Men’s Guide to Understanding Women during Their Menstrual Periods

Menstruation signifies that a woman is ready to bear life. It is during a woman’s fertile years that she will experience her monthly menstrual periods. This age bracket may range from ages 12 to 50. However, this condition can be one of the unpleasant aspects of her life.

Almost all women experience pain and discomfort during their menstrual periods. Accompanied by symptoms such as cramps and bloating, menstruation is a time of inconvenience and discomfort.

Menstruation is a process that begins when the woman’s ovaries release an egg into the uterus. If the egg is not fertilized, it is expelled from her body by a process known as menstrual flow. One of the first signs of menstruation is lower abdominal pain. This is accompanied by premenstrual syndrome, more commonly known as PMS. Here, women also experience hormonal changes.

Cramps usually come during the first five days of menstruation. This is due to the contracting movement of the uterus, shedding its tissue lining. However, most of the pain is largely due to the fluctuating changes in her hormonal levels.

After 14 days, her body will experience hormonal changes again. This time, she is preparing for the release of another egg to the uterus. Estrogen and progesterone levels will keep rising. However, if no fertilization occurs, these levels will drop. As a result, she will experience emotional imbalance, causing her to become irritable.

With all the sudden changes, accompanied by all that pain and discomfort, it’s no wonder women act that way. So, guys, cut her some slack when it’s her time of the month.

Acupuncture reduces hot flashes in menopausal women, according to study

Menopause, the end of the reproductive (childbearing) period of women and marked by cessation of menstrual flow, carries with it body changes such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness and mood swings.
Menopause happens because the woman’s ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
Several studies have explored treatments for menopausal symptoms that present psychological and bodily discomfort for women. A recent study published in Acupuncture in Medicine of the British Medical Journal Group tested the effect of acupuncture, which has been used in many gynecologic conditions, on menopausal symptoms.

The research studied 53 middle-aged women in their post-menopausal stage, which meant they had spontaneously stopped having periods for a year. The participants were divided into two groups – one group was treated with Chinese acupuncture and the other sham acupuncture. The treatment group received 20 minutes of acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks, without any manual or electrical stimulation. Menopausal symptom severity and hormone levels were then measured.

Results showed that the women who were given traditional acupuncture had significantly reduced somatic (hot flashes) and psychological (mood swings) symptoms at the end of the 10-week treatment than those in the placebo group; although urogenital symptoms such as vaginal dryness and urinary tract infection remained unchanged.

The findings seemed to suggest that these effects were unrelated to the changes in levels of the hormones responsible for menopause. The researchers noted that because of the differences between the two groups in levels of female hormones, they cannot conclude that the rise or fall of the hormones can cause changes in the severity of the symptoms. They explained that the reduced severity of hot flashes might have been due to the body boost of endorphins after acupuncture. Endorphins, the feel-good chemicals of the body, could have stabilized the body’s temperature controls.

The study concluded that traditional acupuncture can be an alternative for those women who are unable or unwilling to use hormone replacement therapy to treat menopausal symptoms.

New 3-D breast imaging produces pain-free, more accurate mammogram

Mammography can show changes in the breast up to two years before a patient or physician can feel them. And while mammograms can detect early breast cancer even in the absence of symptoms, it can help diagnose breast disease as symptoms present, which may be a lump, pain or nipple discharge.

One in eight American women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. In 2009, over 40,000 American women died from breast cancer. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American Medical Association recommend a yearly screening mammography for women, beginning at age 40.
In February 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first digital mammography system that produces three-dimensional images. Unlike the traditional

2-D mammography, breast tomosynthesis turns out a high-resolution and distortion-free picture of structures in the breast.

The standard mammography has been shown to produce false positive test results due to shadowing and tissue density. Overlapping breast tissues can hide lesions or mimic abnormal growths.

“These false positive studies account for almost 25 percent of the instances when women are recalled for additional imaging from their screening mammograms. By eliminating this structure overlap, tomosynthesis prevents virtually all of these unnecessary callbacks, along with the anxiety they create,” said researcher Elizabeth Rafferty, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. In 2002, Rafferty presented a study on digital tomosynthesis before the scientific assembly of the Radiological Society of North America. Her team at MGH patented the digital tomosynthesis system.

Tomosynthesis takes multiple (11) images of the breast at different angles at a low dose approved by the FDA. Conventional mammograms only take two angles of the breast. The computer then assembles and combines the information into a clear 3-D image.

Mammography used to take as long as 30 minutes, but tomosynthesis shortens the process into seconds. While the old method requires two compressions of each breast, the new imaging uses little pressure in a single brief compression, which means less pain and more comfort for the patient. Highly sensitive and efficient, digital tomosynthesis provides more accurate localization of structures and a high degree of specificity in ruling out cancer.

