Harvard World Health News - Single fathers, eye infections, sex ratios, and breast implants

[brdgt]

Harvard World Health News Highlights:

Study Takes a Jab at Single Dads
Bob Condor (The Seattle Post Intelligencer, August 5, 2007)
“A newly published study by a Harvard researcher finds that children raised by single fathers are less likely to visit the doctor than kids living with single moms or both parents...What makes this study more illuminating is that Kathleen Ziol-Guest and colleagues discovered that single fatherhood itself was the decisive factor for lacking medical care among children, no matter how much money the dad makes or even if the family is insured.”

Eye Infections From Solution Continuing to Harm Users
Barnaby J. Feder (The New York Times, August 3, 2007)
“More than a fourth of the contact lens users who suffered serious eye infections linked to Advanced Medical Optics’ recalled Complete MoisturePlus lens cleaner have required corneal transplants, according to an update on the outbreak released yesterday by federal health care authorities…The recall by Advanced Medical stemmed from MoisturePlus’s apparent inability, for reasons that are not yet clear, to adequately protect some soft lens users from a different infectious microbe called acanthamoeba.” Free registration required.

Carnal Knowledge: Boys' Birthrate Advantage is Slipping
Faye Flam (The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 6, 2007)
“Most expectant parents figure their chances of having a baby boy vs. a baby girl are 50-50, but that's actually not the case…Now, some scientists are raising an alarm. Pollution and hormone-scrambling chemicals that are ubiquitous in household products, they say, are driving a trend toward fewer male births in the United States and Japan.” Free registration required.

Breast Implants Linked to Suicide Risk
Denise Gellene (The Los Angeles Times, August 8, 2007)
“Women who receive implants for breast enhancement are three times more likely to commit suicide, according to a new report that offered a sobering view of an increasingly popular surgery…The report in the Annals of Plastic Surgery's August issue was the most recent to detect a higher suicide rate among women who had their breasts enlarged, providing a gloomy counterpoint to studies that showed women felt better about themselves after getting implants.” Free registration required.

Comments

[choogy.livejournal.com]

weird breast implants article... very weird. i am more curious about body image and self esteem versus suicide as opposed to the actual implants. wow. sort of ironic that the only thing physically left of a dead chick with implants are... the implants. ooooohhhhhhh spooky!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

I just read a book on the history of cosmetic surgery and the author had such a great critique of the whole "getting surgery will make me more confident" argument. Stories like add more evidence against the whole claim that surgery "boosts your self-esteem."

they're just like us!

[choogy.livejournal.com]

as someone that has had multiple surgeries (cosmetic and otherwise) i can understand why the general consensus would be "if i looked like blank, i would feel good about myself!" but years of therapy have definitely taught me that real self esteem is not "implanted" - but wow, there is so much to be said for perception and the "beauty standard."

the glamourization of plastic surgery is a weird thing too- i mean, fifteen years ago it was like "omg, she's had work done???" and now it's more like "omg, she hasn't had any work done???" now this is a topic we could definitely go off on...

Re: they're just like us!

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

The whole framing of Venus Envy is how we went from an actress getting a nose job in the 1940s and people criticizing her to people criticizing Barbara Streisand for not getting one. Or, even if they don't criticize her making comments like "it's nice that ugly girls can still be famous."

[zorn-von-bulach.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that single mothers rate higher than couples in terms of regular medical attention. My personal experience has been that the sum of my wife's voice and my own probably leads to more visits, although my wife says we should "go" to the pediatrician, and I say we should "call" the pediatrician.

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

It could by a public health success story? - single moms are targeted more by public health departments about the importance of infant and maternal health. One of my favorite statistics is that (worldwide) a child's success is most closely correlated to the education of their mother and if she works outside the home. Contrary to what conservatives say, children are more successful if their mother works.

[congogirl.livejournal.com]

Oh JFC, like we need more males!!! (Sorry guys.)