Archive for the ‘Uterus’ Category

Women’s Health Blog: The Women’s Egg-Timer Test!!!

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Ok, so I know this is happening in Australia but it was too interesting to not report on. Besides I posted a related blog on women and their declining fertility just a couple of days ago so felt that I had to comment on this story.

Women in Australia will soon be able to take a simple hormone test to find out how many eggs they still have remaining in their ovaries. I mean talk about GENIUS!!! The whole family planning and fertility treatment landscape will change with this "egg-timer" test, which is a supposedly a blood test to "predict ovum levels based on the concentration of a specific fertility hormone", according to Peter Illingworth, who is the medical director of IVF Australia.

The test will also help test younger women to diagnose if they would be at risk of nothing being able to conceive when they are older and identify women who may reach menopause before the normal age for menopause.

The anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) test would cost only $58 (US dollars) and can result in saving people a lot of money spent on unsuccessful fertility treatments. I can't wait to hear how the women do and what the results show once this test is administered in Australia.

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   Posted by Dr. Douglas Gearity  |  Posted in Infertility Treatment, Pregnancy, Uterus, Women's Health | No Comments »

Women’s Health Blog: Iphone Apps for Tracking Women’s Menstrual Cycle???

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Hmmm….What will they think of next? I mean isn't technology great??

Now there's an iphone app for tracking your menstrual period. It will tell you whether it's safe to have intercourse without the risk of pregnancy or it tracks the days till the birth of the baby if you are pregnant.

It's called Safe Period Teller and it only costs $4.99. You can input the day your menstrual cycle begins and the app will do all the necessary complicated calculations for you. You would be able to password protect the application so no one else can get to it.

Then you have the Period Tracker Deluxe which costs only $1.99 and it tracks your periods. It gives you updates such as temperature and weight charts to track your basal body temperature; symptoms charts, and options to show cycle days on the calendar. When your period begins you enter the date and it will predict your next period start date for you. You can also view future cycle dates and determine your ovulation and fertile days to help you plan your pregnancy or non-pregnancy.

Amazing!!! A great tool for you ladies and the men in your life too. It has got to be one of the coolest "health" apps ever developed. I say "Kudos to the developer/s!"

 

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   Posted by Dr. Douglas Gearity  |  Posted in Pregnancy, Uterus, Women's Health | No Comments »

Women’s Health Blog: Study Shows Women’s Fertility Declines Rapidly After Age 30

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

If you are a woman of childbearing age, you're sure to feel the pressure when you hear what a recent study found about women and their ticking biological clock.

Researchers from the University of St. Andrews and Edinburgh University, published a study last month in which they found that "Women lose 90 percent of their eggs by age 30." The above mentioned researchers found that the average woman is born with about 300K eggs and by the time she reaches the age of 30, she is left with only 12% of those 300,000 eggs. By age 40, that number goes down to 3%! Yes, 3%.

Basically regardless of the percentage, what researchers are saying is that as women grow old, they lose eggs at a rapid pace which means that after 30, the fertility of a female body decreases rapidly as each year passes.
 
Of course there are many women who get pregnant after even age 40. Infertility treatments are becoming more and more advanced to its not as if women aged 29 have to go out and get pregnant overnight. However, women who are thinking about starting or adding to their family should know and understand that as they continue to grow older, they will find their fertility declining at a faster pace which may put them at a higher risk for not being able to conceive.

W. Hamish Wallace, a co-author of the Fertility and Sterility study said "Don't leave having a child too late, if it is something that is going to be very important to you…" This is important advise for all women of child-bearing age.

Also, as women age and their eggs get older, the chances of miscarriages and babies born with abnormalities such as Down Syndrome and Autism also increase.
 
So bottom line is this. Yes, we may have increased our lifespan with the advancement of technology but unfortunately, we can't prolong a woman's biological clock. At least for now, there's no way for a woman to produce more eggs. (Who knows, someone may come out with a new way to do so in the future.) So if you are thinking of having a baby, read, be educated, talk to your doctor, and above all make an informed decision on when to start a family.

 

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   Posted by Dr. Douglas Gearity  |  Posted in Pregnancy, Uterus, Women's Health | No Comments »

Women’s Health Blog: Uterine Fibroids Treatment with RadioFrequency Ablation?

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Uterine fibroids or what are benign tissues in the womb of a woman are a major problem for women. Many women have them but are unaware of them. And in others, large fibroids begin causing back, abdomen and pelvic pain as well as heavy menstrual bleeding. Hysterectomy is often used as a solution to treating fibroids but given that it requires the removal of the entire uterus, it is not something that many women want to have done. Other treatments include hormone blockers, myomectomy (surgical removal of fibroids), and using anti-inflammatory drugs to help manage the pain.

Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure in which a needlelike device is inserted into the fibroid through the abdomen. The needle-like devise is heated with low-frequency electrical current. Radiofrequency ablation is already approved by the FDA for use in treating liver and lung tumors.

Radiofrequency Ablation is currently in phase-three clinical trials for use in treating uterine fibroids.

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   Posted by Dr. Douglas Gearity  |  Posted in Uterus, Women's Health | No Comments »

Women’s Health Blog – What are Uterine Fibroids?

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Simply put, uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths of muscle tissue from the uterus and thread like fibers of connective tissue. Uterine fibroids may be very small or can be as large as medium sized tomato.

Today I’m sharing simple information about uterine fibroids which every woman should be aware of.

  • Most women don’t know that almost 80% of women have uterine fibroids. Most of them occur within the wall of the uterus. Some are beneath the uterine lining, some are between the muscles of the uterus and some are outside the uterus.
  • Heredity is a major cause of uterine fibroids and can occur mostly in women between the ages of 30 and 50.
  • Fibroids aren’t a problem for all women.

If you experience any of the following symptoms, you should be sure to see a gynecologist immediately:

  • Heavy menstrual periods lasting for more than seven days a
  • Menstrual flow causing discomfort
  • Frequent urinating which wasn’t a problem before
  • Pain in pelvis or constipation

Recent research indicates that uterine fibroids may also cause infertility in a small segment of the population. A fibroid could compress the fallopian tube thereby interfering with the motility of sperm or egg. Fibroids may also increase the chance of a miscarriage or early labor. Larger fibroids may also increase the chance of a cesarean section for delivery.

Please contact our office should you have any of the above symptoms and learn more treatment options that will help you lead a healthier life.

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   Posted by Dr. Douglas Gearity  |  Posted in Uterus | No Comments »