Depression during pregnancy linked to highly stress-sensitive and hypotonic babies

Mothers who demonstrate depressive symptoms even if they don’t have a major depressive disorder can have offspring that have altered neurologic development compared to nondepressed women.

This connection between maternal depression and the body system (limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) of the neuroendocrine system) that controls reactions to stress, including moods and reactions, is explored in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in Infant Behavior and Development.

In the analysis, 154 pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms (low/stable, intermediate or high/increasing depression) at various stages of pregnancy (28, 32 and 37 weeks of gestation) and at delivery. The newborns were also examined for levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol using their umbilical cord blood. ACTH stimulates the adrenal gland to release the stress hormone cortisol.

Infants born to women with high depression have elevated ACTH. However, the level of the stress hormone cortisol is the same for all children, although their mothers have varying levels of depression. The researchers think that this might also be associated with the stress during childbirth itself.

At 2 weeks old, an evaluation was conducted on the infants assessing responses to stress and stimuli, tone and reflexes and motor skills to determine developmental and behavioral maturation. On examination, the children had decreased muscle tone, though they respond well to visual and auditory stimuli like light or a bell and rattle, which signals neurologic maturity.

However, the researchers found that mothers who have a high level of depression have infants showing high levels of stress hormones at birth and other developmental and behavioral differences, compared to nondepressed mothers.

Research investigator Dr. Delia M. Vazquez, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School says, “The two possibilities are that they are either more sensitive to stress and respond more vigorously to it, or that they are less able to shut down their stress response.”
The researchers recommended talking to a therapist when depressed during pregnancy and mother-child bonding after birth to stimulate the child’s neurologic development and counteract the effects of early stress hormone production.

Lamaze classes help pregnant mothers cope with childbirth pain

For first-time mothers, the prospect of labor and childbirth can be frightening and cause certain amounts of anxiety. This is especially the case when one lacks the knowledge, guidance and techniques to make the whole process of childbirth easier.

Childbirth classes like Lamaze help pregnant mothers learn things about labor, delivery and child care. This information will dispel many fears about the childbirth process as well as misconceptions on prenatal and postpartum care. The classes empower the mothers, whether first-timer or repeater, on choice of birth technique, medical interventions and proper care of newborns. Aside from connecting with the partner, establishing a support group boosts morale, builds a network and enables the expectant mother to express her fears and then learn from other pregnant women.

The Lamaze method, introduced by French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze in 1951, promotes and facilitates the normal and natural birth method, allowing labor to begin on its own. The classes teach natural ways to aid labor, including breathing techniques, spontaneous pushing, positioning, massage, aromatherapy and other relaxation skills to relieve stress. Comfort measures to reduce pain are utilized, such as hydrotherapy, heat and cold compresses and pressure. Although the method encourages childbirth free of medical interventions, it does not completely exclude pain medication when necessary.

Practicum exercises on newborn care like breast feeding, diapering and bathing are also performed. The Lamaze technique helps the mother make an informed decision on childbirth technique, birthing venue and medications. Healthy habits and communication skills with the partner and healthcare team (ob-gyn, nurse, labor coach and pediatrician) are also taught in Lamaze.

Fertilization outside the womb: hope for infertile couples

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 6.1 million people, or 10% of the reproductive-age population in the United States, are infertile. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines infertility as a condition in which a woman has not been able to get pregnant after six to 12 months of unprotected sex.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) that helps a woman become pregnant. Normally, in natural conception, the egg cell of the mother and the sperm cell of the father meet in the uterus (womb) and fuse (fertilize) together to become a human embryo. However, when one partner is infertile, either due to problems with producing eggs or healthy sperm, assisted reproduction may be a viable option to conceive a child.

In vitro fertilization is done by fertilizing the sperm and the egg in a laboratory dish instead of in the mother’s womb. In vitro literally means “in glass” (laboratory dish or test tube), thus “outside the body.”

IVF begins with the woman receiving fertility drugs or hormone injections so that a woman’s ovaries produce more than one egg per month, increasing chances of fertilization. (Donated eggs can be used if the woman cannot produce eggs.) The eggs are then removed from the ovaries and placed together with the sperm (also called insemination). Usually the sperm enters the egg in only a matter of hours. The sperm may sometimes be injected into the egg if the sperm have problems with fertilizing.

In about three to five days, an embryo will have developed which will then be placed inside the woman’s womb to grow. With IVF, couples can consider preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) three to four days after fertilization to screen for genetic disorders that may be passed on to the child. Parents may decide to implant more than one embryo at the same time to produce twins or more.