WOMEN'S HEALTH

Coping with a Prolapse

2009-04-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Prolapse of the posterior (back) vaginal wall

Rectocele (prolapse of the rectum) - This type of vaginal prolapse involves a prolapse of the back wall of the vagina (rectovaginal fascia). Rectoceles and enteroceles develop if the lower pelvic muscles become damaged by pregnancy, labour, childbirth, or a previous pelvic surgery or when the muscles are weakened by aging. When this wall weakens, the rectal wall pushes against the vaginal wall, creating a bulge. This bulge may become especially noticeable during bowel movements. Rectocele and enterocele formation may occur together, especially in women who have had a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus or womb). There are many different kinds of Pelvic Floor Exercises that you can use to combat these symptoms.
• Enterocele (prolapse of the small bowel) - Part of the small intestine that lies just behind the uterus (in a space called the pouch of Douglas) may slip down between the rectum and the back wall of the vagina. This often occurs at the same time as a rectocele or uterine prolapse.
• Rectocele (prolapse of the rectum or large bowel) - This occurs when the end of the large bowel (rectum) loses support and bulges into the back wall of the vagina. It is different from a rectal prolapse (when the rectum falls out of the anus). A rectocele or an enterocele may become large or more obvious when a woman strains or bears down during a bowel movement.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Prolapse is when the pelvic floor muscles become weak or damaged and can no longer support the pelvic organs. The movement of the vaginal wall from its normal position along with the bladder, bowel or womb is caused by damage to the ligaments in the pelvis. These ligaments act as guy ropes supporting the womb and the strength giving layers overlying the bowel and bladder.

The main causes of prolapse are childbearing and any condition leading to chronic straining (constipation, smokers cough or being overweight). The womb (uterus) is the only organ that actually falls into the vagina. When the bladder and bowel slip out of place, they push up against the walls of the vagina.

While prolapse is not considered a life threatening condition it may cause a great deal of discomfort and distress. Some degree of prolapse affects up to 30% of women who have had children. It is more common as women age, and is rarely seen in women without children, or those who have not gone through the menopause. If you are in any doubt whether or not you are going through the menopause, there are lots of over-the-counter menopause tests that you can now buy. Its better you know than to worry about this.

There are a number of different types of prolapse that can occur in a woman's pelvic area and these are divided into three categories according to the part of the vagina they affect: front wall, back wall or top of the vagina. It is not uncommon to have more than one type of prolapse.

Women Health Links -
women's health blog, fitness, pregnancy,
menopause , menstruation

Life Insurance – There’s more to giving up smoking than just getting healthy

2009-03-13T05:04:00.001-07:00

March the 11th sees the 25th anniversary of No Smoking Day, a day of national recognition and support for those who want to try and give up.

Over the past 25 years the campaign has grown from an awareness day organized by a group of individuals with an interest in health, to becoming a fully registered charity in 1991, and onward to employing a full-time staff and becoming one of the best-known days of its type. In light of the ongoing global economic difficulties and the ‘credit crunch’, this year the campaign is more geared towards how smokers can save money if they give up – alongside the well-known health benefits.

So how can giving up smoking at this time help you save money?

The first financial saving to consider, is what you might save on a day to day, week to week, or year to year basis, if you were to give up smoking now. According to myfinances.co.uk, the average packet of cigarettes costs £5.67 in the UK.

If we assume that the average smoker gets through a packet a day, a week of non-smoking will save you £39.69, a month of non-smoking will save you in the region of £177.75 – yet over an entire year you will be set to save a massive £2,069.55.

It is fair to acknowledge that not everyone who wants to give up smokes £5.67 worth of cigarettes everyday, but during these times of belt-tightening and cutting back, the prospect of saving over a thousand pounds after a year of non-smoking must sound tempting to anybody.

