Heat exposure standards and women's work: equitable or debatable?

Although there is an abundant literature on the health effects of occupational heat exposure, very few authors have addressed the question of the effects of heat stress on women workers. Knowledge about the effects of work in hot environments is mainly derived from the study of "heavy" muscular activity and current heat exposure standards are based on an energy criterion according to metabolic load. Metabolic load does not reflect cardiac strain associated with sedentary, repetitive work, involving static effort. The research presented here was conducted in an industrial laundry with 11 women mangle operators exposed to moderate heat stress during the summer months and whose work activity is classified as light on the basis of energy expenditure. Physiological and symptomatological responses, work activity and ambient temperature were assessed over 3 complete work days in summer and in winter. Recorded and perceived temperature, discomfort, feelings of fatigue and symptoms of thermal stress were significantly higher in summer than in winter. Symptoms of drowsiness and musculo-skeletal aches were reported equally in both seasons. Heart rate was high in both seasons, as were calculated indices of cardiac strain. Recommended limits for cardiac strain were surpassed significantly more often in summer than in winter. It is suggested that threshold levels should be redefined to include the prevention of cardiac strain resulting from cumulative effects of heat stress and sedentary, repetitive activity, typical of many women's job with low energy requirement.     

Infant feeding and women's work in Western Samoa: A hypothesis,some evidence and suggestions for future research‡

This paper argues that a key reason for the decline in the age of weaning in Third World countries may be an increasing workload for women associated with increasing involvement in the cash economy. This hypothesis is considered in light of data collected in an anthropological field study of a rural village in Western Samoa. Methods used were a village census; a household survey with fertility histories and questions on household economy; a questionnaire on breastfeeding; key informant interviews; observations made during residence in the village; and archival research. The ethnographic data suggest the possibility of a causal relationship between a decline in the age of weaning and an increasing workload for women in Western Samoa. In addition, other factors thought to account for a decline in the age of weaning, such as bottlefeeding and urbanization, are unimportant in rural Western Samoa.     

AIDS: the plateau?

Noting the difficulty in changing sexually promiscuous behavior, the author examines the available treatments and preventive agents for AIDS. AIDS poses a serious health and economic threat to the world, considering that by the turn of the century, some 40-50 million people will be infected. Infection through sexual contact continues to increase at an alarming rate. 30% of all prostitutes in India are infected with the virus, and in Bombay, some 6000 men get infected through sexual contact with prostitutes every month. In some ways, the AIDS epidemic parallels the outbreak of syphilis in the later part of the 19th century. Despite the lack of cure for syphilis at this time, sexual behavior went unchanged. AIDS differs, however, in that the carriers of the disease can remain symptom free for up to 2-15 years or more. During this period, the HIV virus integrates itself into the host's genetic constitution, targeting the cells of the lymphoid cell system and cells situated in the mouth and genital linings, eventually destroying the immune system. The fields of immunology, virology, chemotherapy, and genetic engineering have made great strides in AIDS research. And despite of a high cost, the drug aziodothymidine (AZT) has succeeded in extending the lives of many patients. But a cure does not appear to be in the near future. Fortunately, condoms and spermicidal agents have been shown to protect against infection. The spermicidal agents Nonoxynol-9 and cycloheximide possess anti-HIV properties. Furthermore, another spermicide, cholorhexidine, can be used as a mouth wash to protect from infection after oral sex. Since history has shown the difficulty of changing sexual behavior, efforts should focus on preventing viral spread.     

How does young women's weight perception affect their nutrient intake?: Korean young women's dietary consumption and nutritional deficiency

We investigated the relationship between Korean young women's weight perception and nutritional deficiency to understand the effect of culturally fostered ideals of women's bodies on dietary life. We analyzed 585 participants' responses from the 2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by using logistic regressions. Women who overestimated their weight were more likely to suffer from nutritional deficiency. Overestimating weight was significantly associated with increased relative risks of deficient carbohydrate and protein intake. The tendency of young women's low nutrient intake due to the distorted body image needs to be considered in the field of health care and education.     

Women and prostate cancer support groups: The gender connect?

There are more than 100 prostate cancer support groups (PCSGs) in Canada, most of which meet on a monthly basis-yet little attention has been paid to the role of women at these groups. As part of an ongoing ethnographic study of PCSGs, we examined women's motivations for attending the groups, their ways of functioning in PCSGs and the benefits they accrued. Participant observations conducted at 13 British Columbian-based PCSGs and individual interview data from 20 women who regularly attended PCSG meetings were analyzed. Although the groups did not overtly limit women's attendance, the women's decisions to attend and their participation at group meetings were subject to much self-reflection, uncertainty and tension. Motivations to access a PCSG included a desire to support their partners, develop understandings about the illness and disease, and to manage their own experience of prostate cancer. Our analyses revealed that women assume three roles in PCSGs: social facilitator, background supporter and cancer co-survivor. The women reported many interrelated benefits as a result of attending, including information, hope and reassurance, and connecting with other women in similar circumstances. The results from this study reveal how traditional feminine ideals, such as nurturing and caring for the men in their lives, facilitating social connections and the desire to share emotional experiences guided the behaviors. Based on the study findings, we suggest that efforts to support women's involvement in PCSGs are critical to enhancing the effectiveness of the groups for both men and women.     

Women and power: How can we change the system?

