When we have a break from the holiday rush in December, many of us reflect on the year that just passed. Some stories may have gotten lots of attention while others were overshadowed. I chose 12 of the most important (or intriguing) women’s health topics of 2009. Click on the links for the full stories.
With the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, it was a scary time for all pregnant women who naturally have weakened immune responses. They were urged to get vaccines for H1N1.

Mammograms got quite a bit of attention late this year when the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended …read more

A new study has found that if you sleep under seven hours a night repeatedly, it could put you at risk for Type 2 diabetes. The ironic part is the second half of this study. If you sleep more than eight hours a night you could also be at risk. That’s right, if you sleep too much or too little, the risk is the same.
One source says that the “findings, published in the journal Sleep Medicine, suggest seven to eight hours’ sleep a night seems to be the ideal amount for adults to protect against common diseases …read more

AlzheimersNotes.com

 As I read Liz’s recent post, Sleep Disturbances in Alzheimer’s Patients & Their Caregivers, I recalled the lack of sleep when I cared for Mother.  An uninterrupted night’s sleep was something I received little of. Mother lost track of day or night, cat napped during the day, so was awake or only napping at night. Her sleep patterns (or non-patterns), always erratic  before Ahzheimer’s, became more so after she developed this disease.
“Mary, one of the most difficult things about caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is you never get a good night’s sleep,” a friend said, when she learned I was moving Mother …read more