Endometriosis begins with a retrograde flushing of endometrial tissue that backs up into the fallopian tubes and then sprays into the abdominal cavity. The endometrial cells can then implant themselves on any organ—ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder, bowel—and grow with each monthly cycle. One would guess that the endometrial tissue somehow gravitates toward its source, the [...]
Naturopaths believe that natural therapies are able to help many aspects of endometriosis including pain, infertility and irregularity of the menstrual cycle which can accompany the problem. We asked a naturopath the following questions. What causes endometriosis Many naturopaths see endometriosis as a complex condition and causes include inherited predispositions, possible congestion of the lymphatic [...]
In the majority of women with endometriosis, pregnancy leads to an improvement in the condition or a temporary disappearance of the disease, particularly during the latter months of the pregnancy. It is generally believed that the beneficial effects of pregnancy on endometriosis are due to the high levels of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone that [...]
These do-it-yourself kits (such as Clearplan) enable you to predict ovulation by measuring the LH surge in an early morning urine sample. You do this using a specially designed dipstick which changes colour when the levels of LH increase. When your LH surges it is likely that ovulation will occur within the next 24-36 hours, [...]
Until the discovery of penicillin, syphilis was the best known and more feared of the STDs. The word still makes most people flinch. When I was a small child there was an interesting poster on the wall of the public toilet in the shopping street of our town. It showed black outlines of a woman [...]
Stress incontinence can be helped, and in many cases corrected, by pelvic-floor exercises, which strengthen the sphincter muscles that surround the urethra. These are sometimes called PC exercises in honour of the most important of these muscles, the pubo-coccygeus. By strengthening the pelvic floor with PC exercises, surgery can be avoided in up to 70 [...]
This is very important, as self-consciousness about unwanted hair causes much unhappiness. In many instances of simple hirsutism, cosmetic treatment alone may be sufficient, or it may be combined with medical treatment. Several methods are used, either alone or in combination. Bleaching This makes fine dark hairs less conspicuous. Proprietary creams are available or a [...]
The best treatment for any health disorder is to eliminate its cause. With PMS we don’t know the cause, so treatment can only be ‘try it and see’, or measures to improve general health and reduce stress. A baffling fact about many drag treatments for PMS is that if they are tested against a placebo, [...]
Are there other side-effects of HRT? The most common side-effect (not a health risk but not acceptable to all women) is bleeding from the vagina, like a period (usually shorter and lighter), after each course of progestogen supplements. If you don’t want this, ask your doctor about ways of taking the progestogen to eliminate bleeding [...]
This is something to be discussed early in your pregnancy. In recent years some women have questioned the increased use of technology in obstetrics and the ‘over-medicalisation’ of pregnancy and childbirth. They view child-bearing as something that should proceed naturally, and accuse obstetricians of intervening too much, especially in labour and delivery. Are these criticisms [...]