HEALTH TRENDS

Breastfeeding in the workplace: good for the mother, child, business and society

On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, commemorated this year from August 1-7, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is acknowledging that global efforts to promote breastfeeding in the workplace are starting to pay off, with more than 65 per cent of countries around the world now having some sort of legislation entitling mothers to either remunerated nursing breaks or a daily reduction of working hours.

However, nearly a quarter of all countries still do not provide breastfeeding breaks in the workplace - especially in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean - and this is something that needs to change, noted Laura Adatti, the ILO's maternity protection and work-family specialist.

"Legal information from our maternity protection database shows that increased efforts are needed to convince governments, employers - and sometimes even workers - that combining work and breastfeeding is not only possible but also essential for both mother and child, as well as for business and society as a whole," she said.

The lack of support at the workplace is one of the main reasons why women stop breastfeeding before the recommended time. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this means six months of exclusive breastfeeding and then continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

Research shows that women are more likely to stay in their job in the longer term if they can breastfeed at work - which is a good way of retaining skilled workers. Supporting breastfeeding among employees only involves limited costs for employers, both in terms of the employee's time and the infrastructure that it requires.

Heart patients should get sex advice

New guidelines from the American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology are suggesting that doctors with patients with a history of heart disease should speak to them about sexual matters, particularly that intimacy is possible after a heart attack.

It recommends that heart doctors, nurses and other health-care workers should take the lead and initiate the discussion with male and female patients of all ages and their partners. Discussions should involve everything from when and how to resume sex, to what position might be best for some conditions.

This new guideline is billed as the first scientific statement with detailed guidance on resuming sex after a heart attack, stroke or other cardiac condition and is based on a review of medical literature.

Many heart patients can safely resume sexual intercourse after first checking with their doctors, and the answers to many questions depend on each patient's overall health, the guidance said. Patients with mild, stable chest pain face a low risk for a sex-triggered heart problem, whereas patients with advanced heart failure should postpone sex until their condition is stabilised.

"Sexual health is an important part of the overall health of the individual," even for the oldest patients, noted Elaine Steinke, a researcher and professor of nursing at Wichita State University in Kansas, United States.

Steinke was the lead author of the statement published in the heart association's Circulation journal and the European Heart Journal.

Drinking coffee may lower suicide risk by 50 per cent

According to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in the United States, drinking several cups of coffee daily could actually decrease the risk of suicide in both men and women by nearly 50 per cent.

"Unlike previous investigations, we were able to assess association of consumption of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, and we identify caffeine as the most likely candidate of any putative protective effect of coffee," lead researcher Michel Lucas, research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH, said in a press statement.

Coffee's key ingredient, caffeine, stimulates the central nervous system. In turn, it acts as a mild antidepressant through enhancing the production of various neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline.

Despite results showing that coffee can improve mood, study authors also emphasised that depressed individuals should not increase their daily intake of coffee.

More women altering menstruation cycles

A surprisingly large number of women 18 years or older choose to delay or skip monthly menstruation by deviating from the instructions of birth-control pills and other hormonal contraceptives, a team of University of Oregon, United States researchers and others found, in a study of female students at the university.

Most women who alter bleeding cycles do so for convenience rather than to avoid menstrual symptoms, and many learn about the option from non-medical sources, according to research by the university's Department of Human Physiology, Portland-based Oregon Health and Sciences University and Eastern Michigan University.

The study is published in Contraception, the official journal of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals and the Society of Family Planning.

As research indicates that reducing the occurrence of menstruation is safe and can even be beneficial, women are increasingly using hormonal contraceptives to alter bleeding cycles.

In a survey of undergraduate and graduate students, 17 per cent reported altering their scheduled bleeding pattern by deviating from the instructions of hormonal contraceptives, which include birth-control pills, vaginal contraceptive rings and transdermal contraceptive patches.

Half of these women reported that they did so for convenience or scheduling purposes, while others cited personal preference (28.9 per cent) or reducing menstrual symptoms (16.7 per cent).

Among the women who delayed or skipped a scheduled bleeding for convenience or personal choice, a comparatively large number - 53 per cent - indicated the knowledge was obtained from non-medical sources, such as a family member or friend, researchers said.

UTech dental students lead international student voluntary outreach project

The International Dental Student Voluntary Project will be held in western Jamaica from August 12-26 at the Catherine Hall Sports stadium in Montego Bay, St James.

The mission project, to provide free oral health care to the public, is a collaboration forged by University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) dental students and some 20 international dental students and dentists who will travel from various parts of the world, including Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic, to be part of this first such project of its kind in the Caribbean.

The two-week project will also include a dental lecture series, outreach health fairs, and social activities aimed at introducing international students to dental public health in Jamaica while gaining clinical experience and providing an outreach service for under-represented groups. Services will include cleaning, extractions and temporary restorative treatment.