GynoFiles

Zinc Works For a Lot of Health Aspects: But Not Your Sperm Count

2020-01-18T08:56:00.000-06:00

Zinc is potent micronutrient that we need for general wellness, your thinking processes, as well as fertility and gyno health. It's been in the news again as it was reported in JAMA that a new study tried to look at zinc supplementation for improving sperm count, and found that it sadly did not work.

Zinc is a trace mineral, also called trace element, widely available in meat and plant sources. It has long been known that antioxidant nutrition has benefits against cancer and heart disease. Because the zinc is harder for us to chemically extract from vegetarian food sources there is lower bioavailability in plant sources. In other words, having lower bioavaibility means, its there in your food, but you just can't extract it. Vegetarians and vegans are urged to get approximately 50% more zinc from supplements than those who do eat meat. In fact your zinc blood levels will vary depending upon how much meat you do eat. Fish sources have zinc too, and oysters are among the best way to get zinc into your diet.

Zinc for Moms.

In pregnancy mom's zinc levels have direct health effects on the fetus of being deficient in zinc has been known for over 50 years and some famous studies of dwarfism in Iran had been traced to zinc deficiencies.

Zinc for Metabolism and Repair

Zinc is necessary for the function of dozens of our body's metabolic enzyme systems; it is important for our immune system, the repair of DNA and for wound healing. Over 70 enzyme systems need zinc for proper function. It is linked to skin disease, poor sense of smell, inability to taste as well, infertility, thought processes, and poor resistance to infection. It may be a cause of hair growth cycle disturbances. So when testing

Zinc for Your Skin

For those getting cosmetic treatments getting the right amount of zinc in your diet will help you heal more quickly and help enhance the way your products are working for your skin’s protection. Sun screens and cosmetics with zinc can help your skin be less irritated and less dry or flaky. If you have had diarrhea your skin can be listless for a variety of reasons: low fluid levels, too little magnesium and potassium in your system due to the loss during diarrhea, and low zinc can be responsible for the symptoms of being pale as well.

Too Much Fiber, Iron or the Wrong Gut Bacteria will Compromise Zinc Levels

Many of us try to increase fiber in our diet which is generally beneficial for your health, that actually can be detrimental. Since zinc is absorbed in the small intestine too much fiber can oddly bind up your zinc and you can suddenly have a zinc deficiency you did not have before. For instance too much zinc can be both toxic and compromise the amount of copper, another trace mineral, in your body. Too much iron can also affect how we absorb zinc from our intestinal track. Microbiologic imbalances to gut microbiome can interfere with these mineral levels Discussing these issues with your gyno, boils down to a basic diet analysis.

Zinc for Bone Health

Zinc reversed hormone related bone loss in rats. Calcium with trace minerals is better than calcium alone. Because that improves the bone antioxidant defenses. And with this improved anxtioxidant defense is improved bone architecture. So a DXA with proper bone structure analysis is important.

Zinc and Iron Harmony

Both iron and zinc insufficiency have been studied relative to changes in mood and thought processing. Seven out of ten major studies found improvements in aspects of mood and cognition after iron supplementation. Iron supplementation appeared to improve memory and intellectual ability in participants aged between 12 and 55 years in seven studies, regardless of whether the participant was initially iron insufficient or suffering from iron-deficiency anemia.

Zinc, Selenium, and Oral Contraception

Selenium is usually from plant sources, especially cereals, but the soil they are grown in affects their content significantly. In our country the high plain grown cereals have the highest selenium concentrations. The July issue of Contraception (80:(2009): 40-43) was a study authored by a group of Iranian physicians who studied the effects of your contraceptive pills on a woman's blood selenium and zinc levels. They looked at this as earlier studies seemed to indicate that our trace metal levels might be altered by the use of hormonal contraceptives. They found like other studies that zinc levels were significantly and selenium levels were slightly lowered by the use of oral contraceptive pills in their healthy users. While this might be more relevant to a Middle Eastern or halal diet all oral contraceptive pill users may want to consider trace elements when balancing their diets.

For testing, evaluation, and consultation regarding your levels of zinc, selenium or other nutrients, call WHP Wellness at 217-356-3736 for an appointment.

Depression improved in patients supplemented with zinc as well.

When Deciding Whether to Have an Ablation, Think About The Chance It Will Fail

2019-12-24T06:51:00.003-06:00

The Minerva System and the NovaSure uterine ablation technologies were developed to treat women with heavy menstrual periods who also are no longer trying for pregnancy. This technology would not be right for you if you intend to have children in the future.

These technologies have become rapidly adapted, but failure rates are between 10 and 20%. If you are in your thirties the procedure is more likely to fail than if you are in your forties.

If you had pre-existing menstrual cramps, or dysmenorrhea, you are doubly likely to have a failed ablation procedure.

Although ablation procedures render the uterus significantly less fertile, it is not a reliable method of contraception, and make the uterus less hospitable for IUDs. If you want to use an IUD for contraception you might not want to have an ablation procedure.

Accompanying pelvic disorders are another reason endometrial ablations fail, although gynecologic problems including endometriosis, adenomyosis, and uterine fibroids do not mean you cannot have an ablation, they do increase the chance the ablation will fail.

Previously available uterine ablation technology included the Minerva System and the NovaSure , balloon procedures, cryotherapy, rollerball ablations, or heated water therapies, and many of these have been removed from the market. NovaSure had out performed all the systems until now the Minerva system has updated the technology of the NovaSure for a better ablation, and then the NovaSure has been updated as well. Of the remaining technologies your gyno can select what would be right for you and the decision is not which type of ablation, but whether to get one.

Women can have a tubal ligation at the time of an ablation, or with a prior ablation so that pregnancy is protected against. If you were considering a tubal ligation then it's possible to get an ablation at the same time so that you don't experience heavy periods if you are stopping birth control pills. There is a slightly greater chance of failed ablation procedure if you have had a prior tubal ligation.

Remember neither ablation nor tubal ligation protect against STI, and you will need to discuss with your gyno what options are the best for your protection against pregnancy and STIs.

