Health News: Study Shows Women Report More Pain Than Men

The News: A new Stanford study finds that women report more intense pain than men with the same medical conditions.

The Background: The study used the medical records of more than 11,000 adults and found that men and women report their pain scores differently (for the same problems). Patients used a score of zero for no pain and 10 for worst pain imaginable. For some conditions like hernia and high blood pressure women reported an average of one full pain-point scale higher. A doctor involved in the study said the one-point difference is actually a big deal, “That’s when we say a medication might be working, when it can drop a pain score by a point.” The study results don’t necessarily mean men can handle their pain better than women. ”All we can say is that women report more intense pain,” Stanford postdoctoral researcher David Ruau, a lead author of the study told the San Jose Mercury News. “And, it’s hard to tell whether men and women actually feel pain differently, or whether they merely rate their experiences differently.”

The Results: Study researchers say the results emphasize that health care workers should take the patient’s gender into account when deciding how much pain medication to give.

The Next Step: For the researchers, an important next step will be to find out whether men and women respond to pain medications differently. The results could be a big step forward for gender-specific, personalized medicine.

Other Pain Scale Differences

Sinus Pain: Men/4.46 Women/5.37

Muscle Pain: Men/4.67 Women/5.58

Back Pain: Men/5.53 Women/6.03

Exercise: Too Much of a Good Thing?

You’ve seen the girl—the one lifting heavy weights for hours (with no rest) or running full speed at full incline on the treadmill for an entire gym session. If you’re envious, you shouldn’t be. Exercise researchers aren’t happy with her performance.

“People think a good workout is, ‘I am in a pile of sweat and puking,’ ” William Kraemer, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, told the New York Times. But if that happens, he said, “it means you went much too quickly, and your body just can’t meet its demands.”

But it isn’t easy to find just the right balance between working out enough and resting — while still gaining results.

“You should feel tired, said John Raglin, a sports psychologist at Indiana University. But if you do too much with too little rest, your performance gets worse, not better,” he told the New York Times.

“When they train harder yet stop improving, even backslide, “they become alarmed and try to increase their training,” Dr. Raglin said. He sees it over and over: An athlete will get into a training schedule and become very dogmatic, never taking a day off,” reported the New York Times.

Researchers say muscles need to recover after they are stressed with heavy weights or heavy exercise periods. “Intense endurance exercise depletes muscles of their energy supply, glycogen. Muscles store enough glycogen only for an hour and a half to two hours of activity, Dr. Saltin, told the New York Times.” It takes about a day for super athletes to restore their glycogen and about two days for the rest of us. Connective tissue in muscles can also be damaged from hard workouts and needs time to recover. So how to avoid a too-intense exercise program? There are no hard rules, because people’s bodies vary so much, but researchers say to take a look at your symptoms and keep an exercise log — check in when you are feeling tired or even depressed from over exercising and take a day off or do less during your workout.

 

 

Keep recycling those bras!

Great News from the Bra Recyclers – we’re not sure who Cathy is – nonetheless this was one of our most popular posts, so we wanted to share the great letter they just sent us!

Dear Cathy,

Happy New Year!!
2011 was such a great year for The Bra Recyclers because of your support. We were so excited to end the year with 54 organizations that we provide bras to. This exceeded our goal of 35. We know exceeding our goals would not be possible without the encouragement and support of our recyclers and ambassadors around the world. Take a look at our highlights for the 4th Quarter of 2011 by clicking on the link, 4th Qtr Highlights. Be sure to send us your photos for upcoming videos.

We are planning on 2012 to be just as exciting as 2011! As the word continues to spread about bra recycling we will continue to reach out into communities to ensure that women and girls who are in transition get the needed ‘support’ on their journey back to self-sufficiency. We want to say thank you in advance for your continued support during 2012.

Upcoming Events:
Make sure to check out our website calendar and facebook for upcoming events. We will continue to post bra drives that take place around the country sponsored by our Ambassadors.

March 1-18 – The Bra Recyclers will kick off their first nationwide bra drive of 2012 and we want you to GET FITTED! With Spring fast approaching, we encourage you to clean out your drawers and recycle your bras and ‘GET FITTED!’ for the correct-sized bra. We hope you will visit your local lingerie boutique or favorite retail store and be professionally fitted for a bra. We look hearing some great stories about your ‘Get Fitted!’ experiences.

