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Urinary incontinence, or the inability to control one’s urination, is a very common and distressing problem for many women. Up to 30 percent of older women are affected to some extent. Millions of dollars are spent each year on protective pads and garments. Even more expensive, to many women, is the resulting negative impact on their quality of life. Even an occasional episode of incontinence can interfere significantly with daily activities and adversely affect social interaction, which is crucial to enjoying life.
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Cardiovascular (involving the heart and blood vessels) disease is the leading cause of death in women, accounting for over 500,000 deaths on an annual basis. Over 250,000 of these deaths are directly related to heart disease or coronary artery disease. Heart disease accounts for more deaths a year than all cancers combined. Read more »

I have a newborn and want to give him the best possible start in life. Will teaching my baby simple motor skills and logical thinking concepts give him an advantage later in his life? Read more »

It is always wise to live in the now because, as wisdom born of experience teaches us, there is only the now in which to experience the mosaic of life’s joys and sorrows.

When you have children, this admonition to live in the now is even more important because so many of the experiences you have will never come again, or they will be remembered as phases of your life that seemed all-consuming at the time and yet passed so quickly.

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Sometimes it’s the simplest sales approaches that prove to be the most effective. When the staff at Women’s Fitness Center in Harrisonburg, Va., began strategizing about how to boost sales during the typically slow month of December, it decided to “give” a little to the community in the hopes of “receiving” a little in return.

The goodwill formula turned into a coat-drive that not only produced much-needed goods for local charities, but increased memberships for the fitness facility. “A Warm Coat Gets You a Hot Deal” was offered in stages beginning November 30, 1995, with a kickoff “sale” on memberships. The donor of a new or used coat that day received a $65 discount off the club’s $75 enrollment fee, and the sale continued through December with a $40 discount to donors bringing in coats for men, women or children. Read more »

Q: I recently had my first child. Can you tell me how I can regain tightness in my vaginal muscles?

A: Postpartum women are often instructed to perform pelvic-floor (Kegel) exercises. Dr. Arnold Kegel, an American obstetrician and gynecologist, first described and promoted exercises for the pelvic floor in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Kegel exercises are designed to improve the tone of the muscles, ligaments and fascia that are collectively referred to as the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor controls urination and defecation, enhances the sexual response to orgasm and provides support to the pelvic organs. Many women are unaware that they have muscles in this area that can be strengthened just like their biceps or quadriceps. Read more »

Dermatologists can often help women avoid problems during pregnancy. According to Dr. Barbara Reed, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, “several medications used to treat skin, hair and nail conditions have been known to result in birth defects.

A good rule is to avoid every drug which is not necessary to maintain health during pregnancy”. These drugs include isotretinoin often prescribed for severe nodular acne can cause low set ears and cardiac problems in a fetus.

The anti-fungal agent fluconazole has been associated with birth defects along with minoxidil during pregnancy and during breastfeeding.

Over the counter agents also pose a threat such as ibuprofen, aspiring and nutritional supplements. The best rule of thumb is for women to work with their physician when they decide to become pregnant.

Finally pregnancy can cause changes in the skin such as melasma or darkening of the skin, pruritic and urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy which is a benign rash arising in the third trimester and Pemphigoid Gestationis which is a rare itchy spread of blisters on the trunk.

Simon Hinton on why he thinks the female of the species can be more deadly than the male.

Of course there does exist a very nasty type of man who really hates women – the genuine misogynist. These men are normally undesirable little twerps who women can’t help laughing at, and because women scare them, they hate you (giggling girls have never done much for an inferiority complex). But fortunately most guys don’t fall into this category, and find women to be the most gorgeous, delightful, strangely complex and beautifully indecipherable creatures. Read more »

There are three main types of estrogen produced by the female body:
Estradiol—Produced by the ovaries, this is the primary estrogen produced during your reproductive years. Read more »

I have been walking for a month, not missing a day. My problem is pain and stiffness in my hips — they feel tight, too. Am I doing something wrong?

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