GynoFiles

PCOS causes infertility. It was always assumed that failure to ovulate was the main cause of not getting pregnant in women with PCOS, and it is clear that this is still a cause. Beyond not ovulating it was thought that the irregular shedding of the lining, would perhaps produce loss of a fertilized egg. But that was not established firmly. And fertility studies published in the Cochrane based review showed that miscarriages are more frequent. Traditional treatment of infertility in women with PCOS has centered on treating the lack of consistent ovulation. New studies discussed in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in their October 2015 issue   have now shown that treatment of the lining of the uterus to make it healthy before trying for pregnancy is very important. The treatment would be fairly strait forward treatment with progesterone for several cycles before trying for pregnancy. And now the American College of Obstetriians and gynecologists has stated that for ...

Pregnancy testing has come a long way in the past 100 years! But still women have questions about their home pregnancy test. Often it is confusing if that home pregnancy test just shows a very faint line. In fact that faint line is probably accurate, but perhaps you tried to test too soon. We all are a bit impatient, but remember that fertilized egg won't implant for a few days after conception No pregnancy test, no matter how accurate will , by itself will prove you have a healthy on going pregnancy. This is why repeat testing over several days has become popular. One hundred years ago, it really took 2-3 months to determine if you were pregnant. In Marianna Wheel's popular Harpers book of 1914 called Before the Baby Comes she cautioned that "cold and change of climate (among other things) can cause you to skip your period, but if not that, and you skip two successive menstrual periods [you] may be fairly positive of your condition [pregnant]!" But skip ahead...

The reader asked if passing a decidual cast means she's not a virgin. In gynecologic circles 'sexual debut' means starting to have intercource (sex!). Penetrative sex for the first time produces tears in the hymen, and they usually have specific configuration but not always. Tampons produce some stretching and or tearing of the hymen and reportedly so can some physical activity. Not being able to properly insert your tampon may mean the hymen is very tight or has a bit of extra tissue, without any thing being really wrong. Just the menstrual bleeding or even passing clots on your period, or even passing a decidual cast  shouldn't be able to tear the hymen. Passing a decidual cast might cause tearing particularly in a young women, but it wouldn't be common.

Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation. For women who used to have a period and now doesn't, she is said to have secondary amenorrhea . For those wo never had a period, that is primary amenorrhea and that is a very different condition. One or more missed menstrual periods is just a missed period, but over 90 days or three cycles in a row with no bleeding is termed amenorrhea. It is also true if you have not yet had a period by the age of 16 you have amenorrhea. The most common cause for amenorrhea is pregnancy. Other causes would include problems with the reproductive organs, or with the glands that help regulate hormone levels. Treatment of the underlying condition would resolved the condition. The first test is a pregnancy, and this should be done on blood.   women need in early pregnancy would be checking for anemia, checking their blood count, their blood type, whether they have infections like HIV, hepatitis or syphilis, and checking for immunity to vaccine treatable infe...

In a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine it was noted that depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle, you have different breathing patterns and different lung and respiratory symptoms. The group RHINE, studying women and Respiratory Health in Northern Europe demonstrated that whether you have wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing, depends upon the stage of the menstrual cycle. Shortness of breath is highest on days 7-21 of awoman's cycle, counting the first day of bleeding as day 1, wheezing is lowest just before and after the menstrual period, and coughing is worst around the time of ovulation.  All breathing symptoms are worse in those with acute or chronic cough. So even a cold or allergy symptom can worsen when you are in this midcycle phase. The docs are going so far as to say accurate data regarding the symptoms you have can allow them to tailor medication dosing to days of the cycle for better control of sympto...

Gynos say there are three phases to puberty first is the  development of formal thinking and processing as a more adult person, then the stages of adolescence that contribute to psychosocial development and final biologic processes. the menarche, the thelarche and the andrenarche, gonadarche  and pubarche, ( which stands for the ..periods, breasts,, the adrenal gland male hormones, and pubic hair development) accompanied by the final physical development of our body's organs, our size and our strength.  A girl's height shoots up at a fast pace around the time of the 'growth spurt' of puberty, and not quite 20%, closer to 18%, of one's eventual height growth occurs during this time. The first part of puberty is also accompanied by reductions in body fat percent as bones and muscles take president in the nutrition that spurs the growth. After age 16 girls tend to revert to gains because of gain in fat. Body fat % can trigger earlier physiologic steps in this proc...

Menstrual bleeding is controlled by factors that allow us to bleed and shed the lining, and factors that stop the bleeding. Like other areas of our body what is important is the “not too hot, not to cold, but just right” concept perpetuated by Goldilocks. And in our uterine lining, it’s no different. If there are too many factors causing the blood loss, menstrual bleeding is too heavy. If too much clot, then could be none at all…ok that sounds too good on the too hot side who wants to bleed anyway?! But you get my drift, balance is important. Women with heavy menstrual bleeding have increased plasminogen activators called “enzymatic ‘clot busters’ “ by Dr. David Grimes. In order to balance this off, plasminogen activator inhibitor (or antifibrinolytics) can be given to decrease bleeding. Ibuprofen, naproxen, mefenamic acid, or meclofenamate sodium, and we can even use birth control pills which change the whole physiology of our lining and make it so thin there is not much to bleed ...