Insulin resistance — also called syndrome X or metabolic syndrome— is so pervasive today that we evaluate nearly every woman who visits our clinic to determine her level of risk. Most are taken aback when they learn they either already have insulin resistance syndrome (or as I call it pre-pre diabetic) or are well on their way to developing it. Experts estimate that 25% of all Americans suffer from insulin resistance. We believe the percentage is much higher among perimenopausal women. Because insulin is one of the “major” hormones, it’s also impossible for your body to balance its “minor” hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone among them) until your insulin metabolism is balanced first. To put it simply, if you have hot flashes and you are insulin resistant, it’s going to be nearly impossible to cure the hot flashes without first healing the insulin resistance. Cortisol is also a “major” hormone – to understand it’s role in hormonal balance, read our related articles on adrenal fatigue. The good news is that you can heal insulin resistance. This has been a primary focus of our practice at Women to Women for over a decade, and our approach has been quite successful. Throughout the website you will find simple solutions on how to begin to heal this problematic syndrome.

Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can occur if you have diabetes. High blood sugar (glucose) can injure nerve fibers throughout your body, but diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in your legs and feet. Depending on the affected nerves, symptoms of diabetic neuropathy can range from pain and numbness in your extremities to problems with your digestive system, urinary tract, blood vessels and heart. For some people, these symptoms are mild; for others, diabetic neuropathy can be painful, disabling and even fatal. Diabetic neuropathy is a common serious complication of diabetes. Yet you can often prevent diabetic neuropathy or slow its progress with tight blood sugar control and a healthy lifestyle.

Hypertensive urgency must be distinguished from hypertensive emergency. Urgency is defined as severely elevated blood pressure (ie, systolic >220 mm Hg or diastolic >120 mm Hg) with no evidence of target organ damage.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a persistent opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart. The opening, called the ductus arteriosus, is a normal part of a baby's circulatory system before birth that usually closes shortly after birth. If it remains open, however, it's called a patent ductus arteriosus.

This video: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a persistent opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart. The opening, called the ductus arteriosus, is a normal part of a baby's circulatory system before birth that usually closes shortly after birth. If it remains open, however, it's called a patent ductus arteriosus. A small patent ductus arteriosus often doesn't cause problems and might never need treatment. However, a large patent ductus arteriosus left untreated can allow poorly oxygenated blood to flow in the wrong direction, weakening the heart muscle and causing heart failure and other complications. Treatment options for a patent ductus arteriosus include monitoring, medications and closure by cardiac catheterization or surgery.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Problems that affect ovulation, and the hormones involved with ovulation, are the most common cause of female infertility. They include: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Women with PCOS do not ovulate regularly and they experience infrequent or absent menstrual cycles.

A Cryptic Pregnancy is a pregnancy, where the feotus is hidden or camouflaged in its natural environment; due to no HcG hormone being produced by the placenta and/or by difficulty in finding with ultrasound devices.

Hold your elbows at shoulder level and place the backs of your hands together with your wrists bent at 90 degrees. This position increases the pressure on the median nerve. If the test reproduces or worsens your symptoms (pain and tingling in your hands), you may have carpal tunnel syndrome.

During endoscopic carpal tunnel release surgery , the transverse carpal ligament is cut. This releases pressure on the median nerve, relieving carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. The small incisions in the palm are closed with stitches. The gap where the ligament was cut will eventually fill with scar tissue.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol are the most common causes of these spasms. Approximately 2 percent of people with angina, or chest pain and pressure, experience coronary artery spasms. Coronary artery spasms can also occur in people who have atherosclerosis.

This operation can be performed as an open or laparoscopic (keyhole procedure). During the operation the sigmoid colon is removed. This involves taking away the blood vessels and lymph nodes to that part of the bowel. The surgeon then re-makes the join (anastomosis) between the remaining left side of the colon and the top of the rectum. The surgeon may use either sutures or special staples to make this join.

A colostomy is an operation that creates an opening for the colon, or large intestine, through the abdomen. A colostomy may be temporary or permanent. It is usually done after bowel surgery or injury.

This tiny wireless pacemaker can be inserted into the body via a catheter instead of invasive surgery.

Lip augmentation is a cosmetic procedure that can give you fuller, plumper lips. These days, an injectable dermal filler is the most commonly used method of lip augmentation. There are many types of dermal fillers that can be injected in your lips and around your mouth.

The veins around your anus tend to stretch under pressure and may bulge or swell. Swollen veins (hemorrhoids) can develop from an increase in pressure in the lower rectum. Factors that might cause increased pressure include: Straining during bowel movements.

Paget's disease of bone disrupts your body's normal bone recycling process, in which old bone tissue is gradually replaced with new bone tissue. Over time, the affected bones may become fragile and misshapen. Paget's disease of bone most commonly occurs in the pelvis, skull, spine and legs.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely. So once you have HIV, you have it for life. HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last state of HIV infection. No effective cure for HIV currently exists, but with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of transmitting the virus to others. Today, a person who is diagnosed with HIV, treated before the disease is far advanced, and stays on treatment can live a nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.

Good abdominal wall closure is one of the basic surgical skills and is a common feature of almost all modern-day CSF shunt operations. The fact that some patients require multiple abdominal operations highlights the need for a simple and effective technique for peritoneal catheter insertion through the abdominal wall and abdominal wall closure. Although technically simple, abdominal wall closure becomes more complex when combined with the requirement to maintain CSF shunt function in cases in which the shunt catheter passes through the abdominal wall into the peritoneal cavity. In this report, the authors describe a simple technique for passing the peritoneal catheter of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt through the abdominal wall on a pathway separate from the fascial opening. This technique minimizes the risk of abdominal wall-related complications and is especially important in high-risk patients such as those with obesity and/or diabetes and in children.

Thyroiditis is a general term that refers to “inflammation of the thyroid gland”. Thyroiditis includes a group of individual disorders causing thyroidal inflammation but presenting in different ways. For example, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. Postpartum thyroiditis, which causes temporary thyrotoxicosis (high thyroid hormone levels in the blood) followed by temporary hypothyroidism, is a common cause of thyroid problems after the delivery of a baby. Subacute thyroiditis is the major cause of pain in the thyroid. Thyroiditis can also be seen in patients taking the drugs interferon and amiodarone.