Archive for the ‘Hormone Clinic’ Category

A few years ago, the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) looked like a medical mess. For decades, women were told that HRT -- usually a combination of estrogen and progestin -- was good for them during and after menopause. Then the 2002 results of the Women's Health Initiative study seemed to show just the opposite: hormone replacement therapy actually had life-threatening risks such as heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.

"Women felt betrayed," says Isaac Schiff, MD, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "They were calling their doctors, saying, 'How could you put me on this drug which causes heart attacks, strokes, and cancer?'"

Almost overnight, standard medical practice changed. Doctors stopped prescribing hormone replacement therapy and 65% of women on HRT quit, according to Schiff.

But some experts say hormone replacement therapy may be coming back. All along HRT remained an important treatment for menopause symptoms like hot flashes. And now, a number of recent studies show that hormone replacement therapy may have protective benefits for women who are early in menopause.

"I think we swung too positive on hormone therapy in the past and then we went too negative," says Schiff, who is also chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Task Force on Hormone Therapy. "Now we're trying to find a balance in between."

"We're definitely in a gray zone of uncertainty about hormone therapy," says Jacques Rossouw, MD, project officer for the federal Women's Health Initiative (WHI). "But when you're uncertain, you have to err on the side of safety."

While Rossouw concedes that new studies show some preventative benefit for younger women, he says any potential benefit is very slight. And, he notes, there is no evidence that any benefit would last if women kept taking hormones as they got older.

But increasing numbers of researchers say there should be a place for hormone replacement therapy as a preventive treatment for limited periods as it may help prevent disease in younger women around the age of menopause.

"We have evidence that hormone therapy can prevent heart disease, hip fractures, and osteoporosis, and that it cuts the risk of developing diabetes by 30% in younger women," says Shelley R. Salpeter, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University's School of Medicine.

In one recent study, Salpeter and her colleagues found that HRT reduced the number of heart attacks and cardiac deaths by 32% in women who were 60 or younger (or women who had been through menopause less than 10 years ago). In older women, hormone replacement therapy seemed to increase cardiac events in the first year, and then began to reduce them after two years.

The 32% drop is significant, but perhaps not as dramatic as it sounds. In hard numbers, Salpeter estimates that of women aged 50 to 59 who don't get hormone replacement therapy, about 7 out of 4,800 will have a cardiac event in one year. With HRT, 3 out of 4,800 will have a cardiac event.

Salpeter's study indicates something crucial: The age at which a woman starts HRT may make a big difference.

Salpeter argues that when a person first starts hormone replacement therapy, her risk of blood clots increases slightly. In healthy women who are in their 50s -- and close to the age of menopause -- this increase is very unlikely to cause problems. The higher risk subsides after a couple of years, she says, although other experts disagree.

But women in their 60s may be more likely to already have early heart disease or hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis). In these cases, the risk of blood clots becomes more serious. So if a woman first starts hormone replacement therapy in her 60s, the initial risks are more dangerous, Salpeter says.

This is what Salpeter says affected the results of the Women's Health Initiative trial. The average age of a woman in that trial was 63, with a range of ages between 50 and 79. She and other critics argue that the researchers were looking at many women who might already have been sick.

"I was surprised when I first heard the [WHI] results," says Lynne T. Shuster, MD, director of the Women's Health Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "But, once I saw the details, I wasn't surprised anymore. They gave women who were older and possibly had underlying arteriosclerosis a pill that increased the risk of blood clotting. Of course it increased the risk of heart problems."

Shuster and Salpeter argue that those results have no bearing on whether younger, healthy women in their 50s would benefit from HRT.

"Basically, [the WHI researchers] were looking at the wrong group of people," Salpeter tells WebMD.

Rossouw defends the WHI study design. "We were specifically testing the hypothesis that hormone therapy would help protect older women against disease," Rossouw tells WebMD, "The results were absolutely clear: They do not."

Media reports on the WHI results may have given people inflated fears of hormone replacement therapy's risks, the doctors say.

For example, the Women's Health Initiative results showed that combined hormone replacement therapy seems to increase the risk of breast cancer by 33%, Schiff says. That's a serious increase. Still, the risk to any one woman is not as high as it sounds, Schiff says.

"According to the WHI, without hormone therapy, 3 of every 1,200 women aged 55 to 59 will develop breast cancer this year," says Schiff. "With hormone therapy, 4 out of 1,200 will. It's a 33% increase, but the absolute risk is still very, very small."

Shuster points out that other behaviors -- like drinking two glasses of wine a night -- also increase breast cancer risk by a similar amount.

Women who take estrogen alone -- a treatment only available to people who have had a hysterectomy -- appear to have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who take progestin and estrogen together. In a 2006 JAMA article, researchers from the Women's Health Initiative found that after about seven years of treatment with estrogen, there seemed to be no increased risk of breast cancer.

However, estrogen-only therapy may have long-term risks. A May 2006 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found using estrogen-only therapy for 20 years or more showed increased risk of developing breast cancer.

As HRT is being re-evaluated -- and new evidence is coming in -- it's difficult to know who should get hormone replacement therapy and for how long.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that HRT should be used in women who have severe menopausal symptoms.

"Estrogens are the best agents we have for the relief of menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and loss of sexuality," says Schiff. They're also a good treatment for menopausal symptoms that are often not recognized: Difficulty sleeping, stiffness, joint pain, and mood changes.

But for disease prevention -- lowering the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and most cases of osteoporosis -- the FDA still does not recommend hormone replacement therapy.

"We have other ways of cutting the risks of heart attacks and strokes," Schiff tells WebMD, including better diet, exercise, and other medicines.

Will HRT ever again be used as prevention for these serious diseases? Only time and research will tell. The experts remain divided.

"I believe that studies in the next few years will support using hormone therapy in younger women [closer to the onset of menopause] for prevention," says Shuster. "But "we don't have all the information yet."

Another big question is how long hormone replacement therapy can be used safely. It was once thought that using it for five years or less to relieve menopausal symptoms had no risks. But the WHI study seemed to show that was not the case.

There are still a lot of unknowns. Many women now take doses of hormones that are lower than the ones used in the WHI trial. Hormones are also delivered not just through pills, but in other forms, like skin patches. We don't know yet whether these lower concentrations and different forms might decrease the risks.

For now, the FDA recommends that women who take hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms take the lowest effective dose and for the shortest time period to alleviate symptoms.

With all of the contradictory messages, it's hard for a woman to know what to do. There's also a lot of lingering anger about what happened in the wake of the Women's Health Initiative results.

"I lost a lot of faith in my doctors after that," says April Dawson, a 63-year-old Connecticut woman who used hormone replacement therapy for about a year. "And all of the women I know feel the same way.

"In the first place, I didn't like the idea of going on medication when I didn't have any symptoms," Dawson tells WebMD. "But I feel like my doctors ganged up on me and pushed me to take it."

Today, doctors are far more likely to tell each woman that she must make the decision herself, weighing the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy, considering her symptoms, family history, lifestyle, and risk of disease.

If you take HRT, keep in mind that the absolute risks are low. But you should still regularly check in with your doctor. Ask if there is any new information that might cause you to rethink your decision.

"Hormone therapy is a field that continues to change rapidly," says Shuster. "Treatment has to be more individualized than ever. Women are seeking the one right answer, but for now, we just don't have one."

SOURCES: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists web site,"Frequently Asked Questions about Hormone Therapy, "News release: ACOG IssuesState-of-the-Art Guide to Hormone Therapy." Chen, WY et al, Archives ofInternal Medicine, May 8, 2006; vol 166: pp1027-1032. April Dawson,Milford, Conn. Jacques Rossouw, MD, project officer for the Women's HealthInitiative at the National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD.Salpeter, SR et al, JGIM, July 2004; vol 21: pp 363-366. Salpeter, S,Climacteric 2005; vol 8: pp307-310. Salpeter, SR et al, Diabetes,Obesity and Metabolism, in press. Salpeter, SR et al, Journal ofGeneral Internal Medicine, July 2004; vol 19: pp 791-804. Shelley R.Salpeter, MD, clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University's School ofMedicine. Isaac Schiff, MD, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at MassachusettsGeneral Hospital in Boston; chair of the American College if Obstetricians andGynecologists Task Force on Hormone Therapy. Lynne T. Shuster, MD, director ofthe Women's Health Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Stefanick, ML etal, JAMA, April 12, 2006; vol 295: pp 1647-1657. U.S. Food and DrugAdministration web site, "Questions and Answers for Estrogen and Estrogen withProgestin Therapies for Postmenopausal Women."

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Hormone Replacement Therapy - webmd.com

Our goal is to help you to improve your health and quality of life, while identifying the possible cause of your symptoms. We strive to offer you the best care possible in a professional, spa-like space and support you through the latest Naturopathic Medical practices.

Are you suffering for a health condition you need help treating? Are you generally healthy but have noticed increasing difficulty with your weight, mood, energy, focus or hormones? Thepractitioners at Marine Drive Naturopathic Clinic offer programs and treatments to help you not only to feel better, but examine the cause of your symptoms or conditions.

Our team includes Naturopathic Physicians Dr. Cathryn Coe,Dr. Cameron McIntyre, Dr. Elizabeth Miller, Dr. Lynn Klassen, and Dr. Sarah Wulkan.

Weight gain? Hot flashes? Poor sleep? We offer comprehensive thyroid and hormone testing to identify hormonal imbalances, correcting them using bioidentical hormone treatments or herbal support

Are you or your child affected by learning difficulties or cognitive problems? We offer testing and treatment for conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, Alzheimers disease and dementia, and ADD/ADHD. Our Clinical Counsellor also offers support forparents of children with autism and spectrum disorders

The clinic is conveniently located along Marine Drive in North Vancouver with plenty of free parking and direct access to public transit. Come in, relax, enjoy a cup of tea and read a magazine in our spa-like environment. At Marine Drive Naturopathic Clinic, your treatment begins the minute you walk in the door

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Clinic North Vancouver | Bioidentical Hormone Treatments

Medical Weight Loss Programs

If you consider yourself overweight, odds are that you have tried diet and exercise routines but have, at some point, found them lacking in terms of results.

