A hysterectomy is often seen as a last resort by women who have uterine or menstrual symptoms that are making their lives, including their sex lives, a misery. Chronic pelvic pain and protracted menstrual bleeding, for example, may mean that prior to a hysterectomy a woman’s sexual needs and those of her partner are not [...]

We are going against nature with assisted conception techniques like IVF because the body is being asked to mature a great number of eggs in one cycle. (Normally only two at the most would ever be released at the same time.) The question which is often asked, and rightly so, is: what are the long-term [...]

Coping The most important thing to realize is that you are not alone in trying to cope with this disease. There are many people ready to support you by listening, making suggestions and helping you to make choices about treatment. Talk to your doctor. Tell her or him you feel alone. There are also self-help [...]

Depending on the history, the severity of the symptoms, and what the doctor finds on examination, a doctor may recommend that treatment be started even before the test results are available. When the results are available a change in treatment may be necessary, but starting treatment early gives a better chance of getting rid of [...]

Shared antenatal care. This is becoming more popular in Australia, and is very widely practised in the UK. In this variation you still attend the hospital for your first visit, and if you have a low-risk pregnancy (not likely to have complications), you may choose to see a general practitioner for the majority of your [...]

This can only be safe if there is no transfer of fluids, either from the penis or the vagina. Using a condom can make this a safer technique when stimulating a man orally, but it is difficult to avoid vaginal secretions when stimulating a woman orally, so it cannot be called particularly safe. Anal sex [...]

Western medicine has developed new methods of fighting these bugs, most notably antibiotics. These are drugs designed to stop bacteria and parasites from multiplying. There are many different kinds of antibiotic, and each works in different ways, so not all antibiotics will kill all bacteria. The drug needs to be matched to the bug if [...]

There are some people in the medical profession who do not believe that premenstrual syndrome exists. Fortunately (especially for those of us who suffer from it), there are some practitioners and researchers whose work is trying to define, diagnose and treat this common disorder. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual tension (PMT) as it was previously [...]