The memory blips and distractible moments that women say they experience during menopause may be as real as the hot flashes and poor sleep, a new study suggests.

The Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog reports, “Breast cancer risk may decline in postmenopausal women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy,” according to research published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The CBS Evening News reported, “The government put out new guidelines today for screening for cervical cancer. … For decades, women have been told to get a pap smear as often as once a year.” Now, “the new recommendation calls for a test every three years for women 21 to 65″ and women “ages 30 to 65 are being told they can wait five years if they get an additional test for human papilloma virus, or HPV.”

USA Today reports, “For certain women, taking estrogen supplements for a few years close to menopause appears safe, and may reduce their risk of breast cancer, says a new study” published online in The Lancet Oncology.

Over the last few years, a few published studies have claimed that children raised by same-sex couples compare favorably to — and sometimes even better than — children raised by moms and dads on measures of self-esteem and academics. Those studies, in turn, have served as fodder for a media campaign that two loving parents are all children really need. Here are details that challenge that from a report in Citizen Link:

Reuters reports that according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, young women and girls consuming high levels of vitamin D were less likely to suffer from stress fractures than women who did not consume as much vitamin D.

The Los Angeles Times reports, “Some women with depression who become pregnant face a troubling decision: whether to continue taking antidepressant medication to keep the depression at bay even though the medications may harm the fetus.”

In an editorial this morning, USA Today says that “under laws enacted in Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina, the ultrasound screen must be turned so women can see the image.”

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell recently signed a bill making abdominal ultrasounds mandatory for women seeking abortions.

Bloomberg News reported, “Women who sit for long periods each day have a greater risk of developing early signs of type 2 diabetes compared with men,” according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Medscape reports, “Postmenopausal women whose diet is high in trans fats, found in fried foods and packaged products, are at higher risk for certain types of ischemic stroke,” according to research published in the Annals of Neurology.

The ABC News “Medical Unit” blog reports, “Eating citrus fruits can be considered a marker of healthy living, and may lessen the risk of stroke, according to research published in the journal Stroke.”

The Washington Post reviews the safety of ultraviolet lamps in gel manicures, citing a 2009 Archives of Dermatology article about two women who developed non-melanoma skin cancer on their hands after such exposure to UV lamps.

Reuters reports that according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, vitamin D3 may ease menstrual cramps.

We used to tell women that their ovaries would contain, at birth, all of the eggs they will ever have. Turns out that may not be true.

The AP reports, “Researchers have encouraging news for women who find themselves in a very frightening situation: having cancer while pregnant.”

NBC Nightly News reported that the Food and Drug Administration “ran some tests on popular brands of lipstick, and 400 of them were found to contain trace levels of lead.”

In a vote for sanity in the personal conscience debate in healthcare, the AP reports US District Judge Ronald Leighton ruled that “Washington state cannot force pharmacies to sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives.” Hallelujah!

ABC World News reported “a groundbreaking study” that “hammers home critical points about women and heart attacks. A woman is less likely than men to experience that classic warning sign, chest pain. And she’s less likely than a man to get immediate treatment – and more likely to die.”

ABC World News reported that when it comes to treatment for pain, “we heard today that women are often not treated the same way as men. Their complaints are ignored.”

In an essay in the New York Times, Dr. Susan Love, president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, writes that “in reality, we still do not know what causes breast cancer, which means we really do not know how to prevent it, either,” which means that physicians must look “for cancers that are already there.”

The Chicago Tribune reports, “Headlines about the potential risks of antidepressants on a developing fetus, including miscarriage, premature birth and newborn breathing problems, have produced angst for many moms on medication.”

For the first time a study proves statins are as effective in preventing heart attacks in women as well as men.

USA Today reports, “Births taking place outside of the traditional hospital setting increased 29 percent between 2004 and 2009, from 0.56 percent of all births to 0.72 percent – almost 30,000 births – according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

A Stanford Medical Center study found women report feeling more pain than men do on a variety of common ailments including back and neck injuries, digestive problems and sinus infections. In a Stanford news release one of the authors said part of the reason women reported much higher levels of pain could be because men simply don’t want to admit how much pain they experience.”

According to the results of a study in which researchers examined pain scores from tens of thousands of patients in the United States, women experience more intense pain than men.

The New York Times reports, “Bone loss and osteoporosis develop so slowly in most women whose bones test normal at age 65 that many can safely wait as long as 15 years before having a second bone density test,” according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

USA Today reports, “A new study pinpoints the latter half of the first trimester as a critical time in the development of” signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, “such as a smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip, small head size, unusually small-set eyes and shorter-than-average height.”

USA Today reports that “when … things don’t work, and when women are miserable (not everyone is), most doctors will offer a prescription” and “the first choice – except for women with a history of breast cancer or other health conflicts – is still hormone therapy (estrogen, often combined with progestin).”

Reuters reports that according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, girls who ate meals and snacks frequently gained less weight than girls who ate only a few times every day.