disease in children, even after considering maternal depression," Anick Berard of the University of Montreal and colleagues wrote in their
North America | United States | Health

Study Finds Toxic Nail Polish Chemical In Women’s Bodies

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According to a new study from Duke University and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), painting your nails doesn’t just give it a nice coat of color— it also may release an endocrine-disrupting chemical into the body. The study found that women who painted their nails with nail products including triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) had a metabolite of the chemical in their bodies 10 to 14 hours later. Their levels of diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), which forms when the body metabolizes TPHP, increased by nearly sevenfold, according to a news release. According to researchers, previous laboratory
South Asia | India | Health

78% Mumbai women at risk of developing heart disease: Study

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Around 78% of women in Mumbai are at risk of heart disease because of increased belly fat, reveals a pan India study. The report also said that more than 60 per cent of urban India females in the age group of 30 to 45 years are at risk of being affected by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). With 89% of women at risk of CVDs in Mumbai falling in the overweight/obese category, the results of the study has revealed some alarming statistics. The Saffolalife study 2015 — conducted in 10 leading metro and non-metro cities of India — had 1,299 urban Indian females participation in the age group 3
North America | United States | Culture

It’s Time to Talk: South Asian Women in the U.S. Have Some of the Highest Suicide Rates

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Growing up, we hear aunties and uncles boast about and compare their children's grades, looks, and other signs signaling a promising future of social status. As we get older, everything is up for comparison -- the amount of money we make, the career we embark on, the lives we show to the world on social media, and even the ones we love. The expectations are always rising; our self-worth, always plummeting. We are never enough. Undoubtedly, being a young South Asian woman in the U.S. poses unique pressures and challenges. There is the pressure to live up to the usual unhealthy mainstream
Europe | France | Health

Why French women stop breastfeeding too early

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The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends to exclusively breastfeed babies in their first 6 months of life with continued partial breastfeeding in the following 18 months. However, a recent study shows that French women are far from following WHO’s recommendations: Most women stop breastfeeding after a month and a half, which corresponds to the end of the maternal leave. Only 18.3 percent of mothers in France are still breastfeeding their babies four months after birth, compared to 50 percent in neighboring countries such as Germany and Italy. Younger, single, unmarried and workin
North America | United States | Health

10% of Pregnant Women Drink Alcohol, Study Finds

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More than 10 percent of pregnant women in the United States, and 18 percent of pregnant women age 35 and older, say they drank alcohol in the past month, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What's more, among all pregnant women who reported drinking alcohol, about a third reported binge drinking, meaning they consumed at least four alcoholic beverages on one occasion, the study found. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is a health concern because it can cause birth defects and developmental disabilities in babies, and increase the risk of comp
Europe | U.K. | Health

Women more likely to die after heart attack treatment, say researchers

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Women are more likely to die following heart attack treatment than men, research has found. They are also less likely to have an angioplasty procedure, a procedure to widen blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to get the blood back flowing to the heart, a study carried out by the Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre discovered. Experts said this could be down to the fact that women tend to be older when they suffer heart attacks, and are also more likely to be diabetic. They suggested, however, that the fact that fewer women undergo angioplasties could be down to the “wrong attitude o
Europe | France | Health

French woman wins disability grant for ‘gadget allergy’

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A French court has awarded a disability grant to a woman claiming to suffer from a debilitating allergy to electromagnetic radiation from everyday gadgets such as cellphones. The applicant, Marine Richard, 39, hailed the ruling as a "breakthrough" for people afflicted by Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). The condition is not recognised as a medical disorder in most countries, including France, but sufferers insist that exposure to mobile phones, wifi routers, televisions and other gadgets cause them anything from mild discomfort to life-ruining disability.