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
OVERWEIGHT
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Through most of human history, being fat was good: When food was scarce, anyone with ample body fat had energy reserves stored up for lean times.
Now things are different. We know that if you are obese-that is, if you’re more than 20 percent above the weight most experts agree is healthy for someone of your height because of excess body fat-you have a high risk of many health problems, including heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Even if you’re not obese in the strict sense, some experts think your risk Continue reading
MENSTRUAL DISORDERS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Menstruation is the discharge of the lining of a woman’s uterus when no egg has been fertilized. Also called a period, this discharge occurs at the end of a woman’s monthly fertility cycle and lasts three to eight days.
Many women have problems with their periods: cramps, dull aches, fatigue, or mood swings. Also, a woman may stop having periods or her periods may be more heavy than normal. Continue reading
MENOPAUSE
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
When a woman goes through menopause, her body stops making eggs, her menstrual cycles end, and she can no longer get pregnant or give birth. Menopause comes to every woman, arriving for most between age 40 and 54.
Strictly speaking, menopause is the time of a woman’s last menstrual cycle. But it has come to mean the months-sometimes years-before her last period when her menstrual flow becomes less regular, or lighter or heavier, as well as the time after her last period 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
ECZEMA
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and one of its most hardworking. It protects you from the sun, stores water and fat, helps control your body’s temperature, and fends off assaults from invaders such as dirt, insects, smoky air, and germs.
Despite the heroic job your skin does, you probably don’t give it much thought until something goes wrong-for instance, eczema, a skin disease marked by red, crusty, itchy patches or rashes, and sometimes blistering, oozing sores. These symptoms most often stem from an allergy or other reaction to something you touch, eat, or breathe in. Continue reading
UTERINE CANCER
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
The term cancer covers more than a hundred diseases that share one trait: In all of them, cells grow out of control and destroy healthy tissues. Uterine cancer-or cancer of the uterus-is one of the most common cancers among women in the United States. It most often affects menopausal women. Each year, about 36,000 women in this country find out they have this disease. Continue reading
CERVICAL CANCER
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Cervical cancer is cancer that occurs in the lining of the cervix-the part of the uterus that connects to the top of the vagina. Fortunately, this type of cancer is easy to detect, and to cure if it is found early.
About 15,000 American women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, and about 4,600 of them will die from the disease. At one time, cervical cancer was one of the most common causes of cancer death for women in this country. But the number of deaths has dropped sharply over the past 50 years. Continue reading