Fallopian Tubes

What springs to mind when Fallopian tubes are mentioned?  That they “connect” the ovaries to the uterus which leads finally to the vagina and the outside of the body?  Perhaps you think about ectopic pregnancies, as most ectopic pregnancies are indeed “tubal” pregnancies.  Whatever you may think of when Fallopian tubes are brought up, they [...]

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Hormonal Differences

If you are anything like me and read the medical headlines every day you have probably noticed in the past few weeks a spate of articles about how hormones can affect a person’s social behavior.  The first such article was a timely piece, considering the state of the economy, that argues that the length of [...]

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Rare Ectopic Pregnancy, again

In the last blog entry I detailed the story of Zahra Aboutalib, a Moroccan woman with a rare complication of an ectopic pregnancy, a lithopedion.  The second incredibly rare complication of an ectopic pregnancy that I will cover happened to an English woman named Jane Ingram.  Jane was a 32 year old woman living in [...]

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History of the IUD

Speaking of Dr. Ernst Gräfenberg, let’s talk about intrauterine devices (IUDs) since Dr. G is recognized as the first developer of the modern IUD.  IUDs, in a crude sense, have existed for an untold number of years.  Women and men have inserted various implements into human and animal uteri to prevent pregnancy for many years.  [...]

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The First Oophorectomy

Having had an oophorectomy, I am incredibly interested in the surgical removal of ovaries.  Removal of one ovary is called a unilateral oophorectomy; removal of both is bilateral.  Usually, when an ovary is removed, the fallopian tube associated with it is also removed.  This is called a salpingo-oophorectomy.  My interest usually lies in new surgical [...]

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Female Orgasm and Resolution

By popular demand (or at least one demand), today’s entry will make a complete circle of Masters and Johnson’s human sexual response cycle.  So, what happens after arousal?  For women (and sometimes men), arousal does not always result in the obvious:  orgasm.  Many women have trouble reaching orgasm, while many others reach multiple orgasms.  These [...]

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Female Sexual Arousal

What IS female arousal? With men, it is pretty straightforward to determine whether a man is aroused or not. Is the penis erect or not? Of course, there are nuances to this but, overall, that’s the litmus test for men. What physiological signs are present when a woman is sexually aroused?
When [...]

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Introduction to the Cervix

The word cervix has only recently come to refer almost exclusively to the portion of the uterus that narrows between the vagina and the body of the uterus (corpus uteri). Cervix is from the Latin for “neck” and uterus is from the Latin for “womb.” Thus, the cervix is the neck [...]

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History of the Pap Smear

Let’s talk about how Pap smears got to where they are today. A lot of people never consider the name of the test and where it originates. Even ones who do think about the name assume Pap smears have something to do with human “PAP”illoma virus, or other such gynecological term contain the [...]

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Lactation: Mother’s Milk

So, since we talked about conventional cow milk a couple of days ago as well as soy and organic milks, I thought we should spare a thought for human-produced milk.  I have no firsthand experience with human lactation, so please feel free to jump in with your two cents!  Many new mothers will tell you, [...]

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