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The thyroid is the master gland in the body, and it can significantly impact weight gain, as well as the immune system, fertility, motivation and other important aspects

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Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach. The pancreas contains clusters of cells called islets. Beta cells within the islets make insulin and release it into the blood.

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PCOS is a weight gaining condition that can manifest in numerous ways. As such, the females who experience this condition almost never have the same combination

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Migraine headaches in women usually go hand in hand with other female problems like PMS, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, irregular and painful periods cystic acne, facial hair, infertility, post-partum depression and various cancers

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Does the HCG really work for weight loss ? absolutely it does. But with new web sites appearing daily offering a wide range of HCG diet products, from prescription shots to homeopathic supplements

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Hormone replacement therapy is not a necessity for everyone, though. The professionals at Medical Weight Loss certainly offer this treatment to all clients who would benefit from it.

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The pure biologically identical (human identical) hormone is either extracted from plants or synthetically manufactured. What is most important

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Last Updated Sep 5, 2017 2:06 PM EDT

Along with the announcement that Britain's Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting their third child, the couple revealed that for the third time as with her previous two pregnancies the former Kate Middleton is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe morning sickness.

Hyperemesis gravidarum is estimated to affect about one to three percent of pregnant women and can result in nausea and vomiting so acute that hospitalization is required. It is thought to be caused by pregnancy hormones, but doctors aren't sure why some women experience worse symptoms than others.

The condition usually begins in the early weeks of pregnancy and in many cases, subsides by about 20 weeks. But for some women, the effects may persist until the baby is born.

The condition can be "absolutely devastating," said Dr. Roger Gadsby of Warwick University, who has studied the issue for decades. "Your life is on hold while the symptoms are present," he said, noting that some pregnant women may vomit dozens of times per day and be restricted to bed rest.

Kensington Palace made the pregnancy announcement Monday, saying the duchess was not feeling well enough to attend an official engagement later in the day. Kate is being cared for at her Kensington Palace home in London. Officials did not announce when the baby is due, but the duchess is believed to be less than 12 weeks pregnant.

She and Prince William already have two children: Prince George, 4 and Princess Charlotte, 2.

At a public appearance in Oxford on Tuesday, William said the royal couple is happily anticipating baby No. 3.

"It's very good news," he said, adding, "It's always a bit anxious to start with, but yeah she's very good."

In 2012, Kate was hospitalized for several days when she was believed to be suffering from dehydration during her first pregnancy.

"People can get dehydrated very quickly so [a woman] might need to come in after a day or two," Dr. Jeff Chapa, head of the section of maternal fetal medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, explained to CBS News at the time.

Chapa said virtually all pregnant women experience some degree of morning sickness during the first three months of pregnancy, which is caused by the release of HCG hormone from the placenta. But if a woman can't keep anything down down and feels particularly weak, those are signs that she may need to get evaluated by a doctor for hyperemesis gravidarum.

There is no evidence that the nausea and vomiting from severe morning sickness will affect the baby's future health. Women with the condition actually have a slightly lower risk of miscarriage, according to Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

In severe cases, however, babies can be born with lower than expected birthweight. Women with the condition are advised to eat small meals often, to avoid any foods or smells that trigger symptoms and to consult their midwife or doctor if their symptoms do not subside.

If treatment requires hospitalization, women are typically given vitamins, steroids and anti-nausea drugs intravenously. Patients are also sometimes treated with shots of heparin, to thin their blood: pregnant women are at increased risk of developing blood clots in their legs, and being dehydrated further elevates the risk.

Gadsby said he would expect doctors to be able to treat the duchess at Kensington Palace and that there shouldn't be any lasting effects. She would likely have to cut back on her royal schedule, though.

"As long as the mom receives adequate treatment, the mom is usually fine and the baby is fine," he said.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Kate's morning sickness probably not dangerous, doctors say - CBS News

If you are travelling by bus or sitting at a doctors clinic, you will see kids playing games on mobiles. The other day I saw my cousins kid spending around 2 hours just sitting on a couch watching videos and playing on phone. If the phone is not available then spending time on acomputer or videos games or television is what most kids resort to. Going outdoors to play is a far fetched idea. One reason why constant exposure to screen or screen-based activities is a really bad idea is that it can impair the brain function and health. Dr Jyoti Chawla, Senior Consultant Paediatrics, Paras Panchkula says that reducing screen-based activities can help to rebalance brain chemistry and improve its function. It is important for children in the modern age to have controlled exposure to screens, in particular through video games, television and now mobile phones. Here are a few reasons why reducing screen based activities in kids is good for the brain health. Here are4 tips to stop your child from watching too much TV.

1. Ensures healthy hormone balance:It is seen the spending time on screen or doing related activities trigger dopamine release, which is the hormone majorly responsible for activating addiction pathways. However, reducing the screen time can help balance the hormones melatonin, which is a hormone essential for good health and well-being. Melatonin also gets converted to serotonin, a hormone necessary for calmness, a sense of well-being, and bonding, and it influences mood and social behaviour.

2. Improves blood flow to the frontal lobe: Critical thinking, creative activities, and sports improve frontal lobe blood flow, whereas screen activities tend to localize blood flow to the more primitive areas of the brain. This is not only bad for adultsbut also for children. These shifts in the blood flow can be devastating over time and may impact the development of the brain permanently. Read about whats the right age to give your child a smartphone?

3. Reduces stress hormones: Screen activities are associated with the stress response. This means fight-or-flight hormones are released in the short term, and cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone, is increased over time. Both of these hormonal trends are linked to cognitive, mood and behavioural issues as well as poor physical health.

4. Reduces overstimulation: The brain is not meant to be bombarded with unnatural visual stimulation such as overly bright and intense colors, rapidly shifting scenes, excessive movement, plus the brightness of the screen itself. Moreover, it is also not meant to process man-made electromagnetic fields, which is the case when you spend most of the time on screen. Hence, reducing thescreen exposure can help you to lower the overstimulation to the brain and improve your overall well being.

Also read about reasons why your child is not sleeping tonight!

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Published: September 4, 2017 3:00 pm

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4 reasons you should limit your kid's screen exposure - TheHealthSite

Although a fracture is the first sign of osteoporosis, some older people develop the characteristic stooped - bent forward - posture, which can cause people to lose height.

Height is lost as the bone crumbles and vertebrae collapses, and the chest and abdomen capacity decreases, sometimes resulting in difficulty breathing as the ribs end up touching the pelvic bone.

When the bones in the spine have fractured, it can be difficult to support the weight of the body.

However, now a London-based clinic has revealed that a treatment programme can reverse some of the height lost through the common age-related bone disorder.

The London Osteoporosis Clinic uses a combination of drug-therapy, non-drug treatments and lifestyle approaches to help patients.

Anne Torry, a 75-year-old bookkeeper, said her height increased by 3cm following treatment at the clinic.

Unbeknownst to me, I actually managed to fracture two discs in my back getting out of the car in a hurry one day; after dealing with the discomfort and niggling pain for a while, my GP organised an x-ray which showed the fractures, said Anne.

It came as somewhat of a surprise, particularly when my GP suggested that I may have osteoporosis.

I waited patiently for the results, not for a minute thinking that they would be positive.

I was again taken aback when I was told that the fractures were due to osteoporosis and that I would benefit from undergoing treatment.

Anne is among a number of patients at London Osteoporosis Clinic whose treatment programme included the parathyroid hormone Teriparatide, one of the only drugs that can not onlyslow down the progression of osteoporosis, but also help to grow new bone.

Annes bone density is showing an improvement of over 10 per cent per year since starting treatment.

My GP referred me to the London Osteoporosis Clinic, and I met with Dr Taher Mahmud, she said. From the outset, he reassured me and was certain that he could help me.

Even so, when I discovered that I had regained the three centimetres in height that Id lost to osteoporosis, I was amazed. It was the last thing I was expecting.

My day to day life has improved through the treatment programme, and I am now able to live a reasonably comfortable life, managing jobs that may before have been a little more difficult.

The biggest surprise, however, was definitely the increase in my height!

Following a consultation with Dr Mahmud, a diagnosis will be made by examining the results of a bone density (DEXA) scan.

Depending on the stage and severity of osteoporosis, a treatment plan will be put in place, which can range from advice on lifestyle, such as giving up smoking and diet to several drug options, including an 18 to 24 month course of daily injections, prescribed to stimulate cells that create new bone, increasing bone density and replace height lost through the deterioration of bone.

The clinic was co-founded by Dr Taher Mahmud whose mother had osteoporosis. Dr Mahmud co-founded London Osteoporosis Clinic with former General Medical Council president, Sir Graeme Catto.

Initially we thought that Annes increase in height was an anomaly; we didnt expect it to be a regular occurrence in our patients, said Dr Mahmud.

However, in the last week alone, I have seen three further patients who have gained between one and three centimetres in height over the course of one to six months.

My vision was to create a clinic that deals with osteoporosis holistically, and that intervenes early with regards to diagnosis and treatment of this potentially debilitating condition.

Dr Mahmud said more than 8 million osteoporotic fractures occur worldwide- which equates to one every three seconds.

It is not a well-known fact that osteoporosis can be reversed, bone density can be increased, height can be restored and life can go on.

OSTEOPOROSIS RISK FACTORS REVEALED

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Osteoporosis cure? Woman reveals THIS treatment has REVERSED her symptoms - Express.co.uk

Every woman experiences the menopause differently, but many just aren't prepared for the range of symptoms and emotions this life shift can involve.

Oestrogen is the main hormone that reduces during the menopause. It affects many different areas of your body including your brain, so can cause many symptoms when its levels start to naturally fall. And these signs might occur even if you're still having periods. This time, called the perimenopause, can last for several years. It means many women won't make the connection to their hormones and end up suffering in silence.

