Women’s health

869 articles · Since 2011

Articles, page 38

Hormone replacement and the profound importance of maybe

November 5, 2013Nov 5, 20132

Recently, colleagues and I published what I consider a very important paper in the American Journal of Public Health, indicating that tens of thousands of relatively young women who have undergone hysterectomy are dying needlessly because of an over-generalized fear…

Recently, colleagues and I published what I consider a very important paper in the American Journal of Public Health, indicating that tens of thousands of relatively young women who have undergone hysterectomy are dying needlessly because of an over-generalized fear of hormone replacement. Publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association of a rich compilation of findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial does nothing to change …

Physician voices

The $1000 Pap smear: A pathologist responds

Anonymous

October 29, 2013Oct 29, 201317

Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, a New Jersey-based family practitioner and a National Physician’s Alliance board member, has written an interesting editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine in which she states she is no longer surprised when laboratories charge her…

Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, a New Jersey-based family practitioner and a National Physician’s Alliance board member, has written an interesting editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine in which she states she is no longer surprised when laboratories charge her patients $1000 or more for a Pap smear.

According to Dr. Bettigole, the reason for the exorbitant charges are not the actual Pap smear itself (although she does mention the fact liquid-based preps …

Physician voices

The danger of buying breast milk over the Internet

Wendy Sue Swanson, MD

October 29, 2013Oct 29, 201319

Recent research confirms that buying breast milk on the Internet via milk-sharing sites may not be safe. Although breast milk purchased from online sites may be free or as cheap as $1-$2 an ounce, it may carry significant risk for babies. Clearly the benefits of breast milk are vast; pediatricians and health experts recommend exclusive breast feeding until 6 months of age.

However, simply put, breast milk obtained from unknown (or …

Real physician voices, twice a week

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

Physician voices

Is the use of gestational surrogates in India ethical?

Ruth Macklin, PhD

October 22, 2013Oct 22, 2013

The use of gestational surrogates in India is a booming business, but is it ethical? This growing practice involves individuals and couples from countries in Western Europe, North America, Israel, Japan and elsewhere who work through brokers to have their…

The use of gestational surrogates in India is a booming business, but is it ethical?

This growing practice involves individuals and couples from countries in Western Europe, North America, Israel, Japan and elsewhere who work through brokers to have their genetically related offspring carried through pregnancy and birth by Indian women.

An estimated $500 million to $2.3 billion (U.S.) changes hands among commissioning couples, infertility clinics, brokers and Indian women who choose this way …

Physician voices

Insurers should stop paying for robotic hysterectomies

Jennifer Gunter, MD

October 21, 2013Oct 21, 201320

A new study confirms what previous studies tell us. That a robotic hysterectomy is not a safer or a more efficient way to remove a uterus for non-cancerous (benign) surgery than a traditional laparoscopic approach. This study indicates that there is little difference between the two types of surgery with one glaring exception, a robotic hysterectomy was $2,489 more expensive than a laparoscopic hysterectomy.

Several months ago the American Congress of Obstetricians …

Conditions and diseases

Miriam Carey: The lessons of motherhood and mental illness

Claudia M. Gold, MD

October 10, 2013Oct 10, 20133

We do not have medical records or diagnoses. The news is filled with speculation. What we do know is that Miriam Carey’s one-year-old daughter lost her mother, and that because the incident occurred in Washington, DC in front of the White House, it is shining a spotlight on the subject of mental health and motherhood. And the message should be simple. Diagnoses don’t matter. As part of our nation’s health …

Medical education

Being a good medical student doesn’t mean you’ll be a good doctor

Amy Faith Ho, MD

October 6, 2013Oct 6, 201326

There is a saying that you enter medical school wanting to help people but exit it wanting to help yourself. It may be a cynical view, but a realistic one. The criteria for being a good medical student are far different from being a good doctor. Medical education may be breeding a legion of self-serving, grade-grubbing, SOAP-note spewing machines rather than …

Physician voices

With the patient hemorrhaging, doctors are backed into a corner

Jordan Grumet, MD

September 23, 2013Sep 23, 20133

We were pretty damn lucky that she was young and healthy. The surgery had been technically successful. I watched as the resident finished with the last sutures. Although the attending had already left the room, I looked on with the…

We were pretty damn lucky that she was young and healthy.

The surgery had been technically successful. I watched as the resident finished with the last sutures. Although the attending had already left the room, I looked on with the eagerness of a third year student. Orders were written, and the patient was transferred to recovery.

It was a routine hysterectomy. None of the pizazz and flare of a gynecology-oncology surgery, but …

Conditions and diseases

What to say to anyone who has a baby in the NICU

Jennifer Gunter, MD

September 20, 2013Sep 20, 20139

A friend delivered twins early. One is in the NICU, one died. What can I say or do? This question was sent to me via Twitter. The person who added my name to the tweet knew that I might have…

A friend delivered twins early. One is in the NICU, one died. What can I say or do?

This question was sent to me via Twitter. The person who added my name to the tweet knew that I might have something to offer because 10 years ago I was that friend. I entered the hospital with ruptured membranes at 22 1/2 weeks, pregnant with triplets. My son Aidan died at birth …

Physician voices

Laws based on fetal pain are being dressed with pseudoscience

Jennifer Gunter, MD

September 6, 2013Sep 6, 2013118

10 years ago today my first son was born and 10 years ago today he died. Born at 22 1/2 weeks he lived for three minutes, at least that’s what was written on the certificate that they gave me at…

10 years ago today my first son was born and 10 years ago today he died.

Born at 22 1/2 weeks he lived for three minutes, at least that’s what was written on the certificate that they gave me at the hospital. It seemed like both hours and seconds.