Causes of heavy periods ore many including problems with the uterus (other than adenomyosis, fibroids, or endometriosis mentioned above), with the cervix, with medications, with the ovary, and there are bleeding problems of other organs that one may mistake for heavy uterine bleeding (including the urethra, the vagina, the vulva, or the rectum). These problems may be non-cancerous conditions or diseases, infections, cancers, bleeding disorders, nutritional disorders, or problems related to pregnancy. Most often simple testing can help sort out the cause, to see if in fact a woman is eligible for an endometrial ablation. At home you can do your part for diagnosis if you keep track of your cycles and keep track of how many heavy days of bleeding during your cycles you actually have. You can also track any changes in diet, exercise, or medications (including herbals). Note endometrial ablation procedures are not contraception nor do they offer protection against sexually transmitted infections.

Uterine Fibroids Cause Fatigue By Causing Anemia: You Can Fix This

2019-12-09T11:03:00.002-06:00

Many women with uterine fibroids complain of fatigue. Uterine fibroids cannot affect your hormones, and they might be causing pain and pressure symptoms that can wear you down, but it's really the anemia that causes fatigue. Anemia is a common consequence of uterine fibroids and irregular bleeding because of these fibroids.

Regardless of symptoms people with anemia should be treated. So those with heavy periods should have a blood count to see if they are anemic or not.

In many women correction of the bleeding, or treatment of uterine fibroids corrects the associated anemia. Particularly if the anemia is modest and your diet is rich in foods that contain iron.

In some women, their iron stores become so depleted that the anemia cannot correct easily. If you have various GI conditions or 'stomach issues' it may make oral iron tough to tolerate, and other treatments are possible.

In women facing uterine fibroid surgery the correction of anemia should ideally be done before the surgery if having a hysterectomy or myomectomy.

In women who have to have surgery correction of anemia by taking oral iron can work to bring the blood counts to normal. Blood testing of the response to your iron treatment is possible to do.

Diet that is deficient in B vitamins or other nutrients may make correction of anemia harder.

Intravenous iron is a rapid and successful way to raise the blood count for women facing surgery. It may take three infusions per week for three weeks. In research studies the count was raised by oral iron less than one hemoglobin point during three weeks, but by 3 points if iv iron infusions were given.

Epoetin can be given weekly and it increases the hemoglobin concentration about double what you can accomplish with oral iron given over the three week period of time in research settings

Correction of anemia before surgery, and decreased blood loss during surgery with minimally invasive techniques helps you get back to work and recover faster from uterine fibroid surgery at Women’s Health Practice.

Fitness Friday: Row, Kick, Bat, Run or Swim? the Top Ten Reasons To Exercise

2019-10-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

The top ten reasons to exercise are listed here, but before you just glance at the list, consider the way you are going to exercise, as you need strength, you need stretching and you need to do some HIT (High intensity training,) and then you will improve
tones
increases your energy
relieves stress
lifts the blues
relives pms and cramps
burns calories
improves skin
immune boost
helps your hair shine
sweetens sleep

And of course no matter what you do you will still need to check on your levels of nutrition with you

Vaginal Infections When You Think You have Chronic Yeast

2019-08-14T06:59:00.000-05:00

conditions are straight forward, easy for your gyno to diagnose, and they resolve promptly. On the other hand, there are those who seem to pop up with one infection after another and either fail to find a cause or a treatment, and this was the subject of a review in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The 5 mosst common Diagnoses were actually
1. Contact dermatitis
2. Actual chronic yeast
3. Atrophic Vaginitis
4. Vestibulodynia
5. Physiologic Discharge
First an accurate diagnosis is important as overuse of antibiotics is unhealthy. And won't be effective for conditions such as atrophic vaginitis which could be treated non-medically with CO2 fractional therapy called MonaLisa Touch. If you have struggled with what you think are chronic yeast infections the authors wanted women to know than normal discharge, contact dermatitis, atrophic vatinitis. and vestibulodynia were often a few causes that women had not considered. One in 20 women with a yeast infection will develop chronic and recurrent infections. Gynos define recurrent and chronic as more than 4 a year. Most yeast infections are due to pesky and pervasive Candida albicans. Some experts say albicans are 95% of those infections we see, others knock that percentage down to only 75%. And random healthy women sampling find that 25% of those women walking into any office at any time will culture positive for yeast. If you try to self diagnose, you’re probably right somewhere between 1/3 and 50% of the time.

So if your symptoms don’t resolve promptly with your goo of choice, inaccurate diagnosis can be the culprit as often as inaccurate treatment. And the first test that may be helpful is the pH test. If the pH is elevated your gyno will think about of other causes: even the presence of semen! It is also possible that hormone levels and cycles are related to the numbers of infections. Women are more likely to get yeast infections in the second half of the menstrual cycle, when estrogen is lower, and progesterone is more dominant. Douching, more a cosmetic than a health practice, doesn’t cause yeast infections. In some studies receptive oral sex causes more yeast infections, and in some studies not, but few studies really culture the partner’s mouths! You can’t always eat your way to a clean vagina either. Dairy diets really haven’t changed the rate of yeast infection in most women. For more information, see us for a gyno check at Women’s HealthPractice. a few new options you may want to consider: probiotic medication and a new antibiotic medication. It is good news for these patients as they typically try many medications and the good news is that they have brought back a sulfonamide cream for chronic yeast.

8 Signs Your Heart Is Healthy

2019-08-11T12:29:00.000-05:00

Heart health and cardiovascular disease health is dominating the news. And it should. Improving heart health will make you look better, have better sleep, have better sex, and make you perform better and more efficiently; AND better heart health reduces your risks of strokes, and heart attacks, and high blood pressure. Thus improving your heart health helps to save your kidneys, your eye sight and your brain function as well!

There are many cost effective and relatively simple heart tests that you can have, which can then be used to improve your heart health. Just having completed a few circuits at the gym gives you a hint that some things are functioning well. Being unduly fatigued or short of breath or seeing that your ankles are swelling in the morning, those could be your body signaling that you are not quite as healthy.

Although there are some 400 factors leading to heart disease, not all of which can be tested, some factors are more easily identified, and more important, more readily treated.Here are some of the tests you may want to start with.