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Dr Louise Newson, a GP who specialises in menopause (and runs a regular private menopause clinic at Parkway Hospital in Solihull), is passionate that this needs to change. She says she is often disappointed about how little accurate information there is for women to learn about the menopause. Which seems silly, considering it's something that's going to happen to all of them.

"Ten years ago if I'd had this conversation I would have said "oh, apart from night sweats and hot flushes, there's not that many other symptoms" but now I've seen hundreds and hundreds of women all telling me about all these other symptoms related to their changing hormone levels. And it's 2017 and many women are having rubbish lives because of it. And it doesn't have to be like this," she says.

Dr Newson wants women to know they're not alone. Here she explains the unexpected symptoms the menopause can cause:

It's often the symptoms people can't see that lead to the most difficulties, says Dr Newson.

Feelings of depression and low self-esteem, anxiety and panic attacks are very common symptoms of the menopause, she reveals. She has seen loads of women who have wrongly been prescribed antidepressants. Many also become fearful of everyday scenarios, she explains:

"I hear from a lot of women who find they're too scared to go into their car or they don't like their husband's driving anymore. They'll say they just worry about things they've never really worried about before."

Anxiety and depression symptoms can be debilitating and impact on work and family life. If you're experiencing anything similar, you should see your doctor.

Think the menopause will finally mean you're free from PMS? Not necessarily unfortunately, says Dr Newson. It's not uncommon for mood swings to appear during this time which can have a big impact on relationships.

"People tell me how cross they get - fed up with their children and fed up with their husbands. They often don't want their partner touching them. When women get better they realise how bad-tempered they've been and how hard it's been for their partner to live with them."

GettyThomas Barwick

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It might not be too surprising to learn that sleep becomes harder during perimenopause and menopause. Night sweats are common, of course. But even if you don't experience those, you might be more tired than normal and put it down to an exhausting life perhaps you have a stressful job, or grown up children giving you grief?

Dr Newson says if you can't get through the day without needing a nap, that's a sign you might need some help.

"A lot of people think they're tired because they have a new job or their children are stressing them out. I know myself when I was having symptoms I felt so tired and I just blamed it on work. And now I'm doing more work and I'm less tired! A lot of women tell me they literally come home from work and go straight to bed. Or they have a nap in the afternoon but they've never told anyone because they think it's just what happens when you get a bit older, which is awful," she says.

Falling oestrogen levels affect the joints in numerous ways making movement feel stiffer and more painful for some people. But many women will be misdiagnosed with arthritis when it's likely related to depleting hormones. It also means women are likely to stop exercising, even if they used to enjoy it before, potentially making other symptoms worse, says Dr Newson.

We're not very good at talking about bladders, but if you're going through the menopause or perimenopause, you might find you're getting up more frequently to pee in the night or even experiencing bladder weakness. Dr Newson explains it's because oestrogen affects the pelvic floor and bladder too.

"Often someone just wouldn't think to trouble the doctor because everyone knows your bladder gets a little bit weaker as you get older. And it's embarrassing if you cough and sneeze and get a little bit of wee in your pants. You likely wouldn't talk to your friends about it, even though your friends are probably suffering the same."

Dr Newson's advice is clear, if you're experiencing any of these symptoms, there are a range of treatment options, so make an appointment with your GP.

Dr Louise Newson has been working with Menopause & Me - a new website dedicated to supporting women throughout their menopause journeys.

Excerpt from:
5 unexpected symptoms of the menopause every woman needs to know about - Netdoctor

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Obesity is a predominantly genetic disease, rather than a lifestyle choice thats the central premise of a new SBS show calledThe Obesity Myth.

The show, which followed doctors and patients at the University of Melbournes Austin Health forsix months, aimsto dispel the stigma attached to obesity.

Austin Healths Weight Control Clinic head professor Joseph Proietto says obese people face constant discrimination.

There is a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation about obesity in the community its an injustice, he says.Gluttony is seen as sinful, and to commit a sin you have to use free will. So the idea has been that people choose to be fat.

The world-renowned obesity management expert says he hopes the program will show obesity is far more complicated than generallythought.

Recent research has revealed how the body regulates weight through the hormones leptin (which decreases appetite) and ghrelin (which increases it). Whenpeople lose weight, their leptin levels decreaseand their ghrelin levels increase.

In 2011, Austin Health discovered levels of otherhormones also change according to weight gain or loss, and that those changes are enduring. Proiettosays this evidence points strongly to weight gain being genetic.

Finding that hormone changes after weight loss are long-lasting showed us that medication needs to be life-long, he says. Obesity is a chronic condition.

In 2014, another of the clinics studies showed the rate of weight loss did not affect how quickly weight was regained, and that more people succeeded in a rapid weight-loss program than a gradual program.

Professor Joseph Proietto. Photo: SBS

To combat obesity in patients, the clinics physicians conduct a thorough history and targeted examination, then offer a partial, very-low-energy diet thatreplaces breakfast and lunch.

After theyve lost all the weight they want to lose, whether it takes three months, six months or a year, then we wean them off the diet and back onto things like carbs and fruit, Proietto says.

A dietician will outlinea balanced, energy-reduced diet, and the clinic will continue to follow the patientsprogress. If theyre struggling to keep weight off because of increased hunger, medication is prescribed.

Proietto hopes the clinics research intoobesity will become common knowledge.

GPs are getting better at treating this condition than they used to be, he says. Hopefully they will continue to educate the public to try to dispel this myth.

If youre struggling with obesity Proietto says not to beat yourself around the head, because its probably genetic. He suggests seeking medical assistance.

Speak to your doctor about it, and see if you can get some help, he says.

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SBS show The Obesity Myth is breaking down stigma - The Weekly Review

ROCHESTER, Minn Mayo Clinic researchers say women just entering menopause can get better sleep with the help of low-dose hormone therapy.

The study, published in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society suggests 40 to 60 percent of women have issues with sleep and experiences hot flashes and night sweats. This could ultimately lead to further health related problems down the road.

Poor sleep quality over time affects more than just mood, says Virginia Miller, Ph.D., director of Mayo Clinics Womens Health Research Center and the studys corresponding author. Sleep deprivation can lead to cardiovascular disease, among other health risks. There can be serious consequences mental and physical if youre not getting quality sleep over a long period of time.

To ease the symptoms of menopause, researchers looked at two different forms of hormone therapy: oral estrogen and the estrogen patch.

When compared to the placebo group, the participants taking low-dose hormone therapy reported getting better sleep over a four-year period. Researchers said thats twice the improvement of their peers.

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Low-dose hormone therapy improves sleep for newly menopausal women - wreg.com

Anxiety is seen as a psychological condition, but the causes of anxiety are far more complex. Anxiety can be caused muscle energy - you can genuinely get mental stresses simply because you're not moving your muscles enough. Anxiety can also be caused by nutrition. Anxiety can be caused by thousands of different things.

So it should come as no surprise that hormonal imbalances may cause anxiety as well. The term "hormonal imbalance" has a variety of meanings, but it's also very clear that it can lead to anxiety.

Hormone activity is responsible for a variety of physical and psychological reactions, including anxiety. Anxiety can also affect hormones. Take our free 7 minute anxiety test to score your anxiety symptoms, compare it to others, and find treatment ideas.

Start the anxiety test here.

"Hormonal Imbalance" can be an incredibly broad term - one that in some ways doesn't have a specific meaning. For example, it's possible that your body releases too much thyroid hormone which may trigger panic attacks. It's also possible that stress is causing too much cortisol production, which leads to further anxiety symptoms.

Start by taking my 7 minute anxiety test, since it will give you a snapshot of your anxiety symptoms that can help be used to treat them. Take it here now if you haven't yet.

The key thing to understand about your hormones is that they are responsible for nearly every process in your body, and your body gets used to a very specific amount of each hormone. Any changes in your hormones may create anxiety, for example:

Anxiety is complex enough that it's even possible for stress and anxiety to cause hormonal imbalances that lead to further stress and anxiety. Hormonal imbalances are an issue that can be physical and natural, or caused by stress, or both, and no matter what causes it can lead to anxiety.

It would be impossible to go over each and every example of a hormonal imbalance. Your body has dozens of hormones and many more types of sub-hormones within those hormone groups, and in some ways any imbalance has the potential to lead to anxiety because any imbalance can lead to physical responses that create stress. But a few examples of these hormonal imbalances include:

These are just a few examples of hormonal imbalances that may cause anxiety.

Interestingly, while there is no doubt that hormone problems can cause anxiety and stress, in many cases it is believed that what most hormonal imbalances do is not create anxiety necessarily, but rather make anxiety worse.

This is especially the case with the menstrual cycle. Experts believe that most women that experience anxiety as a result of menstruation often have lower levels of anxiety before their periods, and then when their period comes the changes in emotional sensitivity may lead to strong anxiety sensations.

Hormonal imbalances can affect both men and women, and hormonal imbalances can cause anxiety even if no anxiety is present. But it is likely that many of those suffering from hormonal issues have anxiety or stress already, possibly in a lesser form, and that eventually is what creates further anxiety when hormones are unbalanced.

When hormonal imbalances cause anxiety, curing it completely can be tough. In some cases, you may need to seek out professional assistance, especially if a condition is causing the hormonal issues, such as those caused by the thyroid.

But even if your hormones are causing your anxiety, anxiety reduction tips can still successfully help you cope with that anxiety, and in some cases once your anxiety is reduced, your hormones may even go back to normal.

Hormonal changes can be a problematic anxiety culprit, because they generally can't be cured overnight. If you're suffering from a hormonal imbalance, then you are also likely in need of some type of hormonal care.

There are many things you can do that will help your hormones stay regulated. There are also some herbal remedies that may be useful, depending on the type of condition you have.

The good news is that you can still treat anxiety even if your hormones are causing it, because anxiety is still mental health related, and your own mental strength can help you recover.

I've helped thousands of people with hormonal imbalances overcome their anxiety. As always, I tell them that the most important place to start is with my 7 minute anxiety test. It's a free test that will give you an incredibly valuable snapshot of your anxiety, which you can then use to seek out the right treatment.

