Health (Page 16)

osteoporosis osteopenia

In discussing osteoporosis and bone health, it’s good that there are things you can do to fight osteoporosis and promote healthier bones…. Osteoporosis is a health condition that develops over a number of years. It weakens bones, making them more fragile and more likely to break. It is often diagnosed when a fall or sudden impact causes a fracture. Osteopenia (bone loss) would have been taking place for years before osteoporosis occurs. This is why it is important to do a bone density scan (depending on your age and risk factors) to check how strong your bones are. If you do have osteopenia, there areRead More…

Maskne acne from covid masks

Wham asked Dr. Charmaine Apap about Maskne… In my practice I am increasingly consulting a lot of patients (both female as well as male) who have started seeing acne due to prolonged mask use. This is occurring even in people who have never had acne before, as well as aggravating acne in people who were already prone to the problem. Such is the frequent worldwide occurrence of this problem that a new term “Maskne” has been recently coined. It is primarily caused by the heat, friction and occlusion which develops under the mask (in fact it is a type of occlusive acne called “acne mechanica“). This isRead More…

mirena coil can fall out

Unfortunately my coil fell out. I became pregnant at 43 after being told by my gynaecologist that a mirena would be safer and more reliable.. All my life I had been on the pill, but when I was no longer in a long term sexual relationship I decided to stop for a few years. Then I met the man of my dreams and we used condoms for the first few years. At one of my regular gynae visits, my gynae rightly asked me what contraception I was using and I said condom or the pull out method. Since I was 42 and it was reallyRead More…

sti symptoms malta

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that commonly spread by sex, all types of sex i.e. vaginal, oral and anal sex. The organisms (bacteria, viruses or parasites) that cause sexually transmitted infections may pass from person to person in blood, semen or vaginal and other body fluids. Sexually transmitted infections don’t always cause symptoms. Because of this, they may go unnoticed until complications occur or a partner is diagnosed. If STIs do cause symptoms in men, these include Burning on passing urine Discharge from the penis Sores or bumps on the genitals or in the or rectal area Itching of the genitals Rashes over theRead More…

lovetheskinurin

At 51, I can safely say I finally know what it means when one says “love the skin youre in”. I no longer really care if my hair is frizzy, if my legs are not perfectly waxed or if I have a zit bang in the middle of my chin. Feeling confident and happy with oneself no matter what we look like is a great liberating feeling. Love the skin youre in! It was not always so. I remember feeling very self-conscious and not liking many parts of my body, my gummy smile, my hairy body, my frizzy hair, being too tall, having ugly toesRead More…

period expectations

We have all experienced a point in life where we start to question every single thing that happens to us. I am eleven years old still awaiting my first period and this is one of those years where you become afraid every single time you get a stomach ache. The Waiting Game Us girls, we go through our period every month, but when you haven’t gotten it yet, it is a bit hard to imagine what to expect, even if people tell you what it feels like. I have some friends who have already gotten their periods. But for me and others who are stillRead More…

fertility after breast cancer

“Fertility preservation can be effective,” says Dr Khalife. “Around one in six of those who stored their gametes had a good outcome”… The first long-term record of how cancer patients made use of their stored eggs and embryos after cancer treatment is presented today at the 36th Annual Meeting of ESHRE. The results demonstrate from the 20-year data how successful fertility preservation can be in these patients, especially those with breast cancer. Details of the analysis, covering the longest reported period of use, are presented today online by Dr Dalia Khalife from Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital, London, at the virtual Annual Meeting of ESHRE.Read More…

what does a miscarriage feel like

A very common question women ask during pregnancy is “what does a miscarriage feel like?”. Here is all you need to know about miscarriages… A miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy within the first 22 weeks where the baby has not gained 500g in weight. There are different types of miscarriages, as listed below: Spontaneous / Complete Miscarriage: when the womb empties itself completely Silent Miscarriage: when the baby dies but is not miscarried Incomplete Miscarriage: when pregnancy tissue is left in the womb Blighted Ovum: when the pregnancy doesn’t develop properly Although the cause of a miscarriage is sometimes unknown, it happens mostlyRead More…

smoking cessation

You may want to stop smoking but it is not as easy as some may sound it to be. Cigarettes provide nicotine, an essential chemical, to our brain, causing an addiction… A woman walked into my clinic with a curious mix of aromas. I could smell garlic, chewing gum and a pleasant floral scent. I think she saw my questioning look because she said, “Doctor, it’s a secret. Don’t tell my husband but I’ve started smoking again a week ago.” She had stopped for a whole year. At a meal with colleagues, she indulged in a “social smoke” and started buying cigarettes again. It’s aRead More…

problem solving

World has become much more complex and this is reflected both in people’s lives and organizations. In such a context, problems are the rule, therefore problem solving skills have become exponentially more important. In the era of digital transformation, artificial intelligence and robotics, jobs that involve simple and repetitive tasks are slowly being taken over by machines and it’s likely that soon only duties that instead require creativity and intuition will remain exclusively reserved for human beings. As a consequence, the quality of our life will more and more depend on our ability to deal with and solve the more or less serious difficulties andRead More…