| Easy-to-stomach pain relief
THE gastrointestinal tract is quite amazing. Measuring about 23ft from the lips to the anus, its responsible for the digestion and absorption of the food we take in everything that we eat has to pass through this organ. Essentially we are what we eat; and absorb. But inadequate or faulty digestive processes can lead to a variety of disorders. And these gastrointestinal disorders have a major impact on health. Some common gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are bloating, belching, burning, flatulence, indigestion, diarrhoea and constipation. This complex host of symptoms can be due to a variety of reasons. In the course of treating patients both young and old, great care needs to be practised so that the root of the gastrointestinal problem is correctly diagnosed and addressed.
Power of sister's love helps pass new law
S heryl Silver remembers this week in January, 10 years ago. Her older sister, Johanna Silver Gordon, a Southfield teacher, then 54, had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Silver, a freelance editor and writer, was baffled, angry and astonished by the decline of her sister -- playing tennis on Saturday, hospitalized and terminally ill three days later. Something could have been done, she believed. And then, doing research, she knew. After Gordon's death in 2000, Silver waited to see if promising diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer would come to market. But they did not. And women continued to die from ovarian cancer -- because 80 percent of the time, the disease spreads before the diagnosis. "Women shouldn't have to rely on luck to survive," says Silver, who learned that gynecological diseases often have warning signs that go unnoticed.
Women struggle with heart disease, too
In the United States, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, claiming the lives of more females than males. More women die from heart disease than breast cancer. In fact, heart attack and stroke claim more lives than the next seven leading causes of death. If you're like most women, you may not identify yourself as a candidate for heart disease. You're busy worrying about the health needs of your husband, children and, in some cases, elderly parents. It's easy to minimize the signs that something is wrong with your health. It's also easy to mistake the symptoms of a heart attack because, for women, they're often different from what we've heard about. Women are more likely to experience fatigue, indigestion, abdominal pain, shortness of breath and heart palpitations.
|
