Gynacology Medicine & Health Pages
If Estrogen Causes Cancer, Where is the Epidemic?
By Dr. Gifford Jones
What would I do if I were a woman at the age of menopause and read the headline, “Breast cancer drop linked to decline in hormone therapy”? I’d be scared as hell if I were already taking estrogen. And I’d consider flushing it down the toilet. But what should menopausal women do then if they have an whelming desire to kick the cat, or their husband?
In 2002, a study of 16,000 women aged 50 to 79 showed that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increased the risk of breast cancer by 26 percent, stroke by 41 percent, heart attack by 29, cardiovascular disease by 22 , and it doubled the rate of blood clots.
Condoms With Barbs And Lethal Barbecue BrushesBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Do many rapists know that a condom could put them on the operating table? Not many. And how many people believe that barbecuing can have a lethal outcome? Not many. Life is indeed full of surprises.
Sonette Ehlers, a South African, has invented an anti-rape device called, “Rapex”. It’s made of latex and is placed like a condom inside the female vagina. But there the comparison to the male condom ends. Rapex also has a number of sharp barbs that hook onto the penis during sexual assault. I imagine it must be like having a dozen fish hooks attached to your John Henry. “Ouch”
Rapid Genital Atrophy After Stopping EstrogenBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Would men at any early age like to see their genitals shrink so it’s impossible to have sex? Not likely. But this is happening to large numbers of women. They’ve stopped taking estrogen after news spread that some studies linked this hormone to heart attack, stroke and breast cancer. But no one warned them about “Introital Stenosis”, a shrinkage of vaginal tissues. And few women know the problem is also associated with recurrent urinary infections.
Dr. Murray Freedman, of the Medical College of Georgia in the U.S., recently addressed an international meeting of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. His study involved 300 women who stopped taking estrogen after reading scary headlines about hormone replacement therapy.
Rectal and Vaginal Blowouts While Water SkiingBy Dr. Gifford Jones
What’s the worst thing that can happen to you while water skiing? Many feel it’s the embarrassment of repeated falling while others make it on their first attempt. Or that you might suffer a strained muscle or bruise. But every year water skiers face unexpected serious and life-threatening injuries. And few people are aware of the rectal and vaginal damage that occurs in this sport.
The medical journal, Pediatrics, relates the case of a nine-year-old girl in excellent health who went water skiing with friends. She was wearing a single layer one piece cloth bathing suit and failed four times to get up on skis.
New Technique Prevents Needless HysterectomiesBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Why would a woman agree to surgical removal of the uterus when a hysterectomy-saving procedure, “endometrial ablation”, is available? Given this choice the answer is obvious. But today thousands of women have never heard of this less invasive procedure due to political bureaucracy, short-sighted financing and a lack of trained doctors. So what should female patients and their families do to correct this situation? After all, good sense indicates it’s madness to cut off an arm when amputating a finger will do.
Medical Madness and Hormone Replacement TherapyBy Dr. Gifford Jones
“How would you treat a menopausal patient complaining of severe hot flushes, insomnia, inability to concentrate at the office, wanting to kick her husband and suffering from painful sexual intercourse?” I posed this question to a number of doctors at a recent medical meeting. I was shocked to hear that many would prescribe a variety of anti-depressant medicines such as Prozac and Effexor. It’s the perfect example of how the results of a statistical study can cause panic and end in poor medical advice.
In 2002, a U.S study called The Women’s Health Initiative reported that postmenopausal women who took hormone replacement therapy (HRT) longer than four years had an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke. These headlines left women with the impression that if they took HRT they would get cancer. Sales of female hormones plummeted.
The Yo Yo Effect: Why It Results in Needless MastectomiesBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Why don’t doctors learn from history about breast cancer? Over 50 years ago a Scottish surgeon reported that radical removal of women’s breasts did not improve their survival rate. Yet for decades many surgeons have continued to do this mutilating operation. Now it’s been reported that whether a lumpectomy (removal only of the cancerous lump) or mastectomy (whole breast removal) is done also depends on where you live. What’s happening in this country, and the U.S., is partly due to the Yo Yo effect.
A study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health shows that women living in Prince Edward Island are three times more likely to have a breast removed for breast cancer than women living in Quebec.
A Cesarean Section On A Lucky Day?By Dr. Gifford Jones
Should pregnant women have the right to demand a Cesarean section even if there’s no bone-fide reason for the operation? Or be allowed to have the C-section on a lucky day? Today more women are asking for this right. But is this request utter madness?
