(NAPSA)——Women’s bealth has emerged as a medical specialty in its own right and is no longer considered an offshoot of general medicine. Recent research has made great progress in finding treatments and cures for uniquely female problems such as breast cancer and endometriosis. Medical research may scon tind more effective ways to treat breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. For example, one of the mast promising new cancer-preventing agents may be retinoids, which include vitamin A and related compounds. Studies have shown that mice whose diets are deficient in vitamin A may be ata greater risk for developing cancer. Scientists have also developed a vaccine that protects dogs from infection with a canine papillo- mavirus. They believe a similar virus may one day prevent the human viral infections that lead to cervical cancer, Researchers have studied rats and pigs to find out if eating disorders have a biochemical basis and found that there may be both a genetic and behavioral component. In many ways animal research is contributing to medical knowledge of, and treatments for, women’s health problems. For more information visit www.fbresearch.org.
