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Menopausal changes that don't have to be In last Tuesday's Science Times there was an article entitled, "Menopausal vagina monologues." It was an excellent article talking about the fact that without any estrogen in menopause the vagina becomes atrophic. It loses blood supply and elasticity. It loses its normal pH (acid/base balance) because it cannot support the normal predominant bacteria called lactobacillus that feasts on glycogen and produces lactic acid, thus lowering the pH. Studies have...
Fertility decline, freezing eggs: myths and realities In last week's New York Times, just before the holiday weekend, there was an article about a 22-year-old single woman who decided to freeze her eggs. In that article it said that fertility was declining by age 20. This is extremely inaccurate and unfair. According the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, fertility remains relatively constant until about age 30 then begins to decline and there is a sharper falling off after ag...
“If it ain’t broke why are we fixing it?” This week the United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) published a recommendation statement in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) They made updated recommendations for screening for cervical cancer using Pap smears (which they call cervical cytology) and high risk HPV testing or both in combination. I have some real problems with these kinds of recommendations. Their goals are to prevent cervical cancer and re...
Recently, there has been a lot of medical attention vis-a-vis calcium, and to a lesser extent, Vitamin D. Many patients are confused, hence this post. Make no mistake – calcium and vitamin D are crucial for healthy bone. The current recommendation is for 1000mg of elemental Calcium for women up to age 50 and 1200 mg for women above age 50. I have been telling my patients for years that you are best off getting your calcium from diet. Some evidence suggest that calcium supplements may...