1. Poor circulation means worse kidney function, and if the kidneys aren't functioning they will push protein through to your urine in greater amounts. The first test of heart's ability to pump is to test your pee for protein...this test is relatively sensitive, but we know that you can get a false positive result if not done thoughtfully. If you exercise like a maniac for a day or two, this always throws it off, heavy exercise can make you spill protein in your urine without anything else being wrong.

2. Test your B vitamin levels: homocysteine, folic acid, and B12 are all critically important for overall heart health and those with genetic mutations, such as the MTHFR gene variants, can be at greater risk if their B vitamins are also off. Just having slightly defective MTHFR genes, meaning that you actually have one normal and only one abnormal gene may not really be a problem if your levels of B vitamins in your food is optimized. And we can tell that if your homocysteine levels are elevated.

3. Test your body for inflammation. Inflammation can cause many diseases, and cardiovascular disease is one. Test your blood for inflammation: Cardio C-Reactive Protein, fibrinogen, and other markers of inflammation all contribute to how likely you are to have heart disease, and it is the C-CRP that is most available and often covered by your insurance.

4. Check your lipid particle status, not just a whole cholesterol panel, check the triglycerides and the apolipoproteins, the size of your particles, the exact nature of your good and bad cholesterol. In fact the newest tests will test for fractional particles which may never show up on a routine blood exam. You may also want to check the genetics of your ability to form lipid-protein molecules, and this can tell you if you are more likely to get high cholesterol from dietary mistakes such as excess carbohydrate intake.

5. Take your pulse at rest. Resting heart rate shows, generally speaking, how well your heart is functioning. So be sure to know what is your pulse actual pulse rate. You can also check your pulse at various times of the day. After exercise? In the morning? Do a pulse challenge, take your morning pulse today, then exercise consistently this summer and then take your pulse again in 3 months. If you have improved your morning resting pulse you have likely improved your fitness.

6. Blood pressure measurement; another test that is best done at home at various times of the day. Send your numbers to your PCP and find out if they are normal.

7. EKG testing you would need to do in your health care provider's office, especially if you feel you skip beats, have extra beats, have a racing heart beat.

8. Medication? From red rice yeast to statins, to hormone therapy, to diabetes medicines, it's important to use medications if your diet and exercise efforts are leaving you with heart risk.

Call for consultation: 217-356-3736

Mani-pedi Advice for Pregnancy

2019-08-10T12:18:00.002-05:00

Should you get mani-pedi's when pregnant? Having been both the delivering obstetrician and a mom I can tell you that getting a pedicure in the third trimester can be the most luxurious feeling; and to the extent that you get a bit of massage of your feet, calves and ankles, the benefits on reducing swelling are terrific as well!

Hormonal factors and growth hormones that soar will help hair, nails, and skin. With the addition of prenatal vitamins and the extra hydration you make sure you get during pregnancy, most moms are excited to see they can truly glow with minimal effort! Your nails will grow when you are pregnant, and this may be your best time to just buff and shape and your hands will look beautiful.
It is safe to get manicures when you are pregnant. Quick answer is yes, but there are several factors to take into consideration when deciding to more than just the manicure and get into the discussion of all the ranges of polish colors and type. Polishes are full of chemicals, and many are unidentified and unrevealed. Dangers of
Chemical absorption through skin and nail beds is always going to be an issue when selecting a polish type. Generally you don't get information on every chemical, but organic polishes have the fewest chemicals in them, and may be worth the slight extra costs for at least while you are pregnant or nursing.
Pregnant women experience an expansion of not only blood volume, but an increase in blood vessels as well, because of this cuticles must be treated with extra care during this time.
Pregnancy also makes the skin itself more light sensitive, and prone to pigmentation and damage. So inquire about the kind of lamps used to dry the polish. LED lamps are generally considered safe, whereas UV lamps slightly increase the risk of skin abnormalities such as discoloration, mole changes and induction of precancerous lesions. You can either use a UV-blocking sunscreen or request latex or (latex free if you are allergic) gloves with the tips cut off so the technician can work on your nails while the rest of your hand remains covered. And thus fans are safest without the UV lamps on if you have polish that doesn't need specifically to be set with the light.
From the first reports of irritations from porcelain nails used in the 1960s nails, including sculptured nails and the new ultraviolet-curable gel polish lacquers, have been associated with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). If you appear to be getting allergies, check with a health care provider before continuing as potentially permanent nail base damages have been reported.
Pregnant women are very sensitive to fumes.
Whether traveling for long rides in the care, or sitting holding one position for pedicures, you need to wiggle those legs periodically.

When you come in to discuss pregnancy planning, let’s not forget the health of your hands and fee! Prenatal vitamins, and the growth hormones of pregnancy, already improve the quality of hair and nails; so if you’re still wary, back to what I said at the start, you may just want to get a gentle shaping and buffing for naturally gorgeous nails. But don't necessarily skip an occasional mani-pedi, the me time is important for moms!

We Have 30 Billion Fat Cells and Here's What You Need to Know About Them

2019-08-06T20:52:00.001-05:00

Technology has taught us things we would have never have believed. Just how the heck did someone count our fat cells, and when we are trying to control our fat, it does make it seem like an uphill battle when you think about these actual numbers.
Not all these 30 billion fat cells are quite the same, some fat is white fat, and some is brown fat and yes we also have something called beige fat!
White fat stores our energy, brown fat releases it.
In the process of the release white fat has to convert to brown fat, during which it is called beige fat. Babies and hibernating bears have a lot of brown fat. Adults actually have some brown fat cells within their white fat cells that is what technically is beige fat.
Brown fat cells have lots of little drops of lipids. These cells also have an abundance of mitochondria. The mitochondria have iron, and that iron content is brown.
White fat has a single large fat globule, few blood vessels through and the cells have very few mitochondria. The white fat produces some estrogens and the fat hormone leptin which makes you hungry.
Hormones other than estrogen and leptin affect fat accumulation or fat release including cortisol, epinephrine, glucagon and at least 6 others.
Those with excess of white fat are more at risk for heart disease, diabetes, bad knees, sleep disorders, arthritis, and cancer.
The wrong diet and lack of exercise makes you accumulate too much fat, but specifically too much white fat, and it makes you brown fat not work correctly and you cannot properly form or use your brown fat cells.