Stay tuned via Facebook (www.facebook.com/brarecycling) for more details in February!

The Impact of Bra Recycling
We are so grateful for all of the recyclers that continue to support our mission of providing a simple lingerie staple to women and girls around the world. Every quarter we want to share stories of the impact that the bra recycling has in our communities.

 

‘Because of the volatile nature of domestic violence, packing is often not an option for the women. We don’t typically receive donated bras and since they tend to be expensive to purchase, women often make due with the one or two they brought. Receiving donated/recycled bras (in the correct sizes!) is a wonderful resource for our residents. Because the families receive clothing and personal care basics, free of charge, they are then able to focus their time and money on priorities like safe housing, transportation, education, healthcare and childcare.’ Women’s Advocates, St. Paul, MN

Help Us Spread The Word!
Ever want an easy way to tell someone about The Bra Recyclers? We are excited to provide the Bra Recycler ‘Support Cards.’ Print out the attached card, cut them apart and give them out to retailers and lingerie boutiques, women’s healthcare providers and friends and family. This is the easiest way for your to be a part of The Bra Recyclers outreach team!

Help us spread the word and make 2012 even more successful than 2011!

Make sure to follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/brarecycling

Career Tips from Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet

Thinking of taking the plunge and starting your own business? Before you ditch your current career plan check out these tips for success from Natalie Massenet as told to Marie Claire. Natalie is a former journalist and the founder of one of our fave fashion sites Net-a-Porter (a luxury shopping site that garnered 42 million unique visitors last year).

Before Natalie morphed into a successful fashion exec there was a long road of convincing to do including getting designer brands to give her clothing on consignment (to sell on her site) and—oh yeah–then convincing investors to contribute $15,000 each to help raise the $1 million she needed to start the business. But the payoff has been huge — the site was recently sold for $532 million–reportedly netting Natalie $76 million.

“Work means independence,” she says. “It allowed me to shape my life on so many levels. I’ve taken an active role in creating the day-to-day life I wanted, by creating the type of place I’d like to work in. It’s given me financial independence. And it’s given me amazing self-confidence to know that there are no gender secrets to success. You have to work hard and be determined, but it’s got nothing to do with being a man or a woman.”

 

1. KNOW YOUR FIELD: ”The important thing is knowing what you’re going to do and being an expert in what you want to do. It can be something very simple, like being an artist doing screen prints on T-shirts. But don’t pick an industry you have nothing to do with, and make sure you have a basic skill set or knowledge.”

2. DEVELOP A VIABLE BUSINESS MODEL: ”Start small, do everything beautifully, have the right people around you, and make sure what you do generates money, because you can’t sustain a business that doesn’t make money. It sounds simple, but a lot of people don’t have any idea of how they’re going to make the money.”

3. GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME: ”Never forget that you only have one opportunity to make a first impression — with investors, with customers, with PR, and with marketing.”

4. PLAN FOR THE LONG TERM: ”When I started, my entire salary went into paying the nanny. But I knew my salary would increase. You are building something, and your business gets bigger. I can invest today and get the return tomorrow.”

We give you the gift of beauty

The science of difraction poetry in the grass by John W. Hall

We’ve enjoyed our little holiday break -and hope you have too. There are so many groupon-type ads, notes from old friends and viagra ads  flooding your in-box we figured – why add to the clutter.

However, before the holiday season wanes, we want to share this moment of time captured in this photo of a blade of grass taken on Mount Tam in Marin County, CA.  After a couple minutes of contemplation … we hope you feel joy and peace in the appreciation of this splendid demonstration of beauty. For the complete slide show click here.

OK – and one quick grammar lesson for your holiday parties. After listening to yet another witty podcast by one of our fav. wordsmiths, Grammar Girl on the use of the word ‘gift’ as a verb. As in “I’m going to gift you a diamond ring” or “He is going to gift one million dollars to a charity.” Here’s the skinny. the proper word to use is give.  As in give me a break and stop using the word gift as a verb

We are so grateful for all of your follows, notes, tweets, retweets and attention. We wish you a very happy holiday – and look forward to reconnecting in 2012.