If you haven't yet, take the test now.

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How Can a Hormone Imbalance Cause Anxiety? - Calm Clinic

Menopause is a challenging time for many women as hormonal changes can create a cascade of physical and mental health issues. Notably, experts explain that between 40 and 60 percent of women in perimenopause and early menopause face issues with sleep because of this physical change.

The majority also report hot flashes and night sweats, which can be disruptive to falling and staying asleep. Sleep deprivation can influence mood and also increase the risk for serious physical health conditions.

In a new study, researchers from the Mayo Clinic found that low-dose hormone therapy may be effective in easing sleep issues in this population. The goal of the study was twofold: find out how two forms of hormone therapy affect sleep quality and assess the ties between hot flashes, sleep quality and hormone therapy.

The study appears in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.

Poor sleep quality over time affects more than just mood, said Virginia Miller, Ph.D., director of Mayo Clinics Womens Health Research Center and the studys corresponding author.

Sleep deprivation can lead to cardiovascular disease, among other health risks. There can be serious consequences mental and physical if youre not getting quality sleep over a long period of time.

The study looked at two forms of hormone therapy oral estrogen (conjugated equine estrogen) and a patch (17 beta-estradiol) to find out how their use affected sleep quality.

The participants were part of the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study, and all were recently menopausal women. The women self-reported on the quality of their sleep using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. They also recorded the intensity of hot flashes and night sweats during this time.

Study participants were found to have improved sleep quality over four years when using low-dose hormone therapy twice the improvement of those in the placebo group.

Researchers also found that sleep quality improved with changes in hot flashes and night sweats, but Miller said it remains difficult to determine if the low sleep quality is caused by these symptoms or if they are a consequence of poor sleep.

Menopause affects such a large portion of the population, so it is important to keep researching how we can best promote a womans overall health during this phase in her life, Miller said.

Source: Mayo Clinic

Related Articles

APA Reference Nauert PhD, R. (2017). Parsing Hormone Therapies, Hot Flashes and Sleep in Menopausal Women. Psych Central.Retrieved on August 31, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/08/30/parsing-hormone-therapies-hot-flashes-and-sleep-in-menopausal-women/125332.html

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Parsing Hormone Therapies, Hot Flashes and Sleep in Menopausal Women - PsychCentral.com

Image for representational purpose only.

WASHINGTON D.C.: A low-dose hormone therapy may be effective enough in treating women with sleep issues during perimenopause and early menopause, finds a recent study.

The findings indicated that the women improved sleep quality over four years when using a low-dose hormone therapy twice the improvement of those in the placebo group.

The study's corresponding author, Virginia Miller, from Mayo Clinic's Women's Health Research Center in Minnesota, United States said that poor sleep quality over time affects more than just mood.

Between 40 and 60 per cent of women in peri-menopause and early menopause face issues with sleep because of this physical change and the majority also reports hot flashes and night sweats, which can be disruptive to falling and staying asleep.

"Sleep deprivation can lead to cardiovascular diseases, among other health risks. There can be serious consequences -- mental and physical -- if you're not getting quality sleep over a long period of time, Miller added.

The goal of the study was two-fold to find out how two forms of the hormone therapy affect the sleep quality and assess the ties between hot flashes, sleep quality and hormone therapy.The team looked at two forms of the hormone therapy one oral estrogen (conjugated equine estrogen) and a patch (17 beta-estradiol) to find out how their use affected sleep quality.The participants were a part of the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study and all were recently menopausal women.

The women self-reported on the quality of their sleep using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.They also recorded the intensity of hot flashes and night sweats during this time.They also found that sleep quality improved with changes in hot flashes and night sweats.The study appeared in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.

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Hormone therapy improves sleep quality in recently menopausal women - The New Indian Express

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Transgender people will be able to access specialist healthcare in Wales at a new gender identity clinic to be built in Cardiff.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said there had been an increase in demand for services.

The clinic will be supported by a network of GPs, who have a specialist interest in gender care, including hormone replacement therapy.

Equality charity Stonewall Cymru said it was a "big step forward".

Currently, transgender patients in Wales are referred to the Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) in London, adding to the time and cost it takes to access healthcare.

The Welsh Government hopes the new service would mean less travelling, improved waiting times and better user experience.

It will also ensure current clinic capacity is freed up for those requiring more specialised services, as well as shortening the steps between initial referral and beginning treatment.

Crash Wigley, policy and campaigns officer for Stonewall Cymru, said getting the clinic had been a "long fight" for patients to access "potentially lifesaving care" in Wales.

"Before this there was no provision of gender identity services in Wales, so in order to access the care that people needed they had to go through a complicated referral procedure," she told BBC Radio Wales.

"You are talking about having to wait over a year in order to get your referral made.

"One of the things we know is that when people are denied access to care for such long periods of time, as they have in Wales, that takes a significant toll on people's mental health and wellbeing."

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Mr Gething said the service, run by the Welsh Gender Team (WGT), was part of the Welsh Government's commitment to "improving health and wellbeing for all".

He added: "All but the most specialist services will soon be delivered in Wales, closer to people's homes, which will improve access and experience for people needing care.

"I look forward to seeing great improvements to those services."

An interim service is due to be launched in the autumn and the WGT will accept new referrals from the end of March 2018.

The new clinic will initially prescribe medication for Welsh patients undergoing treatment at the GIC, but the unit will also be able to treat those who are currently on waiting lists in London.

Any Welsh patient who prefers to continue their treatment in London will be able to do so.

Alongside the new service, the All Wales Gender Identity Partnership Group will develop a full gender identity service and referral pathway.

Group member Jack Jackson: "I'm delighted to be able to be part of the process and hope I can make some contribution and improve things for the future of transgender services and people in Wales."

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Wales' first transgender healthcare clinic set for Cardiff - BBC News

In a taupe-walled exam room at the Womens Community Clinic in San Francisco, lead clinician Lisa Mihaly plucks a small laminated card from a cabinet. Tethered to the card are three T-shaped IUDs, or intrauterine devicesforms of birth control that are, as the name implies, inserted into a womans uterus to prevent pregnancy for up to 12 years. Mihaly points to each device like friends in a group photo: Paragard, with its thin bands of copper coiled around a white plastic trunk and two arms at attention; Mirena, the first hormonal IUD available in the US; and Skyla, an IUD designed for women who have never had children. But theres one option missing, Mihaly says: a newer model called Liletta.

Liletta, which arrived in the clinics inventory this summer, is a small device that manufacturers hope will make a big difference. Public clinics pay a wholesale price of $336 to $400 for each of the IUDs on Mihalys card. Add in doctors visits for placement and the total cost can exceed $1,000. Liletta's manufacturer hopes to see a wholesale price for public clinics as low as $50.

Price point matters, possibly more than ever before. Under the Affordable Care Act, women rarely pay full price for an IUD because of provisions requiring insurers to fully cover at least one option from each of the 18 FDA-approved birth control methods. But when Donald Trump took office on a promise to repeal the ACA, IUD insertion rates soared as women sought long-term contraceptive solutions.

Though the ACA is safe for now, The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the Trump administration is planning to roll back the birth control requirement, allowing employers to demur based on religious or moral objections. And affordable, accessible birth control will always be a public health concern. In April, Trump signed a law giving states more freedom to restrict their spending of federal money from the Title X program, which supports the clinics that care for women with Medicaid, or no insurance at all, at lower cost.

Politics and pricing aside, the IUD has experienced something of a revival in the United States. For years a negative narrative dogged the devicesin the 1980s, the Dalkon Shield caused infections and even deaths. But new, safe models, including Paragard and Mirena, made it to market and the mainstream. Since 2002, the number of American women using IUDs has roughly doubled every four years. But it remains low, internationally speakingjust 8 percent of reproductive-age American women use an IUD, compared to 20 percent of Belgians and nearly 70 percent of South Koreansbut the trend continues upward.

And why not? The IUD is among the most effective contraceptives, preventing pregnancy in 99 percent of women who use it over the course of a year. The levonorgestrel in hormonal IUDs stops ovulation or thins the uterine lining, so eggs are less likely to implant, and the physical presence of a foreign object often thickens cervical mucus enough to stop sperm. Plus, theyre inserted once and last for years. Theres no room for error. You cant forget to take it, or forget to get the resupplies, says Cynthia Harper, a reproductive health researcher at UCSF. Just set it and forget it.

While many women have now heard of IUDs, few know about Lilettapartly because it's produced by Medicines360, a San Francisco nonprofit edging into a product category long dominated by Bayer, the pharmaceutical giant that makes three of the four hormonal IUDs available in the US. When Mirena received FDA approval in 2000, there wasnt a single other hormonal IUD available in the US. It remained the only option until 2013, when Bayer released Skyla, a model specific for nulliparous women. And in 2016a year after Lilleta earned FDA approvalthe company released its third hormonal IUD, Kyleena.

Bayers IUDs netted the company $900 million in the US in 2016, and theyve been among the companys 15 best-selling drugs for the past decade. It's a big businessand it doesnt look like that will change anytime soon.

Bayer has created a suite of IUDs that target women with different birth control needs: Skyla has a three-year lifetime and lower hormone levels, while Mirena and Kyleena are approved for five-year use with slightly higher doses of hormones. And Skyla and Kyleenas smaller size is aimed at women who havent had children.

The differences arent strictly clinical, though. The timing of Bayers product releases also allowed the company to keep its own patent-protected devices on the market. Drug patents typically last 20 years from the day a company files its application. With IUDs specifically, which bundle a drug (the body of the IUD) with a device (the inserter a doctor uses to place it), there are two ways to restart the patent clock: bring a new IUD through clinical trials or design a new inserter.

So in 2010, Bayer put two new IUDsthen experimental LCS16 and LCS12, now Skyla and Kyleenainto a clinical trial in Europe, North America, and South America. The company could have run each trial for five years so the new offerings would match Mirenas efficacy, but it finalized Skylas data at three, releasing it in 2013, before Mirenas patent ran out in 2015. Kyleena stayed in the same trial for two more years, receiving FDA approval in 2016.

