Should I Have a Hysterectomy?I had some spotting once that led to the OBGYN to do an ultrasound test. The test showed that the endometrial lining was thicker than normal. I am on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and have been on it for 5 years. Prior to that, I was on birth control pills for […]
I’m writing this article with all the trepidation of someone walking into a Thai restaurant with a peanut allergy — knowing it could go horribly wrong.I want to discuss politics. More precisely, I want to talk about a political fight by apolitical means. When it really comes down to it, hormonal birth control and women’s […]
‘Tis the season of giving… which ironically comes right after the season of giving thanks. I find it unfortunate that one is demonstrably longer than the other. In fact, some retailers skip over Thanksgiving all together. Perhaps this is the reason I’ve never loved Christmas the way I love Thanksgiving. (Admittedly, it may just be […]
Everything slows down as we age. For some lucky folks, aging happens gracefully with nary a disease in sight. For others, the springs start popping off around 40 and by the time we reach ‘old age’ our bodies and brains are barely functioning. Arguably, diet and lifestyle have something to do with how well or […]
Over the past several decades, the general consensus of health professionals has been to recommend that all people lower their salt intake. Without the recognition of the effects of lifestyle and dietary choice differences, this avalanche of low salt advice hit the general public and as a direct result many became ill. Differences in individual […]
I recently began a new project tackling the economics of testing women for clotting disorders prior to receiving prescriptions for hormonal contraception. Hormonal contraception induces chemical blood clotting cascades in all women, and thus, developing blood clots while on hormonal birth control is a very real risk. In women who have genetic clotting disorders, those […]
The hysterectomy and oophorectomy industry continues to flourish. There are over 600,000 hysterectomies every year. The oophorectomy rate is about 70% of the hysterectomy rate, some performed at the time of hysterectomy and others as separate surgeries. About 90% of these surgeries are for benign conditions (elective). These are merely estimates based on samples of […]
This time of year, the holiday season, can be a time of overindulgence for many of us. And how can we talk about overindulgence without taking a look at the liver? To say the liver is important is an understatement. It is the body’s largest gland and while estimates of the number of functions of […]