Years ago it would have been sheer folly to perform a C-section unless there was a serious emergency. Women would have died from either uncontrollable bleeding or infection. Now it’s a different story with improved surgical techniques and antibiotics.
Don’t Teach Your Dog This TrickBy Dr. Gifford Jones
It’s been said that “He or she who treats himself (or herself ) has a fool for a patient”. Now we should expand that remark; she who treats herself for vaginal irritation often loses money and also treats the wrong disease. So if they have any Scottish blood, women should think twice before they treat themselves with over-the-counter (OTC) medication.
Anti-fungal vaginal medicine used to be available only by doctor’s prescription. But in the mid 1990’s these common medications became OTC items. This resulted in huge sales. Last year, according to AC Nielsen Canada’s Market Track, over 2,075,000 units of these medications, costing $30,286,705, were sold.
Sex without Estrogen can be dangerousBy Dr. Gifford Jones
What was the diagnosis? No one was sure when they asked me to see a 57-year-old year woman in a state of shock. She had been brought to the emergency at 1:00 a.m. with no explanation as to what had occurred. It was only after an emergency operation and a talk with her husband I understood the cause of her distress.
Mrs. X had started menopause at 45 years of age. But long before the recent report that estrogen was associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and breast cancer she had decided not to take estrogen.
Yogi Berra Was RightBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Yogi Berra, the self-proclaimed philosopher king of the New York Yankee baseball team, had a knack of saying it the way it was. He remarked, “If you don’t know where you’re going you’re bound to end up someplace else.” Every year I see female patients who end up somewhere they would prefer not to be. The ones who face abortion. Or are told they have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Or wish they could have had more time between pregnancies. All because they took the wrong contraceptive, or none at all.
50 years of progress in human fertilityBy Dr. Gifford Jones
The time: 11:57 p.m. The day: July 25, 1978. A miracle happened. Louise Brown, the first in-vitro fertilization baby (IVF) was born at a small local hospital in Oldham, England. Her birth made headlines in every newspaper in the world. Now, 25 years later, 100,000 babies are born every year by IVF, but none of this could have happened without a momentous discovery 50 years ago. Few people have heard of James Watson and Francis Crick, but in 1953, they discovered the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the substance in the chromosomes that makes us who we are. This was the start of molecular medicine, which allows us to make pregnancy hormones, insulin, and other medication
The Cape Breton Solution To Teenage PregnancyBy Dr. Gifford Jones
So you think little Johnny and Mary are just going to the Saturday movies, and nothing else will happen? Well, if this is what you believe, you’re living in Disney World. And it’s high time that you, doctors and society took a new look at the current world of teenagers. If you don’t, you may be one of the thousands of parents who have to face an unwanted teenage pregnancy. It’s time we all took a hard, and unemotional look at the Cape Breton solution.
Dr. Victoria Davis, an expert on adolescent gynecology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, recently addressed the annual meeting of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. Her plea? Society must make family planning more accessible to women ages 15 to 24, starting in the public school system.
Mirena, A New Method Of ContraceptionBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Wouldn’t all women like to stop worrying about birth control for five years? Not to have to remember to take the pill every day. Or face the bother of having to insert a vaginal contraceptive each time before sex. Now, a new unique intrauterine system, Mirena, which has been used in Europe for over 10 years, is available in Canada.
Why has it taken so long for Mirena to get here? In the 1960s IUDs became quite popular. But one IUD, the Dalkon Shield, triggered complications due to a faulty design. This resulted in a U.S. class action law suit. It’s producer failed, and all the other IUDs in the U.S. were pulled from the market. Greedy lawyers and greedy patients, looking for an easy million, were largely to blame for a good contraceptive going down the drain.
Evista, Another Way to Treat OsteoporosisBy Dr. Gifford Jones
A few weeks ago I wrote about hormone replacement therapy (HRT). That it was foolish for women to give up HRT if they suffer menopausal problems. But because of the latest HRT reports some postmenopausal women are now looking to other long-term therapies to fight osteoporosis. I mentioned the medication, Evista, and many readers have asked me to tell them more about this.
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones, which like other living tissues, are in constant change. Early in life more bone is formed than lost. Later the reverse is true making bones more fragile with increased risk of fracture.
Next 15 Columns
