PARIS' FEATURED DOCTOR BLOG

Some girls are a beast of burden

If you are carrying a purse that weighs more than three pounds, you are no longer fashionable, you are a beast of burden. 

Dr. Jane. S. Sadler, family physician in Garland, Texas, warns, "A heavy purse will pull down on your body, causing you to lift your shoulder to keep the bag in place. That can cause muscle spasms as well as neck pressure. Over time, you could develop arthritis of the neck and spine similar to the overuse injuries athletes experience." (Forbes)

Get your 'wild horse' sexy back by following Dr. Sadler's recommendations for lightening your load.

Dr. Sadler enjoys a large pediatric/adolescent practice at the North Garland location. She sees a generous portion of the gynecological patients as well. Dr. Sadler participates in community services projects, Project Access and Friendship House Health Ministries. She is board certified by American Board of Family Medicine.

         

To-do list if you think you're depressed...

1. Check if you just had a baby
2. Check if you're just about to have a baby
3. Check if you are with baby
4. Check if you're depressed, don't blame the baby

According to Healthday, 15% of pregnant women experience depression around the time of their pregnancy.   Dr. David L. Katz, director of Yale University School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center, attributes this condition to a couple possible factors: ""There are two potential explanations. Either the challenges of pregnancy -- from hormonal changes to psychological adjustment -- induce depression, or the medical monitoring that occurs around the time of pregnancy identifies depression that otherwise would have gone undiagnosed. Of course, both factors may be in play," he said." (HealthDay)

In any case, if you're feeling depressed, remember that there are people who care and are waiting to help you.  Like this guy:

David L. Katz, is a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Public Health. Katz co-founded the Yale Prevention Research Center (PRC) in 1998, and also founded and directs the Integrative Medicine Center (IMC; Derby, CT), a facility that blends allopathic and naturopathic care. Jointly, the IMC and PRC support trials in the area of complementary and alternative medicine.  His practice location is in Derby, Connecticut.

Ovarian cancer leaves its greasy fingerprints...

'The Silent Killer' is not only a title for a potential Dean R. Koontz novel, but a monicker given to the deadliest malignancy afflicting women in the U.S. - ovarian cancer. 

Unlike breast cancer and cervical cancer which can both be detected early on by mammograms and PAP Smears, ovarian cancer has no such preventive exam available making the disease difficult to catch in its early stages. 

However, researchers at University of Washington have found that perhaps this disease does indeed come with warning signs.  Their findings point to the following symptoms that may signal ovarian cancer: 'bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain; difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and a frequent or urgent need to urinate.'  An important point, according to researchers, 'is if such symptoms — alone or together — come out of the blue and persist, occurring almost daily for more than two or three weeks.' (NPR News)

Wait a second...I was feeling like that just yesterday...I'M FEELING LIKE THAT RIGHT NOW!!!

Although these symptoms seem painfully ordinary, Gynecological Oncologist, Dr. Linda R. Duska, feels it's better safe than sorry.  She insists that for women who feel they have these symptoms, "they really need to push their physicians … to get to the next step," Duska says. "A lot of them have told me, 'I've had to go back to my doctor multiple times and say something is really wrong with me and you need to figure it out.'"  (NPR news)

So the next time you inappropriately announce to a room full of people that you must urinate - pronto!...you may defend yourself by chalking it up to detective work.    

Dr. Linda R. Duska has special expertise in Gynecologic Cancer, Surgical Oncology, and Fertility.  She practices at Gillette Center Women's Cancer in Boston, Massachusetts.

The hills are alive!!!!

According to HealthDay, the death rate in breast cancer patients in the U.S. continues to drop by more than 2% a year. 

The positive trend is accounted for by better treatments and early detection. 

According to Eric P. Winer, director of the breast oncology center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and chief scientific advisor for Susan G. Komen for the Cure,"It is clear that we have new diagnostic tools that have the potential to allow us to detect breast cancer at even earlier stages."   He goes on to say,"Perhaps more importantly, we also have many new treatment strategies. These treatments, particularly if properly applied, will save lives and reduce suffering. There has been, and continues to be, a decline in death from breast cancer."

