About 1.6 million pregnant women are at risk for Zika virus infection in South and Central America. Now, health officials are concerned that local transmission of Zika virus has begun in southern Florida. This means the virus was acquired in Florida, instead of being acquired elsewhere while a person was traveling. This means that some of the mosquitos in Florida carry the virus.
In related news, the blood supply in South Florida is now considered to be potentially contaminated with Zika virus. The FDA ( Food and Drug Administration) has asked that all blood donations from South Florida halt until all donations can be screened for Zika virus.
In even more striking news, the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control) is recommending that all pregnant women be screening for the Zika virus.
As most of you know, Congress left for its seven week vacation without coming to an agreement on Zika funding. The President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has written a strongly worded letter to Congress on this matter.
Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences include research that indicates that women who enter menopause early age faster than other women. They were able to quantify this, saying that menopause speeds up cellular again about 6 %. They also indicated that poor sleep can trigger similar aging type changes.
In related news, women who start menstruation late and who have menopause late compared to average are more likely to achieve 90 years of age. Information like this is useful in that it helps identify factors tied to longevity.
Research from the Journal Circulation has indicate that only 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week has measurable effects on heart disease risk in women. Let’s see, taking one day off per week leave six days for exercise. Divide that into 2.5 hours to get the time per day needed for exercise. Only 25 minutes per day needed to reduce cardiac risk !
Stay tuned next week for more breaking news from the world of Ob/Gyn and women’s health.