GynoFiles

Hormone therapy is one of the most studied treatments in medicine. The effects of estrogen, the main component in most hormone therapy, are so wide ranging, that it's important that each individual work with a provider to decide if and when to begin therapy, what dosages and formulations to use, when to change, how to monitor, and when to stop. Given that large population studies have only given pieces of advice to providers, often women have been told what they perceive is conflicting advice. Much of the confusion stems from an interpretation of 'risk' and what some perceive as too much risk is viewed as virtually no risk to others. Given that some women are willing to assume more risk than other women, we have to recognize that Women do need to discuss their individual risk factors, and it is going to be the most beneficial if you begin your therapy within the first 10 years after your natural age of menopause, or at least by age 60. A new Revised Global Consensus statem...

Classically it has been taught that estrogen excess, particularly what has been known as 'unopposed estrogen' (or hormone therapy with estrogen along) is the cause of uterine cancer. The theory that estrogen causes uterine cancer is being challenged. Inflammation, either in the body or in the uterus itself is now thought to be the more likely cause and a simpler strategy for reducing that cause would be to reduce inflammation. Uterine cancer is still the most common pelvic cancer in women. There are 60,000 new cases in the USA this year. The average woman has a lifetime risk of 1/38 of getting uterine cancer, which is considerably less than the 1/8 who get breast cancer, and double the 1/70 risk of ovarian cancer. .  Since risk factors for endometrial cancer, or lining cancer of the uterus (the most common type) include thicker lining of the uterus or uterine polyps, medical conditions listed as possible cause include diabetes, being over weight, and irregular periods, th...

Hormone therapy should be Prioritized which essentially means taking your personal hormonal state, symptoms, and health needs into consideration during prescribing. Hormone therapy has evolved from when only Premarin was available in the 1940s to the current situation now that offers many formulas either from a pharmaceutical company, or made in a pharmacy that uses pharmaceutical grade materials in a uniquely designed amount and content. These hormones can be biologically identical to what we have from our bodies prior to menopause, or something synthetic, or something designed to act on cells in a very unique well. Thus hormone therapy  can be prescribed in so many forms. There are pills, implants, creams, patches, gels, shots, and vaginal rings just to name a few routes of administration. Further more hormone therapy can be of so many compounds: not just estrogen, but testosterone, progesterone, adrenal hormones all may be in the mix of what is prescribed. In fact menopausa...

Our physiology varies, and what lies in our genetics makes some medical advice better than other medical advice. No where has that been more true than with aspirin as a prevention strategy. The risk of stoke goes up with menopause, women have fewer strokes prior to menopause than men, after menopause they have more.   According to the study Risk of stroke in women may come down to a compound the body produces from estrogen known as 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME).  The 2-ME theory shows how that compound preserves the brain after strokes, although over activity of the compound can be an issue too. Furthermore, the compound's therapeutic potential may extend beyond treating stroke in women to healing brain injuries in men, a new study in the American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism reports. Women and men differ in their aspirin benefits, but both could potentially benefit making that hers and his aspirin bottle worth sharing (after personal consultation) ...

Lowering cholesterol is really about preventing heart disease and complications of cardiovascular disease. Lowering The Holistic approach to reducing CVD should include not only diet, but exercise and stress lowering. And medication may include both aspirin use ( see app for who should take aspirin ) and cholesterol lowering medications.And what medication would work depends on the type of lipid levels you have in your bod y ( Holistic approach to healing is to use lifestyle modifications to solve all medical woes, and reserve medication for only those scenarios that are very resistant: those with genetic resistance, those who cannot tolerate the diets that would work, and those who need faster results are examples of good reasons to take medication for a medical condition. C holesterol blood level management is one of those conditions that seems to fall in this category. We often find out young in life that our cholesterol needs management, and we have extremely effective medicatio...

It's been a bad joke for years, "aspirin only works for contraception if you hold it between your knees," and aside from the axiom that abstinence does prevent pregnancy, this was never a workable plan on so many levels! But oddly, an interesting study has emerged from the Eastern Virginal Medical School research group that looked at the ability for substances called COX-2 inhibitors (NSAID-S) actually was noted to delay the release of an egg from a rip follicle. It's not so far fetched a concept. We think the fertile egg has to rupture out of it's own growth womb in order to be able to be fertilized. The step of rupturing apparently occurs by a series of enzymes that eat open the follicle to release the egg. These enzymes use prostaglandins to ultimately create the breach in the wall of the follicle. COX-2 inhibitors inhibit the prostaglandin pathway, and thus may prevent a ripe egg from releasing, An egg retained in the ovary too long and not released is probab...

Couples commonly have a single miscarriage, and the first question is how to prevent this from happening again. Statistics tell us that you have about a one in a hundred chance of a spontaneous pregnancy loss occurring more than once, and a new study released at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in San Fransisco in March of 2012, there may now be new data for a successful treatment strategy. Women are labeled as having a problem of recurrent miscarriages (habitual aborter in medical terms) if they actually have three or more miscarriage. In the past we did not even recommend testing, or treatment, if in fact a woman had less than 3 miscarriages, as the chance of finding a treatable condition was so remote. Thus being able to prevent a miscarriage is one of the great unsolved challenges of the gyno today. They estimate that since about half of all pregnancies conceived end in miscarriages, many of which are no more than chemical pregnancies (only positive test with no fetus see...

Preventing a colon cancer has been getting easier. We always knew that being born with the right genes helps, but beyond that there have been other options.Taking birth control is one, and a new study says that even your osteoporosis treating bone medicine Actonel might be helpful in preventin g colon cancer! Studies previously have shown that generally aspirin use and use of the NSAIDs has kept colon cancer rates very low. Now we have a study that says the low dose aspirin we use for heart protection also protects against colon cancer. Right now there are not recommendations from organizations about using this medication in this dose for this purpose, but lets watch this story, I think it could be that we will have another reason to have your gyno suggest aspirin use for you!