Sound dismal? Wondering how to control your 30 billion cells, that's what we want to discuss at Women's Health Practice!

Biotin

2019-08-05T20:32:00.000-05:00

Biotin is a water soluble vitamin, known as Vitamin B, and excreted in the urine. There is no real toxicity as excess is just excreted.
Food sources are egg yolk, wheat, liver, dairy, sweet potatoes, and legumes such as soybean. But the biotin in food is protein bound and gets released by an enzyme.
We can manufacture biotin in the small intestine from healthy gut bacteria, so the only source is not technically just from food.
Biotin is an essential part of our metabolism of carbohydrates, protein amino acids, and blood fats by being a co-factor known as a co-enzyme that helps us produce glucose from food.
Biotin is critical to much of our protein synthesis as well as cell growth, which is why it’s an important co-factor in hair, skin, and nail growth.
Biotin can actually cause lab test disorders, including thyroid testing abnormalities, so be sure to disclose to your MD if you are taking this when interpreting tests.
Breastfeeding and using acutane are two common reasons women get Biotin depleted and need extra.
Once Biotin was called vitamin H (the H represents Haar und Haut, German words for "hair and skin").

Here's How A Woman Develops Endometriosis

2019-08-05T18:43:00.000-05:00

Endometriosis is perplexing to the medical world, we have a lot of theories, and some proof, but mostly we have to surmise how you the individual patient comes to a disease like endometriosis: but in summary: Here’s How Endometriosis Happens To A Woman

It is a disease of lining tissue of the uterus appearing in other locations in the body, usually the pelvis, fallopian tubes, or ovaries
The lining tissue gets access to the pelvis and inner organs during a menstrual period as the tissue shedding from the lining bleeds out the fallopian tubes as well as the cervix
Other women may have their pelvic tissue lining spontaneously convert from it’s natural state to implants of endometriosis
You most likely have an impaired immune system, as everyone who has a period will have bleeding of lining tissue into the pelvis, but only 1/10 women will have endometriosis as a consequence.
In some cases endometriosis occurs during fetal life when uterine lining tissue got misplaced as the uterus and vagina were undergoing original development
Once you have any endometriosis the tissue can move through the blood stream and lymph channels to get to distant locations like the bowel, the lungs, or other distant locations
Then hormones get disordered as the endometriosis tissue can influence the ways estrogen and progesterone bind to tissue. Estrogen is activated, and the body gets relatively resistant to progesterone

For individual consultation see us at Women's Health Practice.com

Prevent Cycles of Vaginal Infections By Curing Biofilms

2019-08-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

Breaking the cycle of recurrent infections can be difficult. Once you have had repeated vaginal infections there can be a number of physiologic barriers to healing.
1.It may be your immune system, and there are ways to boost your immunity with diet, supplements and exercise.
2. You may have a block that prevents healing right on the vaginal tissue surfaces. The little known concept is that you may have developed a biofilm. The presence of a biofilm. Biofilm is matrix of substances produced by bacteria that caused the infection that irreversibly binds to the tissue, in this case the vagina, which then promotes further production of cells that keep the tissue destroyed and inflamed and prevent a healing. More simply put a vaginal biofilm is a layer on the walls of the vagina that is almost exclusively made by the very organisms that caused the infections in the first place. Biofilms allow organisms to resist treatments with antibiotics and antifungals. Vaginal Biofilms may thus contribute to both chronic relapsing infections as well as to resistance against bacterial or fungal organisms which cause Yeast or BV treatment, so it's something we need to gab about! There is a microscopic layer that acts as a enclosed and highly favorable nutrient environment for bacteria and yeast to exist within. If they exist within this layer then they are impenetrable to the antibiotics delivered though the blood stream in the case of oral medicines, or in the local environment as with creams and suppositories.
2. You may be resistant to the treatment you have tried. Just because a vaginal infection treatment worked in the past, it may not work in the future. Biofilm is the cause as well. It is why sometimes treatments seem to initially work, but then become resistant to the treatment as the organisms not in the biofilm will be eradicated, so some symptoms willl resolve, and the organisms behind the biofilm will maintain their presence.
3. Heat therapies, non-traditional, are very effective. Non-ablative laser therapy with CO2 lasers and heat treatments with radiofrequency energy are thought to be able to kill the biofilm without antibiotics.
4. Antibiotic use may have contributed, but it can also help heal the biofilm problem. Treating with antibiotics over a very long time, with the right dosage and right medication, may slowly penetrate the biofilm.

5. Stopping all therapy and providing immune support and changing the gut bacteria may enable the body to penetrate the biofilm from within to heal. In otherwords, sometimes you just have to be patient!

Busting 8 Common Myths in Pregnancy

2019-08-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

If you would like to scan over the basic pregnancy what to expect and advice for the questions you may have in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy: check the section I wrote for WebMD's eMedicine . Just published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology April 2018 was a quick compilation of the currently accepted pregnancy advice. Here's some highlights (and a bit of commentary):
1. Good diets probably substitute for prenatal vitamins. However, check with your gyno to determine if you personally have any nutritional deficiencies.
2. Probably do not need to eat any extra calories in the first trimester.
3. Artificial sweeteners have never been shown to cause birth defects.
4. You would probably have to drink over 10 cups of coffee a day to (possibly) harm your baby. There are other reasons not to consume at that level however! So keep coffee intake modest!
5. There is no real evidence that sushi is harmful in pregnancy if consumed in the US.
6. Do cook your meat, do wash your raw vegetables.
7. Avoid contact sports in pregnancy, but otherwise do exercise!