In 1988 a judicial Committee of Inquiry was commissioned to investigate allegations concerning research undertaken at National Women's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, on women with cervical abnormalities. The inquiry found mat this and other research had been undertaken and that senior academic and clinical staff had known but that the women had rarely been informed. Their report found that many women had been undertreated and some had died. The findings stimulated widespread public debate on issues of medical ethics. The report made recommendations for reform, but few have been implemented. These events and an analysis of the resistance to reform, especially on issues concerning patient rights and medical ethics, are the focus of this article.     

Women and heart transplantation: an issue of gender equity?

Heart transplantation (HT) is increasingly commonplace in countries with advanced health care systems. A review of the family and HT literature points to a gender inequity in the field: Men are more likely to be heart transplant recipients; women are more likely to contribute as their caregivers. In this critique, we argue that there are not only physiological but also social and economic issues that contribute to inequitable access to HT for women. Further, we point out that another invisible inequity in the heart transplant field is the lack of acknowledgment of, and support for, women whose contributions as family caregivers to the heart transplant process often ensure the success of heart transplant procedures. The authors call for recognition of these inequities and the development of policies that have the potential to ensure that women have equitable access to cardiovascular care in general and HT in particular, and that woman are recognized for, and supported in, their role as caregivers.     

The global financial crisis: whither women's health?

The global integration of trade and financial markets that has been the hallmark of the past 30 years of neoliberal globalization means that local economies can be shaped by economic events seemingly unrelated to the scale or geography where women's empowerment projects unfold. These global–local interactions raise questions so far largely absent in public discussions of the 2008 crisis precipitated by the US sub-prime loan scandal: what are the gendered effects of global financial crises; specifically, how do these crises affect women? And how do these market crises intersect with the non-market activities that are key to understanding gendered health issues in developing countries. This article addresses these questions by reviewing the literature on gendered health impacts of financial crises over the past two decades. We find that the manner in which national governments and the broader international community react to crises can either magnify (as illustrated through the impacts of structural adjustment programmes on women's health) or mitigate (as illustrated through the policies pursued following the loss of support from the collapsed Soviet Union on Cuban women's health) gendered health-negative effects. Lack of attention to gender-specific consequences of past crises or health-positive interventions into such crises has weakened the ability to advance policy advice on protecting women's health during the present crisis. The article concludes with a gender-focused critique of the dominant policy responses to the 2008 financial crisis and a call to undertake real-time investigation of gendered health risks and opportunities arising from the present crisis.     

AIDS: nature's last laugh?

HIV has already shown that it can control population more effectively than any other discovery or invention over the past 2 centuries. Condom use can both block the transmission of HIV and prevent pregnancy, while the fear of contracting HIV will drive people to become more monogamous in their sexual relations. Early successes with antibiotics and vaccines led us to believe that humans could defy nature, and we continue to challenge the forces of nature, routinely choosing diseases to eradicate. AIDS, however, should teach humankind that every time it eradicates one disease, nature delivers 2 new ones. Unless humankind realizes and accepts its fallibility, it will be doomed. Mankind should try to increase individual immunity to pathogens, coexist with microscopic pathogens, and believe in the wisdom of our ancestors.     

Shift work and subfecundity: a causal link or an artefact?

Methods: From 1 March 1998 to 1 May 2000, 39 913 pregnant women were enrolled in the DNBC. Data on job characteristics and TTP (0–2, 3–5, 6–12, and >12 months) were used for 17 531 daytime workers and 3907 shift workers who had planned the pregnancy. Fecundity odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals using the discrete time survival analysis techniques performed by logistic regression. An OR above 1 expresses a shorter TTP and then a higher fecundity. Potential confounders, such as age at conception, gravidity, prepregnant body mass index, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as well as occupational characteristics, were also included in the model.

Results: Fixed evening workers and fixed night workers had a longer TTP. Compared with daytime workers, the adjusted ORs were 0.80 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.92) for fixed evening workers, 0.80 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.00) for fixed night workers, 0.99 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.07) for rotating shift (without night) workers, and 1.05 (95% CI 0.97 to 1.14) for rotating shift (with night) workers. When analysis was restricted to nulliparous women, the estimates remained unchanged. The proportions of unplanned pregnancies and contraceptive failures were higher among fixed evening and fixed night workers.

Conclusions: There was no unequivocal evidence of a causal association between shift work and subfecundity. The slightly reduced fecundity among fixed evening workers and fixed night workers may be mediated by pregnancy planning bias or differential options for sexual contacts.

     

Women and health consequences of natural disasters: Challenge or opportunity?

ABSTRACT

Disasters do not affect people equally; the impact of disasters on the lives of women is different from other groups of a community. Women’s fundamental rights to health and safety are violated after disasters. The authors of this study aimed to explore various factors of women’s health with reference to previous natural disasters in Iran. A qualitative approach using in-depth unstructured interviews and field observations was employed to explore women’s health factors in the affected regions. A total of 22 participants affected by disasters, as well as key informants, were interviewed applying the purposeful sampling method. Data were collected in 2014 in three provinces, including East Azerbaijan, Bushehr, and Mazandaran. A content analysis using the Graneheim approach was performed for analyzing the transcribed interviews. Two themes and four categories were extracted from the data. The themes that emerged included psycho-physical effects and women’s health status. Physical and psycho-emotional effects and reproductive and environmental health effects were the four emergent categories. The findings implied that managing women’s health challenges may result in reducing the distressing effects of disaster. These findings support identification and application of the mechanisms by which women’s well-being in physical, mental, reproductive, and environmental aspects can be protected after disasters.