Headache Types and Your Pills

Gyno Gab Says most women get headaches. The most accurate classification system for headaches is the International Headache Society (IHS) . Almost 3/4th of all HA are just a tension headache: both sides of the head hurt, steady, no throbbing, mild to moderate. Could be a bit of mild nausea, but no vomiting and could be a bit of light or sound sensitivity, but not both. Migraines: one side of your head, usually the eye or above the eye, and and these are moderate to SEVERE. Often in a set of them one after the other, with or with out treatment, you rebound into another headache, that's called a cluster. And with migraines lots of associated eye or nasal symptoms. Will be preceded by a premonition with may have a set of symptoms that can range from food cravings to depression or fatigue or just neck stiffness, or a variety of other symptoms. Those with auras the symptoms are neurological, usually visual. So zigzag lines, or spots before your eyes. Risks of stroke in young women are low,and with or without migraines still low, but migraines with aura might be one of the more significant predictor of stroke, and might double one's risk. And if we add birth control pills onto this already doubled risk, the risk may double again if you have aura. So the general recommendation: if you have migraines with aura, and are over the age of 35 then find another birth control: don't use pills. Menstrual migraines, different issue. For lots more in depth detail go to the newest issue of Contraception, Issue 80 pg 417, 2009.

When to schedule date nite?

Checking your calendar as to when to schedule date nite? Babysitter, check. Night off of work, check. Jeans shortened at cleaners, check. But how about when your sex drive will be peaking? This may vary from woman to woman. If you aren’t on pills you may notice that your sex drive is at the highest when your testosterone levels are peaking, that would be in the third week of the cycle. For women with PMS, well, about a third of you have sexual dysfunction anyway, maybe check with your gyno first and get some of that cleared up!

So You think Your Not...

FAT? Get the Facts before you brag, brag, brag about all that muscle. Simple body fat analysis can give you that % of lean body mass vs body fat. And then we can talk. And what's important on a diet: maintaining that lean body mass while you loose fat, and loose abdominal fat. So when this gyno gal gets you on a diet we get you on the Lunar Prodigy for a bit of analysis. A few facts are in order to help the plan along!

Which seniors should get their genes tested?

Young women have been offered and receiving genetic testing for many years. There are tests for your blood type, tests for those of Jewish heritage to determine if you are at risk for Tay Sachs or Canavan’s disease (the actual current panel we use tests for ten different diseases), there are tests to see if you are a sickle cell trait carrier or carry the genetic material to pass on cystic fibrosis.

But generally the average 50 and older individual was never offered any genetic testing. Gradually this is changing. It is changing the way we will offer medical screening, it is changing how we treat diseases, and it is changing so rapidly that it’s threatening to move beyond the physician’s office and into your kitchen. For instance the well funded and highly publicized company 23andMe states on their internet description that they “provide(s) genetic testing for over 100 traits and diseases as well as DNA ancestry. Our mission is to be the world's trusted source of personal genetic information.” For fees ranging from $400 up to $2500 you can get tested on saliva and require no actual physician input to ordering the information. Some of the test results you receive may be sort of fun: is your ear wax sticky or wet. Some may just be of interest: where did your genetic material mostly come from, mom or actually from dad? Others may be critically important: they can actually predict your likelihood of responding well to one type of blood thinner over another (should you need the blood thinner to begin with).

One test that has been in some use over the past 15 years has been for breast cancer and ovarian cancer susceptibility. Those that have breast cancer have been offered the Myriad Genetics BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene testing. Those who carry these genes have a greater than 50% chance of recurrence of breast cancer, a greater chance of ovarian cancers and there are risks of other cancers in their family. The average age of onset of ovarian cancer for a BRCA positive carrier is over the age of 55. Once someone tests positive they can inform family members who can then be screened and either will be negative: thus treated normally, or positive for the gene: and precautions can be taken.

The bottom line is that genetic testing has just exploded onto the scene, and chances are your physician won’t even know all of what is available or more importantly how to interpret the results for you. Other questions like: who will own my gene test, who is over-seeing the accuracy of the lab methods, how will my insurance plan be affected do remain as well as wider ethical issues.

Written for Active Senior, 2009

Let My Skin Be Clear

Step after Step after Step: can be very effective for skin but then again it can be a tiresome regimen for girls on the go. So when hormonal breakouts hit, switch it up and put some punch in the make up add in what the Gyno Gab gal has at Hada Cosmetic Medicine  Let Me Be Clear— by ColorsciencePro, and it's not just the salicylic acid which treats the pimples themselves that is so good about this pimer makeup foundation mineral product. But I think the other minerals such as vitamin E, minerals, aloe, algae, lavender, cypress, ylang ylang and melissa that are so good for tackle the redness, inflammation, irritation and the drying of skin that often accompany hormonal breakouts is what is really good. And just that bit of nice citrus scent,wakes up your day!

How does my hair grow?

Or not grow. At age 40, we start loosing the hairs on our head, literally. They cease to be there, we start to drop from a max of about 100 thou to 150 thou, to, well, lets just say "fewer." About 70% of women by age 80 report significant hair loss. And yet not all hairs stop growing. Under the influence of the male hormones the fine hairs on the body start to coarsen. So hairs that might have been downy, soft, basically so un-noticeable you never noticed, they now become thicker and darker and seem to have "appeared" out of no-where. Rather than specifically age related it is more years from menopause related. Hormones have a role, and it's more linked to male hormones, but exactly which and what levels, that remains to be worked out.

What not to touch, or look before you touch, or cover before you touch

Avoiding HPV can be a challenge. And no matter how enticing the condom commercials sound (and I've heard some new enticing ones on our local radio station for Sounds like I need to try this Condom Radio Ad  ), they cannot cover all the parts you can conceive of touching. So what's a girl to do? LOOK! Pretty simple. But what to look for? Well, some "looks" just are more obvious than others if you follow me. If something looks sort of alien, it probably is. But some folks from the other side have a pretty awesome site for all things itchy and oozy and lumpy, so next time you aren't sure what to touch check out the NZ DERM QUESTION BUSTERS (ok, I named them that, but really it's a fabulous reference and getting better all the time!).

“Does exercise make you fat or thin?”

Are you exercising and still gaining weight? If so, you are not alone. Learn more by asking yourself the following questions.

Then the house best be smoke free

What's the newest in back to the future medicine, HOUSE CALLS! And I guess it could come back. Plucking one's own chickens, and doing car tune ups aren't really back, but according to this article this might be in our future. But what would the Gyno Gab Gal need? Stirrups? Fall prevention rugs? How about a smoke free environment? Dr, ah hum, I mean, Mr. Obama, why do none of the health plans call for a complete tobacco ban in the US? I think I might have gotten off topic!

15 minutes after, don't move

Inge M, Custers, PhD, from the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands has just done a study to show that laying mmobilization in the supine position for 15 minutes after intrauterine insemination may improve ongoing pregnancy rates. Using ovulation induction and insemmination with a washed semen preparation is the most common form of infertility treatment and the pregnancy rates are much better with that little bit of time for those sperm to get to their destination!