8. Hair dyes are presumed safe in pregnancy, there has never been a study to prove otherwise.

Hepatitis B and Cancer Prevention

2019-07-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C can cause liver cancer, and prevention is the absolute best strategy

Hepatitis B that has become a chronic infection can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma

The main way to prevent Hepatitis B is through vaccination which is given at Birth to children

We screen women in pregnancy for Hepatitis B, and in many places women are also screened for Hepatitis C in pregnancy

There is no vaccination for Hepatitis C

If you find out a sexual partner has Hepatitis of any kind you should also be screened

Those who have used injection drugs should be screened

If you have been found on blood work to have elevated liver tests, you should be screened

If you have not been vaccinated against Hepatitis B and you are traveling to a country with high rates of Hepatitis B you should be tested

If you have been established to have Hepatitis B you can get treated by an anti-viral agent so that you don't contract chronic disease which is the type of Hepatitis infection that causes liver cancer.
Come in to Women's Health Practice to discuss your need for screening

Alarming Trends in Uterine Cancer Rates

2019-07-22T05:43:00.000-05:00

In perimenoapsue and menopause taking estrogen can cause wide ranging side effects. However, the effects on the lining of the uterus is not one of the benefits. Estrogen can cause bleeding, spotting, polyps, precancer and even lining cancer of the uterus.

In a new report we have found that rates of uterine cancers are going up.

In a study, published May 22, 2019 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology the information from NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate trends in uterine cancer incidence rates for women overall and by race and ethnicity, geographic region, and biologic subtype , and found more aggressive and what used to be rare types of cancers of the uterus are increasing.

Whether these things will occur will depend on many factors, including lifestyle, prior therapy, your diet, and your genetics.

In the study it was thought that the biggest increases in uterine cancer, were due to cancers that are caused due to obesity.

However, we still want to point out to women that we know that for the uterus the treatment with estrogen alone increases the risk of endometrial hyperplasia (lining thickening) and endometrial carcinoma (uterine lining cancer) by many times. In some studies the risks of thickening were doubled and the risk of lining cancers rose from 1/000 to 1/1000. And further good news is that cancers which appear this way seem to be more treatable and less aggressive.

There is a protected effect of progesterone therapy. Exactly the type and timing of the progesterone therapy would be up to your gyno, and many factors have to be considered. Even the progesterone IUDs may work for some women's endometrial protection, so if you have one as you enter menopause, you may be covered. Months of estrogen therapy is less likely to produce harm than years, and thus a period of adjustment with one hormone verses the double hormone is possible.

There really is no other menopausal benefit to progesterone therapy, it is only used for this lining protection, and women without a uterus have no need for the progesterone therapy. Many studies show progesterone therapy with the estrogen is what raises the breast cancer risk, so there is a lot to gab about with your gyno, but generally this 'unopposed' estrogen therapy (estrogen with no progesterone) is not recommended.

Lifestyle factors can combat the obesity that is responsible for these alarming trends in uterine cancer rates.

Not all growths of the uterus are cancerous, and many can be treated with simple therapies. A polyp hanging out of your cervix may be from the cervix, or actually from the lining of the uterus. Endocervical polyps are not likely to be an effect of estrogen, usually the estrogen causes lining polyps which wouldn't be seen on an exam, but require an ultrasound to be seen. Cone in to discuss with your gyno if you still have questions.

Do You Need Vaginal Laser or Vaginal Tightening Energy Based Treatment?

2019-07-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

Women with a variety of vaginal issues from painful sex, to chronic infections and incontinence can benefit from vaginal therapies.

At Women's Health Practice we have treated women from age 29-89 with success, and usually it means a uniquely designed combination therapy.

Sorting out which vaginal therapy to use is complicated, and of course should be done with your personal consultation.

Vaginal health for the average woman means: not getting infections, having comfortable intercourse, being able to be aroused and have an orgasm; vaginal health is also, to most women, about not having bladder symptoms, not having unusual discharge, and not having unusual odor. It is also important for young people to help preserve fertility and not jeopardize hormone levels or menstrual cycles.

Vaginal therapy decisions can be more complex than those features: vaginal health also means maintaining the pelvic floor, maintaining skin health, and maintaining a youthful look and function to the tissue. Having regular sex, eating and sleeping well, getting the right nutrition and supplements, getting vaginal therapies, and proper treatments can do all of those things for best vaginal health!

Laser, radio frequency and pelvic floor therapies are all non-invasive, and at Women's Health Practice we can design customized therapies that are best for you. These therapies can then be backed up by a unique longer term maintenance plan that will help you resolve your issues long term.

For the FDA, and many physicians, vaginal health is treating sexual pain and vaginal atrophy for women age 40 and up, but that is not all these treatments are for. While it is true that virtually 100% of women will experience vaginal atrophy and require therapy as they age, it is also true that 100% of women have concerns many years before they are atrophic and to them vaginal health needs to be approached from the wellness aspect we approach cardiovascular health, the way we approach fitness and nutrition: preventative health.

While therapies cleared for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abound in treatment of vaginal pain, atrophy and sexual pain due to atrophy, this approach has not begun to address what women are interested in which is staying healthy in the vaginal tissues. The lasers and heat treatments are not approved, so it's important to understand the difference between approval and clearance, and what that might mean for insurance coverage and costs.

There is important good news for those who want to treat vaginal pain with hormonal treatments, as there is a newly approved therapy that joins various estrogens and Osphena as a therapy for dysparunia. The FDA has approved prasterone (Intrarosa, Endoceutics Inc) to treat women with moderate to severe pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia) associated with menopause. Prasterone, a once-daily vaginal insert, is the first FDA-approved product containing the active ingredient prasterone, also known as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is essentially a prodrug. It is thought to work by being converted to estrogen in the tissues. This step of conversion may be a better alternative or potentially an alternative to combine with other vaginal pain therapies.

In reality there are even other therapies that can be used, some women for instance would be treated by compounded testosterone creams, or medications to help improve nerve conductivity thus arousal and sensations through the area, and a positive impact on orgasm.

Consultation from experts is important for many reasons. The wrong spermacide, shaving creams and the wrong soaps can be offensive and simple fixes. Many women will say that laser hair reduction helped them avoid the complications and irritations they were experiencing from shaving that made sex less appealing.

Estrogen levels decline in vaginal tissues prior to the time of menopause, and then further as you get farther into menopause which may lead to both vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) and contribute to pain during sexual intercourse. Women with vaginal pain, especially with hormonal therapies have to continue getting pap smears, as one of the side effects of these hormonal therapies could be newly abnormal discharge or an abnormal pap. For women wanting to treat vaginal health before they get to the stage of needing medication: that begins many years before menopause, and may involve preventative care with therapies such as MonaLisa Touch, ThermiVa or PRP therapy. Come to Discuss options at Women's Health Practice.