However, savings from giving up smoking don’t stop with the cost of cigarettes. As life insurance companies become more and more competitive whilst frugal customers threaten to cancel their policies, now is the best-time for non-smokers to benefit from slashed monthly premiums in comparison to their smoking peers. Savings of up to 50 percent on payments can be made for non-smokers, whilst comparison website moneysupermarket.com estimate a 30 year-old male smoker will spend over £8,000 more on life cover than a non-smoker of the same age.

The financial benefits of giving up around the 11th March go even further though. With the growth of No Smoking Day year on year, many businesses, including supermarkets and shops, have tried to get a piece of the action. Supermarket giant, Asda are discounting prices of nicotine patches and gum in an offer to help their visitors stop at this time. It certainly seems that, in terms of saving money from stopping smoking, March 2009 may well be the perfect month to give it a try.

13 Foods With Drug Like Effects

2008-10-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Over the years my diet has change a lot , from my college days of eating mostly pizza and wings to now were I eating mostly vegetables and meat(chicken, steak, pork, ham, turkey, etc.) And doggone it, it is going to get better.

I’ve chosen the follow foods because they appear to have almost drug like effect on the human body. Eat them as often as you can, as once a week is better than zero times a week. Of course, the better you adhere to the training program or the nutritional program, the greater are the rewards, be they in physique, athletic ability, or iron-clad health.

1. Grass-Fed Beef
Cows that been fed grass have a better fat profile vs. cows that have been fed corn. Grass fed cows have less Omega-6, and more Omega-3. It also contains significantly higher amounts of CLA, which helps to lower your risk of cancer and has less saturated fat than corn-fed beef. Grass-fed beef also contains high amount of creatine.

2. Blueberries
The antioxidants content of this little berry, is greater than any other vegetable or fruit. One serving of blueberries contains as much as fives the antioxidant of apples, broccoli, carrots, or squash. Eating blueberries every day have been link to preventing cancer and cardiovascular dieses, and better control of motor skills.

3. Broccoli
Consumption of broccoli has been show to reduced the size of tumors by 75% and prevented the development of them by 60%. Broccoli is also high in polyphenols (antioxidants) and Indoles (estrogen blockers). Broccoli also has the ability to boost the immune system, fight birth defects, build bones, and prevent degenerative eye diseases.

4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil has been shown to contain five times the polyphenols, and is superior to regular blended olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil increases arterial wall elasticity, and has many of the same benefits as walnuts. Extra virgin olive oil is also the king of all oil, when it comes to mono unsaturated fat, with 72% of the fatty acid being mono unsaturated fat.

5. Flaxseeds
Flax seeds are probably the best source of planet-derived Omega-3 fatty acids. Besides being rich in plant based Omega-3 fatty acids, Flaxseeds also contains fiber, protein magnesium and lignins (phytoestrogens.)

6. Mushrooms
Mushrooms in general contain zinc, essential amino acids and host of other vitamins. While Shiitake mushroom appear to posses anti-viral and anti-cancer properties. Shittake extract called Lentinan, which the Japanese have license as a anti cancer drug, has shown promising effects on bowel, liver, stomach, lung and ovarian cancers. Lentinan works by stimulating the production of T lymphocytes and natural killers cells.

7. Canned Pumpkin
Canned pumpkin is actually more nutritious than the raw version, and is available all year round. Pumpkin contains the richest supply of carotenoids known to man, is high in fiber, and low in calories. Pumpkin also has a really cool bend of synergistic phytonutrients, which are suspected to help in modulate immune responses, enhance cell to cell communication, protect against various cancers, and even has been suspected by some to slow aging.

8. Spinach
Spinach is far better for you than your typical Romaine or iceberg lettuce salad. Spinach is another vegetable that nutrients and phynotruients display wonderful synergy. Spinach is high in carotenoids such as zeaxanthin and beta-carotene, along with antioxidants like CoQ10 and glutathione, and the insulin modulator alpha lipoic acid(ALA). Not only that, but spinach is fairly rich in plant-derived Omega-3 fatty acids, too. Spinach can help lower your risk for many types of cancers, degenerative eye disease, and lowers your level of homocysteine.

