Genes Show When A Woman's Biological Clock Will Stop

Is time running out? (Image: Altrendo Images/Stockbyte/Getty)

From New Scientist:

IT IS a dilemma facing a growing number of young women: can I delay having a baby until my career is more established? A genetic test that could make this decision less of a gamble might be on offer by next year, thanks to the discovery of a gene that seems to predict the rate at which a woman's egg supply diminishes.

No one is yet sure how useful the test will be. But the aim is to tell a woman in her early 20s whether she is at high risk of early menopause. If she is, monitoring her egg supply will confirm whether her fertility is in early decline. Armed with this information she could then decide whether to start a family sooner or later, or freeze some eggs to increase her chances of conceiving later on.

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Smiling Helps Women Feel Better About Their Appearance

A smile can be all it takes to make a woman feel better about her
appearance, research suggests Photo: GETTY

From The Telegraph:

A smile can be all it takes to make a woman feel good about her appearance, according to a new study.

Scientists found that women who are unhappy with the way they look feel significantly better about themselves after being greeted by a smiling face.

The boost in self esteem has led psychologists to think that for many, confidence in their appearance is all about social acceptance.

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Weighing the Health Benefits of Birth Control

From The New York Times:

Unveiled in 1960, the birth control pill revolutionized contraception. Yet despite an abundance of birth control options today, almost half the pregnancies in this country are unintended, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than in any other developed nation. What’s the reason?

The issue is not technology. But economics and human behavior are another story. Nearly a third of women who start a new type of birth control stop within a year, according to one recent study, largely because of changes in their insurance coverage. All methods have some side effects. And the current crop of intrauterine devices, or IUD’s, despite having a nearly perfect efficacy rate, have been slow to catch on, experts say, partly because more doctors need to be trained in inserting them.

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