VAGINITIS
Published July 28, 2024 | 
WHAT IS IT?
If you’re bothered by sore genitals and perhaps an unusual discharge from the vagina-the ailment called vaginitis-the cause may be an infection, a medicine you’re taking, or something else.
Yeast infection, the most common of three infections, occurs when a fungus that always lives in the vagina grows out of control. Bacterial vaginosis occurs when bacteria that always live in the vagina grow out of control, Continue reading
URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your urinary tract plays a vital role. It filters wastes from your blood-substances that would poison your cells if they were allowed to build up in your system. Then it flushes these toxins out of your body in the form of urine.
The urinary tract is made up of the kidneys; the ureters, two tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder; the bladder, the balloonlike organ that stores urine; and the urethra, the tube that passes urine out of the body. Normally the tract is free of bacteria, viruses, or fungi. In fact, the urine that travels through the tract is normally sterile; it contains no germs. Continue reading
ENLARGED PROSTATE
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Unless your prostate gives you trouble, you’re not likely to think much about it. This gland just above your groin does a big job, though: It makes most of the fluid that carries and nourishes your sperm.
A healthy prostate is about the size of a walnut. As a man passes his forties and fifties, the gland tends to start growing larger. It’s a rare man over 60 who doesn’t have an enlarged prostate. The formal term is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)-benign because it is not cancer Continue reading
KIDNEY STONES
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your kidneys are a pair of apple-sized organs that flank your spine just above the waist. They filter your blood, cleaning about 1,800 quarts a day-more than a quart every minute. Kidneys get rid of excess water and waste products, which become urine in the kidneys before leaving the body. Continue reading
URINARY INCONTINENCE
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
About 13 million adults in the United States have trouble controlling the flow of urine from their bladders, a problem called urinary incontinence. Most are older people. But the problem also affects women who have given birth and people who are overweight-both conditions weaken the muscles that control urination. Continue reading
ERECTION PROBLEMS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Most men have a hard time now and then getting or keeping an erection long enough to have sex. While such problems can be upsetting, they’re quite normal. If you often have trouble, though, you may have what doctors call impotence, or “erectile dysfunction.”
What’s “often”? Not even the experts can say exactly. The answer depends largely on what you expect or want. But if erection problems make you worry a lot, strain your relationship with your partner, or make it hard for you to father a child, then they are happening too often. Continue reading
PROSTATE CANCER
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Unless your prostate gives you trouble, you’re not likely to think much about it. This walnut-sized gland just above a man’s groin does a big job, though: It makes most of the fluid that carries and nourishes sperm.
As a man ages, his prostate is more likely to act up. Continue reading