www.bogotafreeplanet.com Bogota Free Planet Medical Pages en Bogota Free Planet Copyright 2010 2010-09-06T20:29:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8135 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8135#When:23:23:56 Some patients you never forget. Years ago, a young talented pianist after years of dedicated study, was scheduled to give her first piano recital in Toronto. But for months beforehand she noticed vaginal discharge and did nothing. Finally, due to abnormal bleeding she consulted me. Pelvic examination revealed an extensive cancer of the cervix. She died a few months later and never gave her recital. Now, a new vaccine, “Gardasil”, will prevent needless deaths such as hers. Cervical cancer strikes half a million women worldwide each year and 250,000 die from this disease. The cause of this cancer evaded researchers for years. However, recent studies show that the majority of cervical tumours are due to infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV).  Medical News 2010-09-03T04:21:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8134 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8134#When:23:20:53 “What a unique way to get attention” I thought as I opened the morning’s mail. What usually arrives on my desk is a host of medical reports. So I was surprised when two condoms fell out of one envelope. I wondered what was expected of me at 10:00 a.m.? And have I since put these condoms to good use? Eventually I discovered that Toronto Public Health had initiated a communication campaign for doctors to alert young people to the dangers of sexually transmitted infections (STI), particularly chlamydia. To see the whole campaign visit http://www.gettested.ca Medical News 2010-09-03T04:16:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8133 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8133#When:23:15:46 How would you like to be an NHL hockey player, reach the Stanley Cup playoffs, then suddenly develop a severe cold? Or train for the Olympics and then be knocked out of competition by a cold? It’s a fear that never leaves athletes. Now Canadian scientists have finally developed a pill that fights this common problem. In fact, and this is hard to believe, Cold-fX is even good enough to make Don Cherry, hockey’s outspoken personality, a believer! Don Cherry, whom we either love or hate during NHL intermission crossfire with Ron Maclean, told me that as a young boy he suffered from bronchial asthma and every winter had several colds. The colds continued during his hockey career. Later, when he retired from playing and became a banquet speaker his colds became worse, from shaking thousands of hands. Medical News 2010-09-03T04:12:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8132 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8132#When:23:12:45 It was not a good day at the office. My morning was just ending, when two female investigators from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, arrived without notice and asked to see me. I was handed an envelope and one woman immediately started to take notes. This was not a good sign. So I asked the reason for the sudden visit and was shocked to hear I had been accused of sexual misconduct. That same day I was meeting my wife for lunch so I told her with trepidation what had just occurred. She immediately laughed and said, “Congratulations! At your age you should be proud of yourself!” But I didn’t share her sense of humour at the time.  Health - Sex 2010-09-03T04:07:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8131 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8131#When:23:12:25 Are you fed up reading about war, our failing health care system and crooked CEOs? If so, let’s discuss a more pleasant topic, the way to ensure a long and healthy life. Some are convinced that jogging, a variety of diets or a daily glass of red wine is the answer. But what about sex? The fact is that making love is downright good for you. Here are eight reasons why you should put more amore into your life. Health - Sex 2010-09-03T04:05:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8130 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8130#When:23:12:04 Some columns strike a particular note with readers. The one I wrote about Copenhagen’s Thorupgaarden nursing home, struck high C. Every Saturday night pornographic videos are shown on the home’s internal channel. If residents remain depressed after this therapy they can request that a prostitute be allowed to visit. The Danish medical community decided this treatment was superior to Prozac. I’ve received a response from readers, second only to the column on the fractured male organ. From Lethbridge a reader writes, “Go Danes go! Be prepared for the immigration of Canadian seniors. Our young people believe that our brain is dead when we our hair turns white. I may even become a Danish Lady-of- the-Night.” Health - Sex 2010-09-03T04:01:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8129 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8129#When:23:11:38 This week I ran into the same problem I’ve encountered many times before. Many writers will understand. I was bored, weary of my computer and barren of ideas. I’ve written 1400 columns during the last 28 years. And I desperately needed a new topic to keep me from falling asleep. Suddenly I discovered it in Denmark. Then I couldn’t wait to get back to my computer. Why? Because this story could never happen in “Canada, The Good”. A unique event has happened at the Thorupgaarden nursing home in Copenhagen. Don’t ask me how it started. But the staff must have had a few fascinating discussions before making their earth-shaking pronouncement. They decided, in their infinite wisdom, that pornography has a greater calming effect on seniors than medication.  Health - Sex 2010-09-03T03:58:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8128 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8128#When:22:58:05 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.  Gynacology 2010-09-03T03:56:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8127 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8127#When:22:50:08 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” Gynacology 2010-09-03T03:46:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8126 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8126#When:22:46:31 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. Gynacology 2010-09-03T03:44:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8090 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8090#When:23:32:28 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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:28:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8089 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8089#When:23:27:07 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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:23:01-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8088 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8088#When:23:23:30 “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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:20:01-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8087 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8087#When:23:19:26 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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:16:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8086 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8086#When:23:10:41 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.  Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:06:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8085 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8085#When:23:06:04 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.  Gynacology 2010-09-01T04:02:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8084 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8084#When:23:02:12 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.  Gynacology 2010-09-01T03:57:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8083 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8083#When:22:56:49 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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T03:53:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8082 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8082#When:22:53:11 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 Gynacology 2010-09-01T03:49:00-05:00 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8081 http://www.bogotafreeplanet.com/index.php/articles-health/8081#When:22:49:00 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. Gynacology 2010-09-01T03:45:00-05:00