9. Tomatoes
Men, eat your Tomatoes. Tomatoes contain lycopene, which is a member of the carotenoid family and could be a silver bullet in preventing prostate cancer. Lycopence is also a powerful antioxidant and also has properties that have been shown to raise your natural skin’s SPF(Sun Protection factor.)

10. Turkey Breast
Lean, mean, fighting machine. Turkey is practically the leanest meat you can buy. Turkey is high in tryptophan, protein and selenium, but very low in saturated fat, with only 0.2grams per 3oz.

11. Walnuts
Walnuts have been shown to reduce heart attacks and possible even reduce all death. Walnuts are rich in plant based Omega-3 Fatty acids (alpha linolenic acid), high in plant sterols, which helps to reduce cholesterol, and also have the ability to help keep the insides of your blood vessels smooth (arginine). And if that was enough, they also are the nut with the contains the high amount of antioxidants, and are very rich in magnesium and copper, which is deficient in most diets. .

12. Wild Salmon
Unlike it bastardized farm raised cousin, wild salmon is really good for you. Wild salmon is high in Omega-3 fatty acids, reduces the risk of coronary artery disease, controls hypertension and inflammation, helps to prevent cancer and degenerative eye diseases, and it possible could boost your metabolism, which helps you lose fat easier.

13. Plain Yogurt
Gastrointestinal problems are at the root of a lot of health problems, and have been linked with your bodies inability to fight other diseases such as cancer, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers and diarrhea. After all, if you cannot digest food, assimilate its nutrients and dispose of waste, how can your body immune system protect you? Yogurt that contain live active cultures of bacteria encourages the growth of good bacteria and hampers the growth of bad bacteria.

Pelvic Floor video

2008-10-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

Kari Bo of Oslo University talks about why pelvic floor muscles are important and exercise techniques to use.

Youtube

When to do pelvic floor exercises & how

2008-10-21T03:43:00.001-07:00

When can I do my pelvic floor exercises?

You can do these exercises standing up, sitting or lying down, or while carrying out a range of daily activities such as boiling a kettle, talking on the telephone or watching television.

Here's how to do pelvic Floor Exercises:

Hold in the muscles of your back passage and those around your vagina as if trying not to go to the loo or holding in wind.
Tighten these muscles to the count of eight and hold, release and repeat once, twice, three times.
When you hold the tension in your pelvic floor muscles keep on breathing all the time!
Release and relax, do it again!
When you return to the normal position, push the muscles out. Then tighten up the pelvic floor again.
Repeat this several times a day while doing everyday tasks.
Now try to alternate between slow pull-ups and "short and sharp" fast pull-ups. First: lie, stand or sit with your knees slightly apart. Then follow these instructions:
Slow pull-ups: Slowly tighten and pull up your pelvic floor muscles as hard as you can. Hold for as long as possible, then relax slowly.
Fast pull-ups: Pull up the muscles and relax immediately.
Repeat both of these exercises five times or until you are tired.

As your muscles get stronger, the contraction can be held for longer and more pull-ups achieved. After a few weeks, improvement should be very noticeable but you will need to exercise these muscles regularly for several months before they gain their full strength.

pelvic floor exercise

2008-10-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

Pelvic Floor Exercises

2008-10-21T03:40:00.001-07:00

Pelvic floor exercises are taught to women as second nature, especially after childbirth. We are told to do them whilst watching TV, doing the washing up, or standing at the bus stop.

In reality it is not so easy. The most difficult aspect that we hear in our customer feedback is the is the ability to isolate the pelvic muscles and exercise them effectively - we have all done the squeezes and wondered, "Am I doing it correctly?" Women are told to squeeze, to stop their wee during midstream, lots of women can do that instinctively (some of us have had lots of practice of stopping ourselves!), unfortunately that doesn't help those of us who suffer spontaneous leakage when we least expect it.

