Many people can control their blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight with diet and activity. Some do have genetic risk factors that need medication — but even then, moving regularly means better control, and often less medication. Does it have to be 30 unbroken minutes? No. A lot of people believe exercise only counts if you keep your heart … Read More
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Bladder Leakage, Pelvic Pain and Painful Sex
Pelvic floor dysfunction could be affecting you, ladies — and gentlemen. Chronic urinary tract infections? Bowel trouble? Pelvic pain? Painful sex? Urinary incontinence? I know what you’re thinking — my pelvic floor muscles control all of that? Absolutely. And their dysfunction often goes undiagnosed for years, which means people get treated for the wrong thing, repeatedly, while the actual cause … Read More
Sunscreen: How to Choose It and Actually Use It Right
Summer in the Ozarks is hot, and the sunscreen aisle is overwhelming. Here is how to choose one and use it properly. Which SPF? SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum, water-resistant. That covers most people. If you burn easily, have very fair skin, or have a personal or family history of skin cancer, SPF 50 is a reasonable step up. Above … Read More
Pharmacogenomic Testing: What Your Genes Can (and Can’t) Tell Us About Medications
Your genetics decide your eye colour and your height. They also influence how your body processes medications — which is part of why one person does well on a particular antidepressant while another feels awful on the same dose, and why some people tolerate a statin while others get muscle aches. The science that studies this is called pharmacogenomics, often … Read More
Introducing Peanuts, Milk and Other Allergens to Your Baby
Nobody has time to sort through the constantly changing, conflicting advice on infant feeding — and Google makes it worse, not better. So here is the current version, plainly. The old advice was backwards For years parents were told to delay allergenic foods as long as possible. That advice has been reversed. There is no evidence that waiting past 4–6 … Read More
Fever in Kids: When to Worry and When to Relax
Let’s start here: fever is not the enemy. Fever isn’t an illness. It’s your child’s immune system doing its job — raising body temperature slows bacteria and viruses down and revs up the cells that fight them. There’s no evidence that fever itself damages a child or causes lasting harm. So the goal isn’t a normal thermometer reading. The goal … Read More
Cervical Cancer Screening: How Often You Really Need a Pap
“How often am I supposed to get a Pap smear?” is one of the most common questions I get, and the honest answer is that it’s more complicated than it used to be — because screening got better, not because anyone is being difficult. Here’s where things stand. First: it may not be a Pap anymore For years, screening meant … Read More
Thyroid Test Results Explained: What TSH, T4 and T3 Mean
You had blood drawn, the result says “TSH,” and you have no idea what you’re looking at. Let’s fix that. What TSH actually is Your thyroid — the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck — makes two hormones, T4 and T3, which set the pace of your metabolism. TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone, and here is the … Read More
Health Insurance 101: What the Terms Mean and How to Choose a Plan
Open enrollment comes around every year, and every year patients ask us the same thing: how do I tell whether a plan is any good? So here is a plain-English explanation of what the terms mean, and how to actually compare plans. The terms, decoded Premium. What you pay every month to keep coverage active, whether you use it or … Read More
Menopause: What Nobody Warns You About
Being a woman practitioner, I take care of a lot of women, and menopause is one of the most common conversations I have. Almost every time, the patient says some version of: “Nobody tells you it’s going to be like this.” So let’s talk about the parts that get overlooked. 1. Irritability, anxiety and mood A very common early symptom … Read More
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2