Evidence Based Medicine for Women Celebrating International Women’s Day
A Natural Health and Wellness Essay.
Here are 8 SELF-CARE IDEAS for women that are supported by research from Medline indexed journals including: Midwifery, Women’s Health, International Journal of Women’s Health and Journal of Health Psychology. Celebrate International Women’s Day March 8, 2021 with better health this year. #IWD2021
TALK about what is bringing you health success. “The popularity of non-prescription, over-the counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins, minerals, homoeopathic remedies and herbal supplements (CAM) has grown significantly in recent years. However, we have limited knowledge relating to why pregnant women use CAM and how this may relate to the provision of maternity care. Using an interview approach this study explored the nature of over-the-counter and complementary medicines use in a sample of pregnant women … The reasons the women who were interviewed gave for using CAM broadly fell into two areas centered essentially on the contrasting advantages of CAM and disadvantages of conventional medicine. Doctors or midwives were rarely informed about the use of CAM medicines during pregnancy. The women saw CAM as outside of biomedicine and part of a holistic approach to health and well-being over which they are able to maintain their personal control. Non-disclosure of CAM use was common, a feature of which, appears to be some health-care professionals’ lack of realization of the importance, to women, of a holistic approach to their health, key to which is a desire to retain control over decisions associated with their well-being.”
— Warriner, S., K. Bryan, et al. (2014). “Women’s attitude towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in pregnancy.” Midwifery 30(1): 138–143.
LAUGH. “Rates of mental illness and self-harm are very high among women prisoners. Questionnaires assessed prisoners’ knowledge of and attitudes towards mental health problems, and relevant behavioral intentions before and after the intervention, to evaluate the effectiveness of a comedy show in a women’s prison to reduce mental health stigma and improve coping and help-seeking for mental health problems … There were significant post-intervention increases in the proportion who stated they would discuss or disclose mental health problems with all but one of the sources of help in the questionnaire, which was consistent with the increases in the number of prisoners who rated themselves as likely to start using different sources of help or prison activities. The intervention appeared effective in improving factors that might increase help-seeking and improve coping, but not those that would change behavior towards others with a mental health problem.”
— Wright, S., M. Twardzicki, et al. (2014). “Evaluation of a comedy intervention to improve coping and help-seeking for mental health problems in a women’s prison.” Int Rev Psychiatry 26(4): 423–429.
EXERCISE with your FAMILY and FRIENDS. “This study investigated women’s experiences of doing prescribed pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) after participation in the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Physiotherapy (POPPY) trial … This study revealed the importance of family in influencing PFME patterns and behaviors in the treatment of POP. It is possible that identifying strategies to help women reach their PFME goals within the context of their families will promote more successful PFME adherence. The importance of family when prescribing exercise for women with other chronic health conditions is also worth exploring.”
— Hyland, G., J. Hay-Smith, et al. (2014). “Women’s experiences of doing long-term pelvic floor muscle exercises for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse symptoms.” Int Urogynecol J 25(2): 265–271.
Consider where your NUTRITIONAL information comes from. “The present study examined temporality in the representation of food in two popular British women’s magazines between 1950 and 1998. The prevalence of food advertisements decreased, whereas food articles increased, across decades. Cooking tips dominated 1950s food writing (100%), contrasting with miniscule coverage in the 1990s (5%). Slimming advice was not represented in 1950s articles and was most common in 1970s articles (55% of articles). Food advertising for all food types decreased in the 1990s decade. There were greater bread and cereals, protein foods and dairy advertising in later decades; advertising for sugar- and fat-rich foods, condiments and baking ingredients and beverages was greater in earlier decades. Odds of advertising claims for energy, easy digestion, nourishment, general health, economy, good for family, pleased others and convenience were greater in the 1950s and decreased thereafter. Claims around taste and quality were highest in the 1960s. Mineral, additive-free, and protein claims were most likely to be invoked in 1970s advertising. Low-fat, low-calorie and fibre claims peaked in the 1980s, whereas the odds of specific fat claims was greatest in the 1990s.” They concluded,”Representation of food resonated with prevailing food culture but was not always congruent with nutrition policy.”
— Barker, M. E., K. McNeir, et al. (2014). “Food, nutrition and slimming messages in British women’s magazines, 1950–1998.” J Hum Nutr Diet 27 Suppl 2: 124–134.
Drink good quality WATER. “This research evaluated the association between women’s self-rated health and a number of socioeconomic and environmental health indicators relating to drinking water services in an underserved Lebanese community … Women who perceived their household income to be worse than others in town were four times as likely to report poor health. Compared to women who were satisfied with drinking water quality, dissatisfied women were 42% more likely to report poor health. The findings suggest a positive relationship between individual perceptions of water quality and self-rated health.”
— Habib, R. R., K. Elzein, et al. (2013). “The association between women’s self-rated health and satisfaction with environmental services in an underserved community in Lebanon.” Women Health 53(5): 451–467.
Do Self-Massage on Reflex points, ACUPRESSURE or Acupuncture. “Acupuncture and other modalities of Chinese/East Asian medicine have been used to treat women’s health for many centuries. Gynecology specialties focus particularly on menstrual and reproductive disorders.” researchers concluded, “There is preliminary data indicating acupuncture may improve menstrual health and coping for women experiencing delays falling pregnant. There is experimental data showing that acupuncture can influence female reproductive functioning, although the actual mechanisms involved are not yet clarified.”
— Cochrane, S., C. A. Smith, et al. (2014). “Acupuncture and women’s health: an overview of the role of acupuncture and its clinical management in women’s reproductive health.” Int J Womens Health 6: 313–325.
RUB daily on SPLEEN 6, a point four finger width above the medial malleolus (bump on the inside of each ankle). I and my clients have seen significant improvements with this point. “This study’s objective was to examine the effectiveness of Sanyinjiao point (SP6) acupressure on women’s general health. Eighty-six (86) university students were recruited for this study. Their demographic characteristics were gathered before the intervention commenced. Participants completed General Health Questionnaires (GHQ) prior to participation. Next, they were randomly assigned to either the acupressure-receiving group or the sham-pressure-receiving group. The study group received acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point, while the control group received sham pressure. It was found that acupressure was more effective than sham pressure. Both acupressure and sham pressure were effective in promoting women’s general health; nevertheless, the efficacy of acupressure was more than that of sham pressure. SP6 acupressure could be regarded as a self-manageable approach to improve women’s general health.”
— Kashefi, F., M. Khajehei, et al. (2011). “The efficacy of acupressure at the Sanyinjiao point in the improvement of women’s general health.” J Altern Complement Med 17(12): 1141–1147.
Seek out activities that support your positive SELF-IMAGE. “This study examined the link between positive body image and a range of health behaviors. Participants were 256 women who completed an online questionnaire measuring body appreciation, body dissatisfaction, sun protection, cancer screening, seeking medical attention, weight-loss behavior and alcohol and tobacco consumption. Results indicated that body appreciation was positively related to sun protection, skin screening and seeking medical attention and negatively related to weight-loss behavior.”
— Andrew, R., M. Tiggemann, et al. (2014). “Positive body image and young women’s health: Implications for sun protection, cancer screening, weight loss and alcohol consumption behaviours.” J Health Psychol.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on March 8, 2015.