When practising the "squeezing" techniques women are also to do the following:
# Pulling in their tummy
# Squeeze their legs together
# Tighten their buttocks
# Hold their breath

Crikey, remember as a child patting your head and circling your stomach? We have found when a woman uses a product specifically designed to exercise her pelvic floor she is then able to do the exercises more thoroughly and she will achieve greater success.

Pelvic exercisers help to isolate the pelvic floor muscles effectively, by isolating these muscles, we mean the muscles are specifically worked - this gets the best results. By effectively isolating the muscles we all get the best results and our pelvic floor muscles work as nature intended. Women tell us they find it difficult to use their pelvic floor muscles in isolation at first because they are doubtful that they have effectively located the correct muscles. Pelvic exercises are so much easier with a Pelvic exerciser However any woman can do Pelvic Floor Exercises any time of the day, anywhere.

Why do pelvic floor exercises?

2008-10-21T03:37:00.000-07:00

Pelvic floor exercises can strengthen these muscles so that they function effectively again. The more you use them, the stronger they will be!

Strong pelvic floor muscles can support the extra weight of pregnancy, help in the second stage of labour and, by increasing circulation, assist in healing the perineum between the anus and vagina after birth. When done regularly, pelvic floor exercises can help to prevent stress incontinence, bladder weakness and prolapse in later life.

Another benefit of pelvic floor exercises is that women with strengthened pelvic floor muscles are more likely to be orgasmic and have a more satisfying sex life!

The Pelvic Floor

2008-10-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

The pelvic floor muscles form a broad sling between your legs from the pubic bone in front to the base of your spine at the back.

The muscles of the pelvic floor form a cradle to hold the bladder, womb and bowel in place and to control the muscles that close the anus, vagina and urethra, shown here in picture 1.

When the pelvic floor muscles become weak or damaged, as shown in picture 2, as the result of childbirth for example, they cannot do this effectively.

Pelvic floor weakness is a major cause of stress incontinence and in some can cause prolapse Stress incontinence, or bladder weakness means that you might leak small amounts of urine while coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising. It is estimated that up to 25 per cent of new mothers suffer from stress incontinence.

A staggering 1/3rd of all sanitary towels sold are for stress incontinence. In addition to the distress that stress incontinence can cause, many women and their partners report decreased satisfaction in their lovemaking and intimate pleasures.

5 Signs of the Menopause

2008-10-21T03:23:00.001-07:00

The menopause is not something which happens overnight. The production of female hormones gradually winds down in the years leading up to it, a time called the perimenopause. Here are some signs that the menopause is probably on its way:

Period changes: Periods become shorter, longer, lighter, heavier, or more irregular than before. Keeping a menstrual diary can help you keep track of the changes. Just mark each day you have bleeding with an L, N, or H for light, normal, heavy and S for spotting.

Hot flushes: These occur when the blood vessels in your skin enlarge and bring large amounts of blood to the surface. The increased blood flow may raise skin temperature (not body temperature) by up to 7 degrees. This can cause you to go red in the face, and is all because the temperature regulator in your brain is thrown temporarily off kilter by lower levels of oestrogen

Mood swings: Women in the perimenopause often find themselves responding to situations in ways that are completely out-of-character. Hormone fluctuations can bring edginess, tear bursts and a sudden lack of confidence, and these moods can come and go when you least expect it, rather than be concentrated at one time of the month, like PMS. It can help to talk to your family and others close to you and ask them to be understanding, and not to confront you with anything too stressful when one of these moods is upon you.

Memory loss: You thinking may go fuzzy at times, or your short-term memory has gaps, so perhaps, you can't remember what you've gone into a room for. Searching for the right word is often met with that 'tip of the tongue' feeling. Studies show that aerobic exercise can help memory, especially if the activity involves complex movement, such as dancing or swimming. And eat smaller meals at regular intervals, as this keeps a steadier flow of nutrients to your brain.