However, it isn't Hasta La Edelweiss for breast cancer quite yet.  All this good news is soiled by the troubling findings, according to Dr. Winer, that there is a disparity in breast cancer mortality rates among white women and black women, which may point to a lack of available healthcare for lower income minorities. 

There is also evidence to suggest that women are not going in for screenings at the rate that they had in previous years.  According to HealthDay, "70 percent of women aged 40 and older said they had had a mammogram within the past two years in 2000, just 66 percent did in 2005."

So in this final week of Women's Health Month, here's hoping that one day we will all have access to available healthcare, and mammography machines will become the new black.    

Dr. Eric P. Winer has special expertise in breast cancer.  He is Director of Breast Oncology Center of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and chief scientific advisor for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  He practices Hematology-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.    

Get your mustache on!

When I was in elementary school, I had a terrific friend named Anne whose mother would make her drink a full glass of milk after dinner every night.  Back then I used to wonder to myself what that was all about (usually while drinking a Squeeze It). 

I'm sure if anyone had a most complete answer for me it would be endocrinologist, Dr. Pauline Camacho.  Dr. Camacho shares her research findings, conducted with her colleagues at Loyola University in Chicago, in today's Reuters Health regarding osteoporosis. 

The study finds that within the group of research participants (238 postmenopausal women who had been treated for osteoporosis), most of them exhibited a vitamin -D deficiency.  The study also finds that breast cancer treatment patients may be at higher risk for the disease due to the effects of chemotherapy and other treatments.

While women with breast cancer are advised to manage their cancer treatment while paying attention to future risks of osteoporosis, all women should find themselves a benevolent master like Anne's mom to ensure that they're getting a daily intake of Vitamin-D. 

Dr. Camacho's areas of special interest include Bone Metabolism Osteoporosis, Calcium Metabolism, Thyroid Disorders, and Endocrine Disorders. She practices at the Loyola Outpatient Center in Maywood, Illinois, as well as the Loyola Oakbrook Terrace Medical Center in in Oakbrook Terrace.  She speaks English and Filipino. 

Anti-aging serums...or a bunch of crater faces?

The prospects of whether cosmetic products can reverse signs of aging are unclear.  Blemished, you might say.  Experts have hit out against these creams and various other spreadables that claim to have any real use in our fight to be youthful beyond our youth.  It's an ugly lie, you could say with added boldness, when a  potion promises to turn back the clock (read: your face).  Just as time marches across the face of a clock, so does it march across the bridge of your nose, around your eyeballs and anything else on yer f-to-the-ace that once had the ability to be firm and non-old-like. 

Our featured doctor, dermatologist Rebecca Kazin confirms as much in the Washington Post, warning that anti-aging creams are "not being held to any standard, so we don't know if they work."  ("Going Skin Deep," Washington Post)   This isn't to say that Dr. Kazin poo poo's all products wholesale.  But she does recommend skepticism.  Skepticism.  An important, if at all a blemish, blemish on the face of our naivete.

 

Dr. Kazin, unlike most of us, is an assistant professor of dermatology and medical director of the Johns Hopkins Cosmetic Center at Green Spring Station in Lutherville, Maryland.  She is an expert in cosmetic dermatology and laser surgery, skin cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as general dermatology. She offers personalized consultation for Botox™ Restylane™, Sculptra™, Radiesse™, laser hair removal, laser skin rejuvenation and resurfacing, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, correction of acne scars and leg vein treatment.

The Dirt on Detox

In our rush to not only be beautiful on the outside but also beautiful on the inside (whatever that means), we may be throwing money at all the wrong treatments.  CNN's article Deconstructing 'Detox' Diets takes a realistic look at several of the most popular detox methods, including diets, colonics, and herbal supplements.   As much as a detox massage designed to 'cleanse your lymph nodes' sounds positively excessive and something only rich people do to feel like they're rich, IT IS.  According to Dr. Ki Y. Shin, who specializes in Physical  Medicine and Rehabilitation in Houston, these massages which are often offered in high-end spas are really tailored for cancer patients.  "It's a medical massage for sick people that requires special training," he says, and one that he uses to treat lymph-related swelling in patients at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. (CNN)

If after reading the aforementioned article you feel disappointed that your liver, colon, and lymph nodes don't really need your help, please consider taking up recycled-aluminum art as a hobby, reading to the blind (or just plain reading) or abiding the speed limit when driving through school zones.  These methods may not make you more beautiful on the inside, but they will help clean up the earth, fill your brain with words, and save school children from your reckless driving.  And hey, maybe all that do-gooding may save you from ever really needing that lymph node massage. 