A New Boss Survival Guide

Is there anything more unsettling than having to prove yourself to a new boss? And for good reason…researchers at New York University Stern School of Business found it takes less than 30 seconds for first impressions to form and the average American worker will encounter 10 new bosses in her career. In just a few moments your new boss can size up what he or she believes to be your competence, likability and trustworthiness. And once a first impression is made, it’s hard to fix: the phenomenon is called the ”confirmation bias” — meaning every interaction after the first impression is used to justify your boss’s original opinion of you, whether true or not.

So what should you do if confronted with a new person in charge?

1. Within a few days of her arrival make a short appointment to introduce yourself and your job role.

2. Ask the new boss how she prefers to be communicated with: e-mail, phone or in-person.

3. Be open to new managing styles. Ask your new boss if she prefers to be abreast of all the nuances of the projects you’re working on or only when there’s a problem.

4. About 90 days after your new boss has taken the helm, ask for a review to see where you are on track and where you may need improvement. You could be surprised at the critiques a new boss has for you and catching them early enough will allow you to turn them around.

5. Leave the comparisons behind. Whatever you do – don’t mention your old bosses management style (good or bad) to your new boss.

Thankgsiving tips from an uber chef!

Yikes.. Thanksgiving is coming up too fast for us. If you don’t have your recipes figured out yet – check out what pro -Michael Mina is doing at his house.

Anyone who has hosted a Thanksgiving dinner can agree– it is a day of moving parts. The guests; some familiar, some new such as uncle Bob’s latest girlfriend.  The ‘traditional’ side dishes can include many forms of potatoes, something made with jello and cranberries fresh or from a can. And then the turkey –breast side up or down?  Last month, in preparation for Marin Magazine’s November issue I was lucky enough to visit the Mina family in their new West Marin home and watch uber chef, Michael Mina, along with a few of his top chefs, prepare a table full of mouthwatering dishes with the help of his sons Anthony and Sammy and wife Diane.

To ensure a day of ease and glasses always full, Diane shares her hosting tips.

Mina shares six of his recipes including my favorite three.

Brussels Sprouts

Marin Chicory Salad

Olive oil crushed potatoes

And finally center piece of the evening… the Turkey!  While I was there I took a very C- video of chef Mina explaining the process.

Michael Mina’s Three Things Not to Forget for Making the Perfect Turkey
1 Preheat your oven.
2 Season (or brine) generously.
3 For really nice crispy skin, leave the turkey uncovered in the refrigerator two days prior to cooking to let the skin dry out.

Thanksgiving Shopping: Doing Well By Doing Good

With Thanksgiving on the mind we’re looking for unique ways to give back. Here’s a thought: what if you could help those in need by shopping? You’ve probably heard about Toms–the do-good fashion label (for those not in the know — the brand popularized the buy one give one model of business) that donates one pair of shoes for each pair of Toms shoes purchased.

A new business, founded by a group of former San Diego State University students is also doing well by doing good. (Thanks to The Green Schoolhouse Series who tipped us off)

SOLO Eyewear was founded in hopes of spreading the blessing of vision across the world – and it does.  For every pair of sunglasses sold, SOLO donates a pair of prescription glasses or funds surgeries for those in need—worldwide, nearly 1 billion people do not have access to eye care or corrective lenses.

“So many people do not have access to eye care, do not have prescription eye glasses,” Co-founder Jenny Amaraneni said in an SDSU News Center video.  “And how do you go to school if you can’t see?  How do you provide for your family if you’re not able to see?”

Amaraneni credits her international entrepreneurship professor Martina Musteen for inspiring the idea for SOLO after her class was required to design a business centered around a social issue.  Soon, her idea caught the attention of her peers, Craig Stern and Dana Holliday, while working at the SDSU Entrepreneurial Management Center.

Since founding the company in March, the three have just recently celebrated their first official donation, which will fund more than 750 pairs of prescription eye glasses.

 

Know of any other businesses doing well by doing good? Let us know on the Make It Simple Sister Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/makeitsimplesister

 

 

Bras, it appears are not the enemy!