Leakages: Urinary incontinence when you laugh, cough or exercise is common, thanks to falling oestrogen levels. Doing regular pelvic floor exercises will help to strengthen and tone the urinary sphincter muscles and can be a huge help.

The menopause

2008-10-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

The menopause is a time of transition which signals the end of a woman's monthly fertility cycle.

Around the age of 40 egg production starts to slow down and levels of oestrogen, the hormone produced by the ovaries during childbearing years, start to drop.

In each menstrual cycle oestrogen thickens the lining of the womb in preparation for receiving a fertilised egg. Oestrogen is also necessary for maintaining strong bones, a healthy heart and a sharp brain.

In order to have a smooth passage through the menopause, our bodies need to be in really good shape. Most of the symptoms occur in the peri-menopausal stage, which means around the time of the menopause.

Why self examine?

2008-10-21T02:59:00.001-07:00

Some women do a self examination every week, some once a month, some only occasionally. Self examination can be a transformative experience, every woman should know how her body looks - not just leave this sacred space to healthcare professionals! Self examination can be more than simply knowing the appearance of your cervix. It can be a tool for self-discovery and empowerment. To know what was once unknown, to shed light on what was once hidden, and to have a sense of ownership and ability to care for our bodies can change our lives. It's about helping ourselves to health.

self examination - 3 steps

2008-10-21T02:56:00.000-07:00

Self examination is easy, all you will need is a hand-held mirror, light or torch, and speculum; you may want a water based lubricant to make insertion of the speculum easier. Familiarise yourself with your speculum, practice opening and closing the speculum; and make sure you understand how to lock it open, as well as how to unlock and close the bills. Then sit comfortably; leaning back with your legs open, knees up, on a bed or couch with pillows behind you.

1. Put some KY jelly or water onto the insertable bills of the speculum. Breath in, as you exhale, let your muscles relax. To insert the speculum, hold it in one hand, handles up, bills together. Using your other hand, spread the labia (vaginal lips) and insert the bills of the speculum

2. When you have inserted it as far as it will comfortably go, open the bills using the mechanism on the handles that you practiced with earlier. You will feel the speculum stretch your vagina open. Lock the speculum into place, then you can release your grip on the handle and start your self examination. Hold the light and mirror. Shine the beam of the light into the mirror so it reflects into the vagina lighting up the internal space. Or shine the flashlight directly inside. Adjust the mirror and light so you can see inside. At the back of your vagina is your cervix. It looks like a small donut with a very small opening in the center.

3. When you are finished, unlock and close the speculum. Then slowly and gently pull the speculum out. You may smell the speculum to become familiar with your natural smell of secretions and examine the mucus picked up on the speculum. An acidic smell is not unusual. A yeasty or fishy odour may indicate an infection.

Self-examination - the basics

2008-10-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

The cervix is the opening to the uterus. Through the cervix flows menstrual blood, our babies are born and terminations performed. By creating a barrier over the cervix pregnancy can be prevented to keep sperm out. When you ovulate your cervical mucous changes its consitency. Cervical mucous can be dry, sticky, creamy, or egg white consistency.

By monitoring cervical mucous you can check your fertility signs, cervical mucous increases during ovulation and has the appearance of egg white. With the aid of a speculum, viewing your cervix can be easy. Self cervical exam is not a replacement for a smear performed by a health professional. A smear is a sample from the outside of the cervix (or neck of the womb) that allows detection of pre-cancerous abnormalities to be treated before cancer develops. Sometimes smears can be abnormal when no abnormality exists. In extremely rare cases smears may detect an abnormality in the presence of a cancer of the cervix. Smears may also be called 'cervical samples' as they are not smeared on slides any more but collected in fluid filled bottles.