Dr. Shin's clinical interests include neuro rehabilitation, orthopedic rehabilitation and pain management. Improving quality of life in the cancer patient using the rehabilitation team is his goal.  He practices at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. 

Non-pumps aren't just made for walkin'...

Guess what, ladies?  The non-traditional method of foregoing the heart-lung machine during coronary bypass procedure  yields significant positive results for women patients.  Sweeeeet.  Cardiologist, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum supports this new method of surgery, although warns that there is no need for women to press their doctors into performing the procedure: "The surgeon's comfortability comes into play. I think, down the road, more off-pump surgeries will be done on women, but, ultimately, it will be the choice of the surgeon." (Medline Plus)

In a study conducted at Emory University Heart Center in Atlanta, women who had undergone traditional methods of bypass surgery had a 2.5 times greater likelihood of dying compared to women who had an off-pump procedure. 

Sounds like a great leap forward for women's health, a real reason to kick up the flat-footed heel.  Although I must say the procedure could use a prettier moniker than 'off-pump.'   How much funner and more stimulating to one's bravado to say, "Listen...I'm going in Wednesday for a 'cowboy boot'...but when I come out...I'ma comin' out shootin'..."

Dr. Steinbaum practices at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.  She has special expertise in coronary artery disease, women and heart disease, natural and alternative ways of treating heart disease, and the prevention of heart disease.

Harvard doc inspires and informs

Okay.  Sometimes I have illusions of being an overachiever.  There are a few women who tend to inspire me to achieve world-acclaim and greatness:

(this last lady qualifies for over achievements circa 1985 to 2000...then she's moved to my list of 'ladies of uncompromising hedonism'...).

In the spirit of adding to this list of five-star high achieving women I'd like to present today's featured doc, pediatrician Claire McCarthy.  She's seriously making it look easy: A Harvard grad who has written for several columns including Sesame Street Magazine and the Boston Globe and has published two books, Learning How the Heart Beats and Everyone's Children, and also a mother of four and has a really pretty smile.

See...

Doc McCarthy dispenses some useful advice on germ-y daycares, the safety of vaccines and more in Newsweek's Q-and-A article, "Raising Healthy Kids."

Now I'm off to power walk around the building absorbing new episodes of the Grammar Girl podcast.

AN INTERGALACTIC PSA ABOUT SPINA BIFIDA AND PREGNANCY

"Hello, mothers-to-be.  Queen Mother here.  But you can call me Alien.  You may recognize me as the impressive pregnant lady from the movies Alien and Aliens (and a few others that we just won't mention here), co-starring with Sigourney Weaver in a few of America's most celebrated celluloid cat fights of all time...or should I say, space fights...HAH HAHHAH....anywho, since the success of my career as a dramatic actress, I've left Hollywood to quietly pursue another kind of career - motherhood.  I guess laying all those eggs on set really got to me - heh.  Today I'm a happy, healthy mother to millions of terrorizing little aliens all throughout the galaxy.

   

(Pictured here are two of my boys, Bobby and Gabriel.  Aren't they just darling?)

"It's important to note that I couldn't have done it without the help of my OB/GYN.  I've always managed my spina bifida carefully throughout my life, (rather crucial for someone who has over 1,000 vertebrae!).  My OB/GYN had a lot of helpful tips and information for me to guide me through my pregnancy, including whether or not using an epidural would be safe for me and my baby during labor.  The answer to this question is different for all women and depends greatly on each mother's personal condition.  Dr. Roger Harms who is a practicing OB/GYN at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota touches on this topic in his article found here.

"If you have spina bifida and have questions regarding your pregnancy, there are a plethora of qualified OB/GYNs just waiting to be discovered and to connect with you on your personal health needs at xoova.com.

A little more about Dr. Harms - he makes his services available at the Mayo Clinic at 200 1st St. SW, in Rochester Minnesota, 55905.  His specialty areas include office gynecology, high-risk obstetrics and obstetrical ultrasound. 

Good luck earthling mothers!  Give my love to Sigourney!"

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