Bayer has made other moves to maintain its market dominance. In 2014, the year before Mirenas first patent expired, the FDA established guidelines for studies to approve a generic form of the device, as it does for many drugs. The agency later withdrew the guidelines, but proposed spending up to $250,000 in grant money for researchers to find ways to evaluate drug equivalence of generic versions of Mirena. In response, Bayer submitted a citizen petition to the FDA, a 10-page statement urging the agency to require that proposed generics undergo comprehensive clinical testing rather than lab experiments to prove equivalence. The company submitted the petition one day before Mirenas patent expiration date.

Citizen petitions allow ordinary people to have input on health policy, but drug companies have historically employed them to discourage generic drug production, says Michael Carrier, an intellectual property lawyer at Rutgers Law School. The petitions are all carefully consideredsafety concerns are nothing to ignorebut the FDA ultimately denies many of the requests that large companies submit. If it really were about safety, Carrier says, then why is the company waiting until the very end?

Bayers petition mentions that the company has been waiting patiently for the FDA to update the guidelines for testing generic forms of the Mirena IUD, and the long timeline has led them to submit a citizen petition. The FDA hasnt issued a final response to Bayers citizen petition, and the agency keeps any inquiries about making a generic product confidential. Bayer did not respond to questions by press time.

Like Mirena, Liletta doesnt have patent protection on its IUD body. And Liletta is closely modeled after the Mirena, although technically its not a generic. Its a hybrid new drug, different enough from Mirena to stand on its own but similar enough to simplify the clinical trials that earned it FDA approval.

Lilettas IUD body was developed in the late 1990s, when Mirena was first approved in Europe. Jean Michel Foidart, an ob-gyn at the University of Liege, in Belgium, loved the concept of the hormonal IUD, but not the cost. The IUD itself is just a tiny piece of plastic, less than a tenth of a gram of hormones, and two small strings for removal. So Foidart figured he and his lab could create a much cheaper alternative. They mimicked Mirenas T-shape and dosed their model with the same hormone, levonorgestrel. An equally effective IUD with a lower price, he hoped, would provide better access to effective birth control.

There appeared to be a need for better and more reliable contraception in the US. In the mid 2000s, American women were largely relying on less-effective birth control methods, says Harper, the health researcher. Half of US pregnancies were unplanned. So in 2009, an anonymous donorsince identified as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which Warren Buffett runs in honor of his late wifefunneled $70 million to Medicines360 to get a lower-cost IUD available in the US.

It was an ambitious undertaking for the tiny company. In 2009, the entire team of Medicines360 consisted of Victoria Hale and then COO Ahvie Herskowitz. They licensed Foidarts IUD for distribution in the US and the developing world, changed the name from Levosert to the more marketable Liletta, and inworked with the pharmaceutical company Watson (which has since become a part of Allergan) for manufacturing.

Having a deep-pocketed benefactor gave Hale and her team the freedom to spend time and money on development. Andrea Olariu, who Medicines360 brought on as VP of clinical affairs in 2011, first called clinicians to understand where they needed helpprofessors at medical schools, MDs, and nurse practitioners. The final version of Liletta, they hoped, would be more affordable, and a better product too.

No one they spoke to raised many complaints about the IUDs. Instead, their feedback focused on insertion. To insert an IUD, a doctor or a nurse uses a wandlike gadget to guide it. A small tube at one end holds a flattened device, so when a nurse threads the tube into the cervix, then nudges the IUD upward, it unfolds into the uterus. The procedure takes just a few minutes, but speed doesnt mean precision. Clinicians found it hard to tell whether an IUD had fully exited an inserter, and complained that straight, rigid guiding tubes didnt accommodate the diverse geometries of uteruses. So Olariu worked alongside an engineer, Robert Deckman, to design and test 10 or so inserter prototypes. The finished product is about a foot long, with a thin handle at one end and the floppy tube that contains the IUD at the other. It makes like a little dome, says Jessica Grossman, who took over as Medicines360s CEO in 2015, so when you insert it into the cervix it doesn't cause trauma, and then you deploy the IUD in the uterus by pulling down on this, she says, pressing a small slider down with her thumb. The IUD exits the insertion tube with an audible clickso a nurse, who cant see whats happening, knows insertion took place.

With a finalized device in hand, Medicines360 was ready for the trickiest part of its process: clinical trials.

In 2009, Olariu cast a wide net as she began to enroll patients in Lilettas phase 3 safety trial. In 2000, Mirena was approved based on data from Finland and Sweden, and she hoped to include a wider range of patients in Medicines360s trial in America. Our goal was, as much as we could, to mirror the US population, Olariu says.

They extended their age range to include women between 16 and 45, rather than the typical 18 to 35 demographic of contraceptive studies, to recruit more women who had never given birth. And by enrolling 2,000 women from 27 cities around the country, their enrollment reflected the US census pretty closely. Roughly a quarter of participants were overweight or obese women, who often are excluded from these trials as researchers are uncertain of how weight might affect response to hormones.

Liletta received FDA approval for three-year use in February 2015, two months after Bayer submitted its citizen petition to require stringent testing for any generic versions of Mirena. The unresolved petition never caused Liletta any trouble, as its a unique drugthe Liletta IUD releases a slightly different amount of hormone per day (18.6 micrograms to Mirenas 20), and has a custom-designed inserter.

In rolling clinical trials, Liletta has now been approved for four years of contraception, and Medicines360 will submit their data for five-year approval soon. More than 600 clinics stock Liletta, and in two years theyve provided nearly a hundred thousand patients with IUDs, Grossman says. The difference with Liletta is that its much cheaper than the other IUDs, says Kristyn Brandi, an ob-gyn from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

With more options becoming available, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists maintains that IUDs are one of many good birth control options. There are clearly differences between hormonal and copper IUDs, and even some differences in lower and higher doses of levonorgestrel. But smaller sizing, one of the marketing points for Bayers latest releases, might not make as much of a difference for the majority of women. Some women like the idea that a smaller IUD might be less painful on insertion, but in general all the IUDs are well tolerated, Brandi says.

Lilettas approval might open a faster, easier, and cheaper route to an IUD, particularly for women who are uninsured, as many of the patients who Lisa Mihaly sees are. But the women sitting in the Womens Community Clinic waiting room, like other women around the country, might still lean toward the other options. Say your sister has Mirena, and your best friend uses Skyla, and you see an ad for Kyleena as youre flipping through a magazine while you wait. Its going to be hard to opt for the unfamiliar Liletta. And Medicines360s nonprofit budget doesnt provide for an advertising campaign like the one Bayer once used to offer a free yoga class alongside Break Up With The Pill messaging at Canadian universities.

Since Lilettas initial approval in 2015, Mihaly still hasnt had a patient ask directly for a Liletta IUD. But the devices are in stock, and shes trained to place one as soon as someone is interested. I'm excited that Liletta exists, and that there's another option, she says, because we have, really when you think about it, so few.

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The IUD That Gives Women Options - WIRED

Q: Im still getting blackheads in my 50s. What can I do?

A: Many think acne is predominantly a teenage condition, but it peaks at two times in our lives. We see a lot of acne in the teen years with the first rush of hormones into the system. But we also see acne affecting people in their 40s and 50s, often around the mouth. Again, later outbreaks are related to hormones (from menopause, for example).

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services.Policy

When you come to see a dermatologist, he or she will assess your acne. If it appears to be hormone-related, we may treat it with hormonal therapy, prescribingcommon oral contraceptive drugs or a drug like spironolactone. If the acne is severe, we may prescribe oral tretinoin or isotretinoin products.

However, the majority of acne can be controlled with topical medications, including:

Some over-the-counter products that contain alpha or beta hydroxy acids (like glycolic acid or salicylic acid) are also very helpful.

Also, as stress willdefinitely aggravate any skin condition, modifying the stress in your life as much as you canand adopting healthy stress management habits will help your skin condition.

Dermatologist Christine Poblete-Lopez, MD

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I'm in My 50s and Still Get Acne What Can I Do? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic (blog)

(WXYZ) - Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic wanted to know if drinking from a garden hose was safe.

It's something people have done for years. But, it looks like it carries some serious risks.

"Probably the biggest risk is some of the chemicals that are in the water itself. Many garden hoses are not made for drinking water and so they'll release lead, they will release different chemicals in the plastics, much like a lot of the plastics that have been banned in kids' products," Dr. Dan Allan said.

Some of those chemicals include BPA or PVC, poly vinyl chloride.

Allan says that ingesting these chemicals can increase your risk of cancer, hormone problems or neurological problems, and can even affect development in children.

If you can't seem to avoid drinking from the garden hose, you can do take some precautions.

Look for hoses made from polyurethane or natural rubber, which will not release any chemicals. Also, let the water run for a few minutes before you take a drink. It's also important to check the hose fitting.

"If it's brass, that will release a lot of lead and if you run the water for enough time to flush the hose, that first bit of water that was up by the brass fitting is going to be loaded with lead, so you have to let it run for a couple of minutes to make sure you're safe," he added.

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Is drinking from a garden hose safe for children? - WXYZ

New research examining the link between common flame retardant chemicals and fertility rates finds that women with higher levels of the chemicals in their bodies have lower chances of fertilization, pregnancy and live birth compared with women who have low levels of the chemicals in their bodies.

If this finding is confirmed in a larger number of study participants, couples struggling to get pregnant may want to take a second look at their furniture and carpet, experts say, as some of these items tend to have flame retardant components. However, because this is the first study of its kind to find a link between organophosphate flame retardants and fertility outcomes, couples struggling to get pregnant should not worry about getting a new couch or mattress pad to aid conception just yet.

Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recruited 211 women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatments to participate in the study. For each IVF cycle they went through, the women contributed one or two urine samples, and the scientists, led by environmental epidemiologist Courtney Carignan (now of Michigan State University), analyzed the urine for the byproducts of five flame retardant chemicals to estimate how much flame retardant they were exposed to in their everyday life.