It was very anticlimactic in a way. I don’t say this to be trite, but it was as if his motor just stopped …

Drugs and prescribing

Drugs that are not FDA approved: Is there a time to prescribe them?

Juliet K. Mavromatis, MD

September 3, 2013Sep 3, 201325

Here’s an interesting clinical dilemma brought to my attention by another physician. She was asked to refill a prescription for a drug called domperidone to help a patient with lactation. Domperidone is not FDA approved in the United States for…

Here’s an interesting clinical dilemma brought to my attention by another physician.

She was asked to refill a prescription for a drug called domperidone to help a patient with lactation. Domperidone is not FDA approved in the United States for any indication. However, in Europe and in Canada it is approved as a promotility agent for patients with a condition called gastroparesis, which causes the stomach to empty very slowly and results in …

Physician voices

The hubris of medicine has to end

John Mandrola, MD

September 3, 2013Sep 3, 201340

I used to think medicine would get easier over time. It makes sense, right? You see patterns, you learn how treatments work, and you just get to know stuff. Experience should make it easier to diagnose and treat. That’s not…

That’s not been the case for me. In fact, it’s closer to the opposite. In the exam room, as I look up to the patient from my stool, and before I stand at …

Read more…

The hubris of medicine has to end

Physician voices

When I see young pregnant patients, I see potential and opportunity

Jeff Livingston, MD

September 2, 2013Sep 2, 201323

When I look in the eyes of a pregnant teenage patient, I see my wife. My wife was a teen mother. She was a teen mother who beat the odds. She is not a statistic. She is an example of…

When I look in the eyes of a pregnant teenage patient, I see my wife. My wife was a teen mother. She was a teen mother who beat the odds. She is not a statistic. She is an example of the tremendous potential that lies before each and every teen facing the challenges of teen pregnancy. Pregnancy did not stop her from succeeding. My wife tells the story of riding …

Patient voices

Health insurance is wasted on the young

Kelly Wooten

September 1, 2013Sep 1, 201360

There has never been a time in my life when I’ve owed a lot of money. That certainly has changed this past two years as my husband and myself find ourselves with medical debt that we may never pay off. As you can guess, we have no health insurance — we can’t afford it and even if we did have an extra $650 a month we couldn’t obtain it due …

Read more…

Health insurance is wasted on the young

Conditions and diseases

Putting the fear of God into people is bad medicine

Jennifer Gunter, MD

August 23, 2013Aug 23, 20135

Emily Oster has a book coming out entitled Take Back Your Pregnancy. In preparation for the book launch, as most authors do, she wrote a nice piece in the Wall Street Journal about decision-making, risks, and how some of what…

Emily Oster has a book coming out entitled Take Back Your Pregnancy. In preparation for the book launch, as most authors do, she wrote a nice piece in the Wall Street Journal about decision-making, risks, and how some of what OB/GYNs recommend during pregnancy isn’t always evidence based.

In particular, she mentions listeria, a bacteria that is a food borne illness with potentially devastating outcomes during pregnancy. Osher quotes the risk …

Medical education

A medical student’s lesson in cultural understanding

Natalie Wilcox

August 20, 2013Aug 20, 201316

The presence of strong, independent women has been a constant throughout my life. Friends, teachers, mentors, aunts, cousins, and grandmothers have all helped shape my firm belief that gender need not be a hindrance and can indeed become a source of pride. Yet the most influential and compelling woman will always be my mom, and for me, no story of admirable females can go without mention of her.

On a rainy …

Physician voices

When sparrows fall: A tribute to a baby girl

Brenda Izen, MD

August 17, 2013Aug 17, 201324

It began like any other day on the OB floor. My hair was still wet under my cap from my morning shower at 4:30am. I was just returning to labor and delivery after making postpartum rounds and performing the daily circumcisions. The doctors and medical students were all congregated for board rounds. During board rounds we learned who was working and what was going on with each patient.

As I approached …

Drugs and prescribing

Is Osphena the new female Viagra?

Jennifer Gunter, MD

August 13, 2013Aug 13, 20139

Osphena (ospemifene) is an oral medication recently approved by the FDA for painful sex (dyspareunia) due to vaginal dryness for menopausal women. As typically happens when a new drug gets FDA approval the PR machine for the company goes into overdrive flooding the media with press releases. Since sex sells, well, Osphena received a fair amount of air time and print space. Headlines like FDA-Approved “Female” Viagra might lead someone to believe that Osphena is freaking amazing. Which, …

Read more…

Is Osphena the new female Viagra?

Physician voices

Atul Gawande provides clues on how to change doctor behavior

Kevin Pho, MD

August 13, 2013Aug 13, 201313

We're spending an inordinate amount of time and effort trying to convince doctors to change the way they practice. Most recently, for instance, a study came out saying that doctors aren't following back pain guidelines. Or from a broader perspective,…

We’re spending an inordinate amount of time and effort trying to convince doctors to change the way they practice.

Most recently, for instance, a study came out saying that doctors aren’t following back pain guidelines. Or from a broader perspective, consider the Choosing Wisely campaign, which lists scores of tests and treatments that are ordered too frequently.

Various carrots and sticks have been used to steer …

Patient voices

Good doctors are those who genuinely care about patients

Robert Spencer, MD

August 7, 2013Aug 7, 201368

Helpless. That is how I felt when my mother found out she had a fibroid the size of a cantaloupe living in her uterus. In my role as a medical student I might have dismissed the finding as nothing serious, telling my patient, “Don’t worry, it could be much worse.” But as a loving son I was not quite as cavalier. At first my mother resolved to ignore the fibroid, …

Women’s health

Articles, page 38

Real physician voices, twice a week

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular