Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is irregular bleeding from the uterus. For example, you may get your period more often than every 21 days or farther apart than 35 days. Your period may last longer than 7 days. It is not serious, but it can be annoying and disrupt your life.
Everyone knows the basic contributors to obesity: eating too much and exercising too little. But why is cutting calories so difficult for so many people?
Birth control hormones in pills, skin patches, or vaginal rings give you a regular dose of estrogen and progestin. This controls your body’s menstrual cycles and prevents pregnancy. It also helps relieve heavy menstrual bleeding, pain, and sometimes premenstrual mood problems and bloating.
Immunizations help protect you or your child from disease. They also help reduce the spread of disease to others and prevent epidemics. Most are given as shots. They are sometimes called vaccines, or vaccinations.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of extremely thin needles through your skin, to various depths at strategic points on your body. Acupuncture originated in China thousands of years ago, but over the past two decades its popularity has grown significantly within the United States. Although scientists don’t fully understand how or why acupuncture works, some studies indicate that it may provide a number of medical benefits — from reducing pain to helping with chemotherapy-induced nausea.
Music therapy is the use of music to gain physical and emotional healing and wellness. A trained and certified music therapist, dance/movement therapist, or creative ‘arts expressive’ therapist can provide music therapy. Therapy sessions can involve listening to music, music-making, or both.
Certain ethnic groups and women with lower socioeconomic status are at increased risk of developing diabetes while pregnant, research shows.
Both men and women have a harder time maintaining optimum weight as we age, but the challenge for women may be especially daunting. Menopause doesn’t necessarily lead to weight gain, but the hormonal shifts underlying this change of life definitely affect body fat distribution. Weight tends to shift out of the hips and thighs to the abdomen, turning some “pear shaped” women into “apples.” I’ve read that the average woman puts on two to five pounds during the menopausal transition, but I know that many women complain of greater gains.
The graceful images of people gliding through dance-like poses as they practice tai chi (TIE-chee) are compelling. Simply watching them is relaxing. Tai chi, in fact, is often described as “meditation in motion” because it promotes serenity through gentle movements — connecting the mind and body.
Originally developed in China as a form of self-defense, tai chi is a graceful form of exercise that has existed for some 2,000 years. Practiced regularly, tai chi can help you reduce stress and enjoy other health benefits.