Women ’ s Health
TTake a holistic approach to fertility , which means we focus on optimizing your body ’ s overall health before you want to get pregnant .
Think of your pre-fertility year as an amazing opportunity to improve your overall health and well being . Now is the time to focus on you , reset , identify and address underlying health issues and find your highest expression of balance . There is no better way to head into pregnancy than that .
Here is the scenario I see all too often : A woman in her 30 ’ s has been on the birth control pill for years – often a decade or more – and then goes off , expecting to get pregnant easily , because her OBGYN told her there would be no problem .
A woman ’ s cycle doesn ’ t come back immediately ( it often takes up to 6 months for your menstrual cycle to regulate after you stop the pill ).
Then , she discovers hormone imbalances that have been there all along , covered up by the false period the pill creates . She may have PCOS ( polycystic ovarian syndrome ), fibroids , endometriosis , PMS , ovarian cysts or a centrally suppressed cycle due to high stress levels .
I also see many women whose irregular cycles are caused by food sensitivities . I had one patient – a chef – who suffered from migraines and infrequent , irregular cycles . As soon as we cut gluten and dairy out of her diet , her headaches disappeared and her cycles normalized .
And then there are women who have structural issues like a blocked fallopian tube that needs to be opened surgically .
Understanding the root cause of infertility is a process and optimizing the body for a healthy pregnancy takes time – unlike what many doctors will tell you , it can take months or even a year to prepare . This is why I recommend women who are thinking about becoming pregnant in the next couple of years work with us and follow our pre-fertility program . medicine today
Can a Prenatal Supplement Prevent Mental Illness ?
Early pregnancy loss , a potentially traumatic event that many women opt not to share with others , can result in posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ), suggesting that screening for the disorder may be beneficial following miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy , new research suggests . Studies show that more than one third of women with early pregnancy loss meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD . There is a vital need to consider patients ’ psychological needs after pregnancy loss – an area that tends to receive less attention than medical problems . For a practitioner focusing on the psychological aspects is so much more important at the end of the day . The findings on PTSD offer clues as to why counseling with a “ broad-brush ” approach that does not target PTSD following miscarriage is often unsuccessful .
Borrowed from www . medscape . com
Breast Cancer Risk Factors
Numerous risk factors have been found to increase a woman ’ s risk of developing breast cancer The common denominator for many of them is their effect on the level and duration of exposure to endogenous estrogen . Evidence show that the 4 main breast cancer subtypes are caused by different subsets of genetic and epigenetic aberrations . Factors that increase the risk of breast cancer include the following :
● Advanced age .
● Family history of cancer in a first-degree relative – Family history of ovarian cancer at < 50 years , 1 first-degree relative with breast cancer , ≥ 2 first-degree-relatives with breast cancer .
● Personal history – Positive BRCA1 / BRCA2 mutation , breast biopsy with atypical hyperplasia , breast biopsy with lobular or ductal carcinoma in situ .
● Reproductive history – Early menarche (< 12 years ), late menopause , late age of first term pregnancy (> 30 years ) or nulliparity .
● Use of estrogen-progesterone hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ).
● Current or recent oral contraceptive use
● Lifestyle factors – Adult weight gain , sedentary lifestyle , alcohol consumption .
Borrowed from www . medscape . com
23