As we round out our breast cancer awareness posts for October, Bras seemed like a likely target! If you’ve spent anytime time online researching breast cancer prevention – “ditch the bras” rings loud and clear. Some say the pressure on the lymph nodes under the arm pits are to blame other they say the metal in the underwire acts as an antennae attracting an electronic magnetic field to your vulnerable fatty tissue. Well, I admit I still opt for a cute tank top (no under wire).. but it seems the bra myth has been debunked for now.  Here is a Q&A from New York Times from last February, that presents compelling info to let us hoist those puppies ..  or whatever euphemism it is that you want to use for creating that lovely cleavage.

Q. Is there any truth to the Internet rumor that the incidence of breast cancer is more than 100 times greater in women who always wear bras than in women who never wear bras?

A. “The short answer is no,” Dr. Ted Gansler, director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, replied in an e-mail message.

There is no scientifically credible evidence of this, he said, and the proposed mechanism — that bras prevent elimination of toxins by blocking lymph flow — is not in line with scientific concepts of how breast cancer develops.

Internet traffic on the issue is mostly inspired by one study with several scientific flaws, Dr. Gansler said. The study, never published in a peer-reviewed journal, did not adjust for known breast cancer risk factors that might be associated with bra-wearing behavior, like weight and age. Also, study participants knew the hypothesis before taking the survey.

“Because the idea of bras’ causing breast cancer is so scientifically implausible, it seems unlikely that researchers will ever spend their time and resources to test it in a real epidemiological study,” Dr. Gansler said.

He and colleagues compared National Cancer Institute data on breast cancer risk for women treated for melanoma who had several underarm lymph nodes removed and those who did not. The surgery, which is known to block lymph drainage from breast tissue, did not detectably increase breast cancer rates, the study found, meaning that it is extremely unlikely that wearing a bra, which affects lymph flow minimally if at all, would do so.

While we appreciate this info, and are relieved that our bras are not to be feared, we will keep abreast (pun intended) of the topic, and get back to you if the debunking has been bebunked

If you ‘heart’ your boobies ditch the antiperspirant

As this punky kid wearing a “I heart Boobies” T-shirt strolled past my friend and I yesterday I thought, “what a little shit.” Sure, he could have been supporting his mother, sister, aunt, grandma, dear family friend … but his sheepish grin told another story.

“Well at least it’s a conversation starter,” I said. And thank god we started the conversation -because my friend, who is healthy-as-an-ox, and refers to her genetic luck as “good stock,”  had never heard about the correlation between antiperspirant containing aluminum, parabens and breast cancer.

Or she admitted she had heard something about Alzheimer’s and aluminum but …”I’d rather not smell bad” was her answer when I mentioned the numerous studies on the topic, her response was, “it’s only a tiny bit.”

I don’t give up easily.  ”Well, tiny bits… can be a toxic overload by the time your 40.”

Solution

I’ve included a link to a great resource for some tested and approved natural products below, however, good ‘ole baking soda seems to be the internet darling. I loved this description of the process from an M.I.T. blogger.

Just go to the kitchen and get out the box of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) … do not confuse with baking powder (baking powder contains baking soda plus a powderized acid, which makes it fizz when wet). You can put about an eighth of a teaspoonful of baking soda in your palm (you’ll need more in certain types of water – up to a teaspoon). Add about a quarter teaspoonful of water, enough to get it wet (or more, if you had to use more for your type of water). Dissolve the baking soda into the water – the liquid should feel slippery, since sodium bicarbonate is a base. Apply directly to skin. Then go have a normal active day. Adjust quantities as necessary – you may need less, you may need more.

This list of products you can buy comes from No More Dirty Looks website by Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt co-authors of No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics. I suggest you read the whole article … but here are the products in a nutshell;

One of our first favorites was from Weleda—this convenient little bottle is available at most healthfood stores and if you’re not a heavy sweater (or stinker), it’s a good option.

Then we met Lavanila, and fell for it hard. Sure it costs $18 bucks, but feeling fresh is non-negotiable, and we love the citrus-vanilla smell and the fact that you can find this brand at Sephora.

That said, there’s a relatively new favorite in town, Soapwalla —and this one contains no questionable ingredients and costs a reasonable 10 bucks. Here is Siobhan’s review here,