Perimenopause is a clinical diagnosis meaning it’s diagnosed based on symptoms. But did you know there are over 30 symptoms of perimenopause?!
As women, we spend a lot of time learning about what it’s like when your period starts, but we rarely spend time discussing what it’s like when it ends. When your period starts, it’s like flipping on a light switch. One day, it’s off, then the next day, it’s there. When it ends, it is not like the “on” switch just turns “off”. It’s more like a dimmer switch on your ovaries. For one or two months, it may be
As I have honed my practice over the years to focus on women’s health and hormone balance, naturally, infertility has been a growing part of my practice. However, fertility is also of personal interest to me. I am a few months away from officially being in my mid-thirties and want to have children of my own someday. While this was not part of my plan to wait this long, completing medical school and growing my practice were goals I wanted
It saddens me that the majority of my practice are patients that have come to me as a last resort. While I would love to promote overall wellness and prevention of disease, the reality is, most people come in after they’ve seen multiple specialists and still don’t have the answers they are looking for. The longer I’ve been in practice, the more certain I am of the existence of a deadly gender bias against women in medicine. The countless
Now that we understand the role hormones play in the stress response and their general impacts on different parts of our body, it’s important to understand the sneaky ways stress can manifest. Since hormones, by their definition, travel throughout the blood, they can reach every organ, tissue, or system. In fact, almost every cell in your body is only six cells away or less from a supply of blood. In other words, that’s like having a Starbucks every six houses. Because of
Our country has a major problem with sugar. In fact, the average American eats the body weight of an adult (~150 pounds) in sugar per year. Compare that to 1890, where we consumed only five pounds of sugar per year, a 3000% increase! The emergence of sugar in our culture has a convoluted and political history (check out Sugar Coated if you want to learn more) but that doesn’t change the fact that blood sugar issues and their subsequent consequences
The strong reactions I get when I ask someone to give up coffee continues to amaze me. Not give up indefinitely. Not abstain for a year. But for thirty days. A blink of the eye when compared to the length of a lifetime. So it may be hard to imagine that I like to subject myself to this torture at least once a year. Actually, like might be a bit of a stretch, but I do think it’s a good
Think birth control pills are 100% safe and side effect free? Think again
The body is an amazingly complex system, governed by a network of chemical highways. The best part about this system is that we don’t ever have to consciously think or be aware of it in order to live. For example, doing a “detox” or “cleanse” has become quite popular but many of us do not realize that our body is constantly detoxing as a normal part of life. Detoxification is a natural process that is required in order to help your body eliminate
Since moving to Frederick in August, I’ve been having such a great time identifying and using native herbs. But many of these plants are probably ignored by most people, thought to be weeds. This hobby of mine is formally known as wildcrafting. Wildcrafting is the harvesting of plants or herbs from the “wild” but sometimes these plants are right outside your front door. Or down the street at Baker Park. While it’s relatively easy to get into, wildcrafting does have some ethical and logistical