Quitting smoking is one of the best things a person can do for their health—but it's also one of the hardest habits to break. Many smokers make several attempts before they successfully quit, even when using medications or nicotine replacement products. Now, a panel of tobacco treatment experts is encouraging healthcare providers to expand the conversation about smoking cessation by discussing nicotine e-cigarettes as one possible option for adults who smoke cigarettes. The recommendations, published in JAMA , were developed by the Harm Reduction Work Group of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco’s Treatment Research Network. Rather than promoting vaping, the group says clinicians should focus on helping patients choose the quit-smoking method that best fits their individual circumstances. A Personalized Approach to Quitting Smoking cessation isn't the same for everyone. What works well for one person may not work for another, which is why the authors recommend mo...
Women report humiliation and stress from cervical smears
Women interviewed by UK
investigators say
cervical smears are humiliating
and stressful
A new investigation reveals women
interviewed think getting a PAP (cervical smear) test is humiliating and
stressful.
Researchers say a woman’s
feelings about cervical smears shouldn't be ignored, and that health care
providers should recognize and discuss expectations and anxiety women might
experience from the tests.
In findings from University of Leicester, published in the
international journal Family Practice,
women report they aren’t always treated kindly when they have their exam to
detect cancer.
In their study, the researchers found women would like a more
personalized approach.
According to Dr Natalie Armstrong, Lecturer in Social
Science Applied to Health at the University of Leicester:
"Attitudes
towards cervical smears remain something of a paradox. On one hand, screening
appears to command impressive levels of public support - as demonstrated by
campaigns to widen the eligibility criteria - but on the other hand there is
considerable evidence suggesting that individual women find the experience of
the screening test problematic."
For
many women, a gynecological exam is stressful and painful.
Armstrong
interviewed 34 women for her paper, published in collaboration with colleagues
at Glasgow Caledonian University.
She
says one woman stated, "It's just so cold. You go in, you take your
clothes off, she does that and I mean it's just so, it's just so degrading and
embarrassing. It's just horrible."
“Women
can feel passive, helpless and vulnerable in the face of a situation where they
risk pain and discomfort, shame and humiliation, and violation and invasion of
privacy”, says Armstrong.
She
says one solution may be to talk to women about their expectations during a
cervical PAP smear to allow them to express their feelings.
"Ignoring
women's fears, anxieties and concerns can appear to deny the reality, or at
least the validity, of women's emotional responses.”
Women
in the study said health care professionals can seem detached and distant during exams.
Armstrong
hopes the finding can translate to a better experience for women undergoing the
embarrassment of having a cervical smear test. Women interviewed in the University of Leicester study found the exams stressful
and humiliating.
Comments