The scientists then compared the levels of chemical byproducts to the womens outcomes during IVF and found that the women with the highest levels of three of the chemicals showed a 10 percent decrease in the rate of fertilization, a 31 percent decreased rate of embryo implantation, a 41 percent decreased rate of a clinical pregnancy (when a heartbeat is detected via sonogram) and a 38 percent decreased rate of live birth compared with the women who had the lowest amounts of byproduct in their urine.

Carignan chose to examine women undergoing the IVF process because it was the best way to observe every step of conception and early pregnancy, as opposed to women who conceive naturally and may not know they are pregnant until they are six to eight weeks along. Because of this, Carignan writes in the study, the results are at least generalizable to the population of women seeking treatment at an infertility clinic, and perhaps among all women in general, presuming that their bodies would have the same biological response to these chemicals as the women in the study.

Animal studies suggest that these flame retardant chemicals disrupt the thyroid and sex hormones in animals, as well as harm embryo development.If people want to limit their exposure to these chemicals and theyre due to replace a couch, Carignan suggested looking for furniture that doesnt have flame retardant chemicals, such as furniture with barrier technology or a naturally flame retardant fabric, like leather or wool, that meets flammability standards. She added that while mattresses do not typically contain flame retardants, polyurethane foam mattress pads can.

Other options are carpet-free floors or carpet with padding that isnt made from foam treated with these chemicals. Still, she said she understands these are big purchases that people make only a few times in their life, and many people dont have much choice about the furniture they have. In that case, they should wash their hands often, especially before meals, as Carignans past research has found that people who do this have lower levels of these chemicals in their body.

There are a lot of contributors to infertility, Carignan said. This is just one factor, and people need to be careful not to beat themselves up over these types of exposures.

Still, Carignan takes her research to heart. She waited nine years to upgrade from a futon to a couch because she was waiting for a policy change that allowed furniture without chemical flame retardants to hit the market. She also recently purchased a home, and one of her major concerns was that it be carpet-free, since padding under carpets is often made with recycled foam that is treated with flame retardant chemicals.

I do what I can with the time and the resources that I have, but there are so many things I certainly cant avoid, she said. Thats why we have chemical policies so people dont have to have a Ph.D. in environmental health to be a conscientious consumer.

The organophosphate flame retardants, or PFRs, that Carignan studied have replaced more toxic and long-lasting flame retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, that were phased out in 2004 over concerns about their effects on hormones and neurodevelopment in children.

The good thing about PFRs, Carignan said, is that they clear out of your body in a matter of days, versus years for the older class of flame retardants. However, her research suggests that PFRs may also disrupt the bodys hormone systems and interfere with fertility, and she called for more research on PFRs effects on male fertility and in children.

Dr. Brian Levine, a practice director at CCRM, a nationwide network of fertility clinics, was not involved in the study, but he said its findings were concerning. Still, he would need more corroboration from other kinds of research before he could start mentioning flame retardants to his patients and advising them to avoid them.

As a reproductive endocrinologist, he already counsels infertile patients under his care to avoid processed foods, eat organic fruits and vegetables, exercise moderately and shun alcohol and illicit drugs while theyre undergoing IVF all reasonable lifestyle changes that may help move the needle, even a tiny bit, in an infertile couples favor.

His clinic also takes pains to make sure that embryos in storage are exposed to the least amount of potentially harmful chemicals. No patient or staffer is allowed to wear cologne, perfume or other scented personal products, as they contain chemicals that could disrupt embryo health. Clients are advised to skip nail salons and exposure to paint and paint thinner, and cleaning crews dont use bleach or any agent with volatile organic compounds, which canalso be harmful to embryos.The clinic walls are also painted with low-VOC paint.

Because of the precautions Levine already employs at his clinic, he takes Carignans research seriously. But a single studys results would not be enough for Levine to add flame retardants to the long list of chemicals his patients should try to avoid. Levine wants to know how Carignans participants were exposed to these chemicals. It could be, for instance, that the women with the highest levels spend the most time in their cars and sedentary lifestyles tend to have a negative effect on fertility health. Hypothetical correlations like this need to be worked out before he can tell his patients to start shopping for new furniture.

You have to always wonder about a very small subset, said Levine. Theres only 211 patients, and asking people to remove all the carpet in their house is quite an expensive endeavor.

Carignans research was published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal.

CORRECTION:A previous version of this story suggested that beds are among the furniture items that contain flame retardants. While mattresses typically do not, foam mattress pads may.

Original post:
Flame Retardants Linked To Lower Fertility Rates In Women - HuffPost

PUBLISHED: 14:42 23 August 2017 | UPDATED: 16:02 23 August 2017

Taz Ali

Free fertility roadshow in Kings Lynn on Thursday, August 31 could help improve your chances of having a baby. Picture: Bourn Hall

Bourn Hall

A free event hosted by fertility experts will give couples a chance to find out how they can get fertility fit and boost their chances of conceiving.

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The Bourn Hall Clinic based in Kings Lynn will provide visitors with the opportunity to have an informal chat about their current situation and plans on moving forward.

Specialists from the clinic will offer advice on how a change of lifestyle can enable women to get pregnant without the need for IVF.

Simples measures such as keeping a diary to track ovulation, leading a healthy lifestyle, drinking less alcohol and caffeine and getting more sleep can help couples improve their fertility.

Experts also advise couples to take some time to wind down and enjoy each others company as emotional stress has profound effects on fertility.

Of the 800 couples that have been referred to the clinic since it opened two years ago, almost half have successfully conceived.

Carol Steel, lead specialist fertility nurse at Bourn Hall Clinic, said: 80pc of couples will become pregnant within one year of actively trying to conceive, so if you are still not pregnant after this length of time you should seek advice.

The good news, however, is that there are many things which you can do to improve your chances of conceiving.

The event will be of benefit to anyone who is trying to get pregnant, or thinking about it, whether they are struggling to conceive or not. Couples can also find out about the more common reasons for infertility such as low sperm count, failure to release eggs (ovulate) regularly, fibroids and endometriosis and how to treat them.

The event will take place on Thursday, August 31 at the Knights Hill Hotel, in South Wootton at 6pm.

The evening will include expert presentations and an opportunity to have a private, free mini consultation with a Bourn Hall Clinic fertility nurse specialist.

Norfolk was one of the first counties to provide an integrated fertility service. GPs can refer couples to the Bourn Hall Clinic, in Kings Lynn and Wymondham, for treatment on the NHS.

For more information, visit the Bourn Hall Clinic website.

Simple measures can help couples improve their fertility:

Calculate when you are ovulating and keep a diary - Many people are unaware that there are only around six days each month when you can get pregnant. Your best chance of conceiving is on the day of ovulation, when one of the ovaries releases a ripe egg.

For a woman on a regular 28-day cycle the day of ovulation will be around 14 days after the start of her period but this can vary so it helps to keep a diary.

There are also a number of ovulation prediction kits available which might help.

Drink less alcohol and caffeine and cut out smoking altogether - Smoking harms sperm and can reduce a mans sex drive; in women it affects ovulation and reduces fertility. The best thing would be to to stop completely.

Heavy drinking (more than six units per day) can lower a mans sperm count and affect the health of the sperm so men should really watch their alcohol intake.

Women should ideally avoid alcohol altogether when they are trying to conceive as it can affect a developing foetus and cause birth defects.

In addition it is thought that caffeine affects the fertility level of both men and women so cutting back is a sensible precaution. Caffeine is not just found in tea and coffee but in chocolate and some soft drinks too.

Keep to a healthy weight, eat well and do more exercise - Eating a healthy, balanced diet is good news all round. It helps maintain an ideal body weight, helps to regulate hormones and improves the health of the reproductive system. Excess body fat in men is also a significant cause of low sperm count.

Vitamins C and E and zinc may play key roles in fertility, increasing sperm count and motility (movement) and supporting the female reproductive organs. Foods such as green leafy vegetables, eggs and dairy, nuts, seeds and citrus fruits provide key nutrients.

Doing some exercise every day is key to maintaining a healthy body, helping to burn off excess body fat and reducing the effect of stress on hormone levels. For men it can boost the fertility hormone testosterone, but it is important that women avoid excessive exercise as this can result in irregular periods. Try low-impact activities that you enjoy such as walking, swimming, cycling, pilates and yoga.

Ditch the hard bike seats and keep your cool - For men, overheated testicles can temporarily lower sperm counts, so it is important to avoid saunas, hot baths, sunbathing and tight underwear.

In addition, cycling regularly and for long periods of time on hard bike seats can also reduce fertility through pressure on the perineum, potentially damaging nerves and blood vessels to the genital area. Think about buying yourself a gel seat for your bike to provide more cushioning.

Consider your health - Get some advice about any treatments you might be taking to see if they are affecting your fertility. As well as over-the-counter medicines, some herbal remedies such as St Johns Wort, ginko biloba and Echinacea might have an adverse effect on your fertility.

Take it easy and get more sleep - Getting a good nights sleep of about eight hours a day or more can help men and women optimise their fertility. Not getting enough sleep can have a negative impact on hormone levels and studies of female professionals with sleep deprivation have shown an increase in irregular periods.

Couples should not forget to take the time to wind down and enjoy each others company. Emotional stress has profound effects on fertility, including interfering with the hormones responsible for egg and sperm production.

Read the rest here:
Free fertility roadshow in West Norfolk could help improve your chances of having a baby - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

Celeste McCracken had a choice to make.

She could stay in bed for the rest of her life or get better and make a difference in other peoples lives.

After an illness had her bed-ridden for about seven years, Celeste refused to be a victim to her illness anymore and now has one of the top hair salons in Sand Springs groundfloor salon. And shes only been open since June 1.

I decided to go back to school and get my (cosmetology) license. I didnt want my illness to define me. Ive always wanted to be a hair stylist, but I never took the leap. Well I decided to jump.