How Age of Menopause and Age of Last Pregnancy Help You to Live Past 100

2019-07-19T05:28:00.000-05:00

You have 7 million eggs as a female fetus that

is 5 months old. However we only ovulate 400 eggs, and human females start losing viable healthy eggs before you enter menopause, and this is the official way we enter menopause, around the age of 51 or 52.

The later you enter menopause, and the later you have had a child (over 40, and over 45 is even better), the more likely it is you will live past 100.

Genetically it is determined how quickly you will enter menopause, and those having a later menopause may still have to deal with contraception and menstrual cycles, but as for hormone levels having a later menopause means that you will be healthier.

Many years of health ovarian hormone exposure is good for much of our health. There is something about the number of fertile years, and how you use those fertile years that predicts how long you are going to live.

Of course more than the age of menopause will determine longevity. If you have a baby later in life, over the age of 33, you are more likely to live long.

The later you have your last period prior to menopause, the more total duration of estrogen and this too predicts a longer life, we reported in discussion of an article in Menopause Volume 22, No.1, 2015.

Stress, nutrition, life style factors (smoking), obesity, chemotherapy all impact on the last menstrual period. So you can improve your longevity, by preserving both your fertility and your ovarian function through healthy living! There are ways to maximize this health and you should come in to Women's Health Practice discuss how!

The Shocking Way Hunger Affects Fertility

2019-07-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

This hunger can be seemingly out of proportion to the consumption of food. It's regulated in many ways, one of which is through the hormone ghrelin is that affects your metabolism and makes you have both triggers feelings of hunger , and a change in what your body does with food.

When ghrelin is triggered food intake increases, and you begin to store fat. When this happens your fertility will decrease.

It's also released when we are stressed; although cortisol is one reason for this, ghrelin is part of the reason we want to eat when we feel emotional or under pressure.

Neuroscientists at RMIT in Australia have reported how ghrelin affects fertility in mice. works in mice.

These researchers found that when ghrelin is increased the ovary has fewer eggs in reserve.

So having a balanced diet, and keeping your metabolism steady, it is very likely to actually be beneficial for fertility.

Return of Periods or Pain After Endometrial Ablation

2019-07-10T20:27:00.000-05:00

At Women's Health Practice we have offered endometrial ablations since the 1980s when the technology was invented. We have successfully performed thousands of endometrial ablation procedures, using many technologies and have a vast experience in the decisions, the treatment protocols, and the follow up of our patients. Most women are happily and successfully treated after an ablation, but ablations don't solve all gyno problems and we welcome second opinions regarding any symptoms you are having post an endometrial ablation.

An endometrial ablation can be an effective treatment specifically for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), but they are not necessarily protective against all gynecologic pain or bleeding and careful follow up monitoring may be necessary.

Pain long after a endometrial ablation was performed could be infection. Infections can often be the cause of any gynecologic pain. The blood entrapped may become infected, and this could produce symptoms as well. If you do have pain, first is to try to get an accurate diagnosis. Make sure there is no infection, or ovarian condition both of which can produce pelvic pain. Rare causes of the symptoms might be due to conditions such as tracks between the uterus and the bladder known as fistulas that have been seen after a woman has had prior c-sections and an endometrial ablation. Some gynecologists can tell based on examining the uterus with a device called a uterine sound that the scaring has occurred. Other signs of the scar tissue can be see on ultrasound. Ultrasound done once, when you are not bleeding might miss hematometra, so you may want to do this again. MRI examinations may help diagnoses either hematometra (blood within the uterus) or adenomyosis (glands within the wall of the uterus). Once the diagnosis is made, then you and your gyno can establish a planned solution. For some women the solution is repeat ablation, for some the removal of the fallopian tubes, for others a hysterectomy, for some treatment with antibiotics. Please see other posts on endometrial ablation, or review some of the GynoFile comments, questions, and answers that follow for more information.

Pick Your Perfect Birth Control Pill

2019-07-10T06:58:00.002-05:00

How we select a pill for you to start on, and how we select the pill you should continue on is a very complicated topic. Choosing the right pill for you, however, has certain key elements. Typically women think of the pill for contraception, but it's an excellent strategy to ward off many problems.

1. Contraceptive protection is quickly established and very effective. Virtually all oral contraceptives have been thought to have identical effectiveness. If you take the pills faithfully, ovulation is suppressed, and failure rates are quite rare. Based on published data, about 2-3 women out of a hundred taking the pill for a year will become pregnant. Pills from the 70s and 80s that have published rates of only 1 person in a hundred getting pregnant is based on old studies. We have had a bit of pregnancy rate drift in the past few years, and women today have higher pregnancy rates than we used to in the past (obesity?). So, in truth gynos don’t assign pills based on effectiveness, they will all work for you!

2. Pills are very safe, and lower dosages are even safer. Since the 1970s safety has driven most of the dosing and type of hormone changes in the pill, and safety is always the first concern. Again, all birth control pills are extraordinarily safe and few women cannot take OCs. But safety is enhanced by selecting the lower doses. There are medical conditions that your gyno will have to consider when offering you a pill: hypertension, diabetes, migraines and blood clotting disorders are the most important considerations when selecting the type and dosage of birth control pill.

3. Health benefits are a very important consideration. Non-contraceptive benefits should now drive many birth control pill decisions for you and your gyno. One of the first concerns is cycle control, and control of menstrual cramps. Another important concern is PCOS effects. Another important concern is prevention of gynecologic cancers and ovarian cysts. Prevention and treatment of endometriosis. Are you suffering from PMS, acne or heavy bleeding? Hair loss and unwanted hair growth from PCOS can be protected against by being on oral contraceptive pills.These medical concerns can be addressed by selecting the right pill for you. However it has to be the right pill. 'Mini" pills, also called progesterone only pills, will not protect against acne or hirsuitism.

4. Fertility preservation including STD protection. Prevention of tubal infection (also called salpingitis) both helps prevents tubal pregnancy and helps you to be more fertile. Likely you will get fewer fibroids.