Despite being healthy all of her life through ballet and dance, Celeste started gaining weight and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, where her body didnt produce enough of the thyroid hormone. Then, it stopped working all together.

She had her thyroid removed, but the surgeon also removed the parathyroid, which controls the bodys calcium. She had to take synthetic hormones and vitamins, but her body wouldnt absorb them, and she needed eight-hour infusions at least four times a week just to stay alive. Her electrolytes would crash to critical levels, and she also had seizures. She spent the majority of the time at the hospital and couldnt work. When she wasnt at the hospital, she was at home in bed.

However, a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona got her back on track and her medications started working.

Thats when I knew I had to do something. I had to start living again and I wanted to help people, she said.

Going back to school at age 40 wasnt easy, but, for her, cosmetology was easy.

It just clicks with me. Its as easy as making breakfast, she said.

After building a clientele for several years in other towns, Celeste decided to open a salon in Sand Springs, and she said the reception has been amazing.

I wasnt sure at first. We live here and my husband works here, but I didnt know if I could start over in a different town. Well, my fears were put to rest immediately, Celeste said.

She didnt know where she wanted her salon, and she looked at several locations that just werent right. She had one more space to look at, and she knew right away it was the one, but she had help deciding.

When I showed up to look at it, Monte and Betty Box were waiting at the door. I hadnt met Monte before, but my husband had told me about him. We connected right away. He told me this is the place for you, and he was right. Monte and Betty have been amazing, Celeste said.

Located at 401 E. Broadway Court in the Village Square Shopping Center, Celeste specializes in color corrections, womens cuts, mens cuts and childrens cuts.

I think it is my mission to make others look great and feel great about themselves. God gave me a gift and He is the reason I can do this every day. It took a lot of prayer and a lot of hard work, but Im ready to spend the next half of my life being healthy and serving others, she said.

Celeste said she chose the name groundfloor salon because everything has a starting point.

Whether its beauty, faith, your career, relationships, it all starts somewhere. It all starts on the ground floor. It starts here, she said.

Originally posted here:
It all starts at groundfloor salon - Tulsa World

By Mayo Clinic News Network

Removing the normal breast is not required as part of the treatment for your breast cancer. The decision to have a mastectomy on the cancer side and also remove a breast that does not have cancer (the other side) is a very personal one. There are valid reasons some women choose to pursue this surgery. But it will have a long-term effect on your body, so you need to be comfortable with the decision you make.

A mastectomy is surgery that involves removing the majority of breast tissue from a breast as a way to treat or prevent cancer. For cancer prevention, this surgery reduces the risk of developing breast cancer by about 90 to 95 percent. It is not 100 percent because some areas of breast tissue do remain after a mastectomy. Those areas of tissue could develop breast cancer, although the chances of that happening are very small.

When you have a mastectomy to treat cancer in one breast, you could have the breast that does not have cancer removed at the same time. Some women opt to do this because they are anxious about developing cancer in the other breast. But you can also keep the normal breast. Research shows that this decision does not have an impact on overall survival.

Current medical evidence indicates the risk of developing a cancer in the other breast to be reasonably low at about half a percent a year. For women who have hormone therapy after a mastectomy because their tumors are hormone receptor positive, this risk is reduced by about 50 percent.

Certain factors can make a difference in your risk, though. If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or if you have tested positive for a mutation in one of the breast cancer genes, then the chances you will develop cancer in your other breast are significantly higher. Before you make a decision about having a double mastectomy, carefully review your personal risk of breast cancer with your doctor.

If you do not have other factors that raise your risk, there are additional questions to consider. First, if you do have a double mastectomy, are you comfortable with the risks of a more complex and longer operation? Having both breasts removed, rather than just one, increases the possibility of surgical complications such as bleeding and infection.

Second, if you do not have a double mastectomy, are you willing to participate in ongoing monitoring for cancer in your other breast? If you do not have both breasts removed, you will still need regular mammograms once a year on the breast that remains.

Third, how important is it to you that your breasts look similar? If you have one breast reconstructed after a mastectomy, it is unlikely that your remaining breast will match its appearance without some type of cosmetic surgery on the natural breast.

Talk with your doctor about these topics, along with any other concerns or questions you may have. Also, discuss what will happen before, during and after surgery, so you can set your expectations accordingly. Choosing to have a double mastectomy is a big decision. Make sure you are well informed about all the possible benefits and drawbacks for your situation before you move forward. -- Judy C. Boughey, M.D., Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Source: http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tuesday-q-and-a-decision-to-remove-breast-that-does-not-have-cancer-a-personal-one/

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Decision to remove both breasts is a personal one - News8000.com - WKBT

Aarav Appukuttan, born a woman, always felt trapped in his own body. Sukanyeah Krishna, born a man, could exactly identify with the feeling of emotional churn and societal pressure growing up. A three-hour wait at a doctor's clinic for consultation for gender reassignment, and snatches of an overheard conversation turned out to be the factors the brought the two of them together for friendship, love and soon, matrimony.

Aarav, 46, is now a man and Sukanyeah, 22, a woman. According to the Hindustan Times, Aarav spent a large part of his school years uncomfortable in his own skin. He used to have long hair and would sit next to the girls in his class, but "felt unnerved by his attraction to them." His gender identity disorder (GID) only got worse, he told the paper, and after he lost his mother and had to take care of his siblings. He knew that he would have to wait before he got help for himself.

"I had to restrain myself and keep my feelings in check for 45 years. I always behaved like everything was normal," he told the paper.

Things have been tough for Sukanyeah as well. Her mother took her to a doctor who started her on male hormone therapy, according to the report. Both Sukanyeah and Aarav endured humiliation and mockery from strangers growing up for not fully embracing the gender they were born with and the transitioning has been tough.

"No one understood what I was going through. During my Class 10 board exams, I fainted owing to the pressure," she told HT.

Sukanyeah was speaking on the phone at the Mumbai clinic in Malayalam when Aarav overheard parts of the conversation. The two got talking and soon a bond of friendship and understanding grew.

"He went to Kerala and I returned to Bangalore, where I had moved two years ago for my job. A day later, Aarav called me and we discussed our surgeries and our treatment in detail. At first, we would speak once a week, then it became twice a week. Soon, we started talking very day," she told Mid-day.

Their mutual desire to help other children with GID, long conversations on phone, and a familiar history of family troubles brought them closer together. They plan to marry next month.

"We are now planning to get married in a temple, with all the rituals. Both our families are happy for us. We have also decided to adopt a child, since we are aware that post surgery I won't be able to conceive," Aarav, who's a tour manager, told Mid-Day.

"We are India's first complete transgender couple and we are happy," Sukanyeah told the Deccan Chronicle.

Read the rest here:
Indian Trans Couple, Soon To Marry, Finds Love At Mumbai Clinic While Transitioning - Huffington Post India

Harklinikken does not advertise, but the 25-year-old multinational company is beginning an aggressive expansion into the $3.6 billion hair-loss market in the United States, meaning youre likely to hear a lot more about it. A New York clinic opened in June inside the Core Club in Midtown (you dont need to be a member to get an appointment); and in August, Harklinikken consultations became available at some 70 Womens Care Florida obstetrics and gynecology clinics. (Roughly 75 percent of the companys 50,000 active users are female.)

Mr. Skjoth said the plan is to have a presence in every state in the next two years. The company recently opened outposts in Tampa, Fla., and Beverly Hills, Calif.

Panos Vasiloudes, a Tampa dermatologist and Harklinikkens medical director, said the company has double-blind, placebo-controlled studies it hopes to publish next year in peer-reviewed journals. Such studies are the one thing some dermatologists say they need to recommend the product to patients.

For now, Maryanne Senna, a dermatologist and the director of the Hair Academic Innovative Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said the best she can tell patients who ask and a lot of them do is that Harklinikken wont do any harm.

Dont get me wrong I really want it to work, said Dr. Senna, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School. There arent a lot of options, and Id love to be able to say to my patients, This is something you can try that is worth the money. But I cant do that yet.

Harklinikkens formula, refined over 20 years, is derived from plants and cows milk. Thats the most Mr. Skjoth will say about it. In the 1990s, clients mixed it with Rogaine, Mr. Skjoth said, and then we took the Rogaine part away and started focusing on the actual liquid.

Small studies have shown the efficacy of various plant-derived ingredients, mostly in mice. But two potential explanations for Harklinikkens success have little to do with its formula.

One is how much emphasis the company places on compliance, the major stumbling block in the efficacy of any treatment, said Dr. Senna, an author of studies on the subject. Prospective users are questioned about their ability to stick to a regimen because the extract must be applied every day, and they are told that the more conscientious they are, the better. Users are also reminded and encouraged with regular check-ins.

Clients must also use the companys shampoo, conditioner and styling products, forsaking all others a psychological as well as a financial buy-in, Dr. Senna said. (Mr. Skjoth, who has a masters degree in nutrition and chemistry but is not a doctor, said this is because other products may clog the scalp, causing hair loss.)

Hair changes about as fast as grass grows, which is to say its extraordinarily slow and not visible to anyone checking impatiently in the mirror every day. But during regular follow-up appointments, Harklinikken uses high-tech equipment to photograph and magnify the scalp and count new hairs and active follicles, which motivates users to adhere to the regimen. Too many people give up on treatments like Rogaine and low-level-light devices before theyve had a chance to work, Dr. Senna said.

Its also possible that some of Harklinikkens users are women whose hair would have grown back even if theyd done nothing. Many women who arrive in a dermatologists office with prior diagnoses of female pattern hair loss actually have whats called telogen effluvium. Thats a period of acute shedding of hair meaning up to 60 percent of hair three months after a triggering event like pregnancy, significant weight loss or starting or stopping hormone medications.

Once that hair has stopped shedding, it does regrow, at a rate of about a centimeter a month, said Dr. Senna, who suffered from the condition after each of her pregnancies. She shares photos of herself with patients, to show she can sympathize. In one, her entire frontal hairline clearly is growing back in. If Id used a treatment, I would have thought it was a miracle drug, she said.

Users of the extract say that one of the strengths of Harklinikken is that it doesnt claim to be a miracle.

It wasnt: Youre going to get a full head of hair, said Jon Centella, 35, of Apollo Beach, Fla., who started seeing peach fuzz after four months. It was: Well give you 30 percent, and thats what made me comfortable enough to give it a shot.

Here is the original post:
Is This Treatment the Cure for Hair Loss? - New York Times

Born a girl and now a man, Aarav Appukuttan, a 46-year-old from Kerala, says he was trapped inside a womans body for years. After undergoing a gender reassignment surgery at a Mumbai hospital, he fell in love with Sukanyeah Krishna 22, a man who underwent surgery at the same clinic to become a woman.

Aarav said he decided to eavesdrop while Sukanyeah was speaking to her family on the phone in Malayalam, as he knew the language. A casual conversation between the two led to them exchanging numbers. Their phone calls became more frequent in the coming months and cupid struck.

Neither of them has had an easy childhood. Aarav said he had long hair when he was 13. He would sit next to girls in his class, but felt unnerved by his attraction to them.

He confided in his mother, who took him to a doctor. The doctor said such problems were likely to happen at the onset of puberty, owing to hormonal imbalances. He asked Aarav to wait for a few years before opting for treatment.

However, Aarav, said his gender identity disorder (GID) only became more severe. In the next few years, he lost his mother and knew he had to take care of his siblings before he could focus on his own problems. My father remarried, he said.

I used to hate my body and wanted to cut it sometimes. But, I had to restrain myself and keep my feelings in check for 45 years. I always behaved like everything was normal, he added.

Sukanyeah said she also experienced GID during her childhood. After her father died, her mother took her to a doctor, who started her on male hormone therapy immediately. With the therapy, my facial and body structure changed. I started developing muscles, my shoulders became broader and I lost a lot of hair on my head, she said.

She said she was put on a high-protein diet, meant to aid her muscle development. No one understood what I was going through. During my Class 10 board exams, I fainted owing to the pressure, she said.She dropped out of school, studied software engineering and now works as a freelance web developer.

As the couple awaits their marriage ceremony, their friends say they expect a grand celebration. We wanted a small marriage ceremony, but our friends are asking for a treat. So, we will have a grand wedding. said Aarav.

He adds that he and Sukanyeah want to counsel those whose children are experiencing GID.

Dr Sanjay Pandey, from Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Andheri, who operated both of them said those who experience GID are just as normal and competent as we are. The only difference is that they feel trapped in the body of a gender they do not want to be. This is psychologically and emotionally tough, he said.

He said gender reassignment surgery costs between Rs18 lakh to Rs19 lakh in places such as Thailand, where it is popular. In India, it costs between Rs 4 lakh to Rs5 lakh.

More here:
Woman who was a man to marry man who was a woman - Hindustan Times

By HANNAH BEERSUI College of Veterinary Medicine

When a middle-aged, intact female dog comes into the clinic with complaints from her owner that she has been depressed and lethargic, one of the first concerns that likely pops into the veterinarian's mind is a potential pyometra.

"A pyometra is a uterine infection, and it is a true veterinary emergency," said Dr. Gary Brummet, the veterinarian who leads the primary care service at the UI Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana.

What causes pyometras

Pyometras develop as a result of hormonal changes that take place in the reproductive tract during the normal hormonal cycle of a female. After an estrus (often referred to as "heat"), a hormone called progesterone remains elevated to assist the uterine lining in thickening in preparation for a potential pregnancy. Sometimes, if there are multiple cycles that persist without a pregnancy, the uterine lining can continue to thicken and secrete fluids, creating an environment that allows bacteria to grow quite well.

"Often pyometras become evident two to three months after the dog's last heat cycle," Brummet said.

Pyometras are categorized as "open" or "closed." In an open pyometra, infectious material leaks from the uterus; owners may notice a bloody, yellow or cream-colored discharge on their dog's fur near the uterine opening or on their bedding. A closed pyometra means that all the infectious material is trapped inside the uterus and builds up.

Symptoms of pyometras

Pyometras are most often found in dogs of any breed between the age of 6 and 10 and may be more common in dogs that have never had puppies. They do not occur in spayed animals, since a spay surgery involves removing the uterus. In extremely rare instances, pyometras can occur in cats.

"Along with appearing fatigued and depressed, dogs may stop eating, spike fever, have an abdomen that is distended and painful to touch, and urinate and drink more frequently," Brummet said.

Bacteria may release toxins that alter kidney function and impair the kidney's ability to manage and retain fluid. This can cause the increased urine production that is often seen and in turn the increased drinking may be the dog's attempt to compensate for the loss in fluid.

If a pup is showing any of these signs, she should be taken to the veterinarian immediately. There is a risk of sepsis with an untreated pyometra. Sepsis is when bacteria from an infection gets into the blood and thus is spread throughout the body via the circulatory system.

Diagnosis and treatment of pyometras

Your veterinarian may elect to do blood work, take a radiograph (X-ray) and/or perform an ultrasound to diagnose the pyometra. Pyometras are most often treated by surgical removal of the uterus.

"Surgery for removing a uterus that has a pyometra is much more risky than a spay. The uterine wall will be fragile, and there is a chance that it could rupture and introduce infectious material into the dog's abdomen during the procedure," Brummet said.

The only sure way to prevent this emergency is to spay the dog.

"The risk of a pyometra is one of the factors owners need to weigh when making the decision to spay or leave the female intact," Brummet said.

An archive of pet columns from the UI College of Veterinary Medicine is available at vetmed.illinois.edu/petcolumns/. Requests for reprints of this article may be directed to Chris Beuoy at beuoy@illinois.edu.

Link:
Pet Talk: A pyometra is a 'true veterinary emergency' - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

I have a radio station in my head. Ten years ago, before I pursued recovery for bulimia, this radio station played very loudly. Today, its still there, but very faint white noise. A vast majority of the time, I dont pay attention to it and keep moving. But sometimes, in quiet moments, it can sound like the radio station is tuned between stationsits mostly grainy, but I can decipher some words. Sometimes I even stop and listen to it for a few minutes.

The radio station, when its discernible, says stuff like exercise every day or you should feel bad for eating that or your bellys disgusting." One of the things I did 10 years ago when the radio station was blaring nearly every day was enter Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is a type of talk therapy, according to the Mayo clinic, that helps you recognize negative thinking so you can better cope with challenges. According to a 2010 study published in Psychiatric Clinics of North America, CBT has been found to have a sustained and marked effect on certain eating disorder behaviors, and the Mayo Clinic notes its effectiveness for people with eating disorders in general. Ive teamed up with Cecilia Dintino, Psy.D, a psychologist who practices CBT with many eating disordered patients, to share some of the activities I do whenever Dana FM gets a little too loud.

Lie in bed with a heating pad/hot water bottle. As an eating disordered person, I thought doing anything to my body that wouldnt cause a change in my appearance was pointless. But I learned that getting cozy is a powerful tool.

Dr. Dintino: Placing heat on the body calms the nervous system and soothes the body. Soothing the body calms the mind.

Use Yoga Toes. Sometimes the best thing to do when experiencing negative thoughts is to be still. I sit with these foot stretchers on and read a magazine or watch tv and its great because you cant walk around with them while youre wearing them.

Dr. Dintino: I like this method of instilling stillness. We all have trouble slowing down and when we keep our feet running our brain follows. While you let your toes stretch, practice cultivating a mindful presence. The benefits of mindfulness are plentiful, and include self-awareness, self-control and distress tolerance.

Light a candle/incense/burn some sage. I am a big fan of incense. Ill burn a stick and promise Ill engage in a positive behavior (like cleaning my bedroom) for at least the duration of time it takes for the whole stick to burn.

Dr. Dintino: Smell is the most powerful of the senses and we often underestimate its potency. Observing scents provides focus and soothing. And housecleaning provides many benefits. Fully participating in the activity of cleaning provides a distraction and leads to a sense of mastery. A clean room regulates our bodies and minds.

Hula hoop. Its a low-impact exercise that doesnt feel like exercise. Itll get excess nervous energy out and its difficult to sustain for extended periods of time. Your body will tell you when youre finished. I only hula hoop for the duration of one or two songs.

Dr. Dintino: Love this. Hula-hooping is a form of movement that can serve to shift energy, increase heart variability and get the endorphins flowing. It also takes skill and concentration so the mind has to pivot from automatic thoughts to the strategic rhythm and balance that hooping requires.

Turn on the radio and sing along with it. The best way to drown out the voice in your head is to sing louder than it.

Dr. Dintino: There is endless research declaring musics capacity to elicit, shift and transform emotions. Singing is an ancient method of healing. Every major sacred ritual includes a chant or a song. Singing lowers stress, releases muscle tension and decreases the stress hormone cortisol.

Call a friend. Or even betterwrite a friend a letter. Resist the urge to text; sometimes its better to hear a voice on the other end of the phone. Ive had a pen pal (that I met in eating disorder rehab) for the last 11 years and I love it because its like writing a diary entry without the pressure of keeping a diary and receiving mail is the BEST.

Dr. Dintino: Reciprocal relationships are significantly correlated with well-being and life satisfaction. Contributing to others improves mood. Even thinking about others that we love or love us increases a feel good hormone called oxytocin. Writing down our thoughts and feelings has been proven to promote psychological healing and post-traumatic growth.

Take a bubble bath. I also recommend putting on a face mask because you cant do anything self-harming until it dries (and by the time it dries, you probably wont feel like doing that anyway).

Dr. Dintino: Water is an all-time tincture for emotional distress. Hot water works for anxiety, cold water for anger.Overall, all of these activities will serve to build new habits that in time will replace the old, says Dr. Dintino. Remember, unlearning is harder than learning. Doing new and different things gives our brains and bodies more options.

Related: Lena Dunham Talked About How She Copes With OCD

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7 Tips to Help Cope With Your Eating Disorder - TeenVogue.com