5. Health concerns you and your gyno may want to discuss. A new concern is one for bone health, as we have had lower dosages of the pill, we may need to think in terms of slightly higher doses for some young teens as they are accruing bone mass. Side effects are our second concern. If you don’t like the pills you are taking you won’t stay on them, and you may be at risk for unplanned pregnancy. Side effects can also be managed, and pill switching is sometimes necessary.

Call for an appointment if you want to discuss! 217-356-3736

You Can be in the Mood

2019-07-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

Desire is an innately human experience and not necessarily linked to a time of a woman’s life or whether she has a partner. Of women reporting their sexual complaints desire is usually sited as their most common and their most distressing problem. Libido problems are often linked with problems of arousal orgasm or both. And of individuals reporting low desire they report extreme dissatisfaction with their sexuality.

Once a woman has decreased sexual desire her life is negatively impacted with many women reporting poor self-image, poor self-esteem, mood instability, depression and this then translates into strained relationships with their partners.

Sexuality is stimulated by estrogen, testosterone, and the brain chemicals dopamine norepinephrine and melanocortin and oxytoxin. Sexual function is inhibited by serotonin, prolactin and endogenous opioids. Desire originates in the hypothalamus and by activating the brain dopamine system. Other areas kick in such as the limbic system. Sexual response is then moderated by the serotonin system. And your diet can heighten these chemical responses.
There are also two medications approved for libido enhancement, so it may be time to come in to see if either is right for you. womenshealthpractice.com

Making The Decision as to What Type of Hysterectomy to Have

2019-07-08T20:23:00.000-05:00

Every year new gynecologic therapies come about that reduce the numbers of hysterectomies done in the United States. At Women's Health Practice we are committed to alternatives, often have trials enrolling for heavy menstrual bleeding, and urge you to come and discuss!
But, some hysterectomies are necessary, and then you do have choices regarding the type of hysterectomy you will undergo.
All decisions with hysterectomy have risks and benefits, and shared decision making with your gyno is the most important first step..
Hysterectomy means removal of the uterus, so if you have had a removal of the uterus, but your cervix was conserved, this is called a subtotal hysterectomy. For some women there are over-riding reasons to have a subtotal hysterectomy. For others the decision to keep your cervix may be based on personal preference rather than scientific fact.
Also discuss the health of your pelvic floor.
If you are planning a hysterectomy, think about having sex afterwards and medical consequences of that. Some women who have hysterectomies also have to have repair surgery for what we call pelvic floor disorders including uterine prolapse. The medical term for painful sex is dysparunia. And it can be a chronic or an acute condition, it can occur in young women as well as old, and some women with these pelvic floor problems will have pain prior to having their hysterectomy. There are also treatments, FDA Cleared but not FDA approved, like MonaLisa Touch and ThermiVa that can treat early pelvic floor conditions and be helpful pre and post hysterectomy.
Vaginal discharge, painful sex due to the walls of the vagina and incontinence may affect your hysterectomy decisions
Fortunately, many cases are due to newly acquired infections or conditions that can be cured. Some women have non-physical causes, but in general it's more often seen in older women than in younger women. As women age into the menopause the vaginal lining thins and sex can become more uncomfortable. But there are many factors that cause painful sex in menopause, and estrogen in some studies only cures about 75% of cases. Why there are persistent problems in some cases can be complex: pelvic floor problems, weakened muscles, too little intercourse, not enough estrogen can be tolerated, secondary effects of the treatment itself.
Be clear on what structures are being removed, terminology can be confusion, not all hysterectomies are the same
The term partial hysterectomy is not a clinical term used by gynos although women may refer to hysterectomy without taking the ovaries as a partial hysterectomy and it really doesn't refer to the taking of the uterus. In a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology showed that in fact there was no improvement in incontinence rates if the cervix was left, and preliminary studies show that the rates of incontinence could actually increase if a subtotal hysterectomy rather than a complete hysterectomy were to be performed.
Keeping sex and libido normal or even significantly improved is our goal!

Other considerations for your health if you have had cervical conservation are to be discussed with your gyno. She will likely tell you this will not impact your sexual pleasure as orgasms are from the clitoral area, and not the cervix. If you keep a cervix at the time of the hysterectomy you still need pap smears according to the plan established by your gyno. But a woman with no cervix after a hysterectomy is not routinely (excluding those with cancers and precancers) recommended to have a pap smear in any of the current guidelines. This includes the organizations: ACS, ACOG, USPSTF, ASC, ASCCP just to name a few. Don't confuse pelvic examinations with pap smears. Pelvic examinations can determine the health of your vagina, the health of your vulva, the health of your urethra, feel your inner organs, and determine your pelvic floor muscle health, just to name a few of the benefits.

Quit Smoking, Protect Against Lung Cancer

2019-07-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

Tobacco for cancer prevention should be intuitive, but it's not an easy proposition, so here's what we can do to help.
First begin to understand what we are talking about. It's not an uncommon outcome to get cancer from smoking. Breast cancers occur double the frequency of lung cancer. Still almost 1/5 of all cancers in the US are smoking related lung cancers.
If you smoke you increase your risk of lung cancer by about 30 times, but any tobacco exposure increase risk.
Here’s how you address your efforts to quit smoking

ASK your physician regarding options, discuss what you have tried, discussed what you think may work
Take Your Physician’s advice
Seek out resources on line such as self help workbooks, brochures, and books
Do consider the use nicotine replacement products such as patches, gums, etc
Do consider medication strategies such as buproprion and varenicline; even nortriptyline and cytion have worked
Address your smoking with behavioral strategies
E-cigarettes are not necessarily the best alternatives and may not reduce your cancer risk very much as they do have toxins and carcinogens present in combustible tobacco cigarettes

Protruding Abdomen Not Due to Weight Gain Can Be a Gyno Issue

2019-07-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

Generally the uterus is about the size of an egg, well contained in the pelvis if not pregnant, and cannot cause the abdominal wall to protrude.
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumor growth. The muscle knots that comprise a fibroid uterus can be microscopically sized or very large.
The total weight of a woman's uterus in her fertile years is typically about 60-70 grams. This uterus was 768 grams, and shown here are the fibroids removed at the time of a laparoscopic hysterectomy. The largest uteri removed with laparoscopic are about 7 lbs or around 3200 grams. Just for comparison, you should know the pregnant uterus can swell to up to 1000 grams to accommodate it's contents! T
he fibroids themselves have a solid feel to them, almost as rigid as a rubber ball. For the most part the pressure the enlarged uterus can produce is uncomfortable, although some women report significant pain. The pressure of such a large uterus such as this one might produce actual deformities of neighboring organs or of the cervix itself.
Some women have enlarged uterus due to the lining glands getting entrapped within the muscle of the uterine wall, which is a condition called adenomyosis, and this can co-exist with the fibroids or be seen alone. The largest uterus ever reported with only adenomyosis was 475 grams.

A number of genetic code mistakes can lead to a woman getting uterine fibroids, and these genetic changes to the uterine cells likely affect the size of the uterus too. The fibroids seen here were not cancerous, although fibroids are actually uterine scarcomas which is a type of cancer.

There is no exact pattern to fibroid growth, and some swell to very large over months, and others can slowly change over years. In other women the fibroid can grow and then stabilize. But most fibroids will continue to grow until menopause is reached.

Speak to your gyno if you have abdominal selling, irregular bleeding, pelvic or bladder pressure symptoms, all these symptoms may be associated with fibroids that are making the uterine size enlarge. A simple ultrasound can measure and determine the size and location of uterine fibroid masses, although a CT scan may be better at determining if any significant problems from pressure due to the bulk of the uterus has occurred. Either way, it is important to consult with your gyno if you have a concern.

A Healthy Badder Can Prevent Vaginal Yeast Infections

2019-07-04T20:12:00.001-05:00

1. Vaginal yeast infections and bladder infections can have some similar symptoms, or can occur together. Women given antibiotics for bladder infections can then get a vaginal yeast infection, however it is possible that the offending organism is actually the same candida of a vaginal yeast infection, but actually was in the bladder to begin with.
2. Women who report that frequent bladder infections may be suffering from other conditions (stones in the bladder for instance), but most likely are having chronic bladder infections and not another condition. Bladder infections aren't usually a confusing diagnosis to make based on symptoms alone. Lower abdominal pain, especially above the bladder, pain with trying to pee, and having to pee all the time are the most common symptoms. If you see blood (hematuria) it's even a more obvious diagnosis. So most women will know if they ave had a an issue of recurrent bladder infections.
3. UTIs could be an STI. Bladder infections called Urinary Tract Infections or UTIs are quite common from bacteria, but can be caused by either yeast, chlamydia or gonorrhea. In fact 1/10 women have one physician diagnosed infection per year.
4. Girl parts are not sterile, neither is the bladder. The genital areas of the vaginal, the urethra, the vulva, has bacteria, and if we run around culturing the pee of women without symptoms many will have growth of some sort of bugs, urine is not sterile, and usually those cultures will be positive for of the microorganism E. coli. It's a bowel bacteria that can adhere to the wall of the bladder. And some women have E. coli with the ability to glob on even more effectively. And modern life seems to just put more road blocks in our way.
5. Condoms can prevent yeast of the bladder from transmission, however it's complicated! For instance our gynos excessive insistence on us protecting ourselves from new partners with condoms. Using condoms and spermicide protects against STDs, but oddly they can cause more urinary tract infections because the condoms and spermicide use seems to improve the ability for our bladder and E. coli to adhere on to each other. What's the worse kind of infection to get is that of E. Coli of the type that have something in their anatomy known as P-fimbria. Other bacteria are commonly found in the the area: the vagina, the bowel, the skin of the region, but about 80 to 90% of all urinary tract infections end up being E. coli. And your gyno needs to know so that treatment could be specifically targeted. In fact virtually all bladder infections are bacterial, but very rare fungal infections can occur, and virus infections can occur, but don't seem to bring on the symptoms of a typical UTI. The fungal infections that do occur, the funguria, usually are in very sick hospitalized patients and they typically will have a blood infection too. However diabetics are more likely to have funguria and anyone with a poor immune system may as well.
6. Sex itself can lead to bladder yeast infections, and basic strategies are helpful to prevent bladder yeast colonozation as well. Although lots of factors play into whether you will acquire a bladder infection, an important factor is to consider: sex. It is important to get the bacterial count of the bladder down after sex. Peeing after you have sex actually can eliminate some bacteria that may just have been sitting around and help have fewer infections. If you have had multiple infections going on antibiotics for a longer duration of treatment, or using antibiotics after each episode of intercourse are possible solutions. Most recently it has been shown that probiotics an prevent UTIs. One such probiotic is the beneficial lactobacillus crispatus organism that is used as a vaginal suppository, but many are very helpful. If the new lactobacillus do take women will have less bladder infections So don't give up, UTIs can have serious health consequences if left unchecked, so try to get them under control!

If your home strategies aren't working call! 217-356-3736

Women Should Not Have a Period After a Hysterectomy: But Here's What's Going on If you Do

2019-06-28T11:10:00.000-05:00

After a hysterectomy there is no uterus, and women stop having menstrual periods. Bleeding vaginally, whether it is light or heavy is not normal.
Initially after the surgery, for days to weeks, vaginal bleeding is normal while the tissue heals. Your gynecologist will then release you to routine care once you have healed. After that point it is not normal to get vaginal bleeding.
Normal exercise should never really produce any unusual vaginal bleeding, and this is especially true if you have had a hysterectomy.
Vaginal atrophy and thinning can cause bleeding after a hysterectomy, particularly if the ovaries have been removed, or you are of menopausal age. Simple therapies with healing treatments to the vaginal walls can keep that tissue healthy and you shouldn’t see any pink or red bloody discharge.
Sex after you have healed from your hysterectomy, or sex play with toys done properly should not produce bleeding.
Irritation of the lining of the vagina can produce some slightly pink discharge, but actual blood passage is not the norm. However, it's not uncommon to develop a small nub of tissue where the stitches repaired the top of the vagina. This is called granulation tissue, it is not cancerous, it can bleed, especially with exercise and sex in this case. It is most important to know that granulation tissue is easily treated. So be sure to come in to your gyno and be evaluated for this if you have had bleeding after a hysterectomy.