I've been writing since the age of 7, when a serious operation put me in a wheelchair for 6 months and there was nothing to do so I started writing stories to entertain myself. By the end of my 6 months of home schooling during my recovery from surgery, I was so good at English, I became the top of my class.
I had my first piece of work published at the age of 13 (poetry). In 1997 I set up a support group for people injured by vaccines and it was then that I realized I perferred to write about health topics so I have written on a variety of health related subjects, including pregnancy and childbirth, breast feeding, vaccination, disability, infertility, sexual health and women's health problems. I have regular columns at Suite 101 and The Mother magazine in addition to writing one off articles for other publications and helping with the creation of reference material on disability, for students of social studies.
The menstrual cycle occurs in all females from the onset to puberty (average age 11 or 12 years) to the menopause in middle age (average age between 45-55). The lining of the uterus is shed via ...
May 26, 2012 - 5:03am
Menstrual periods occur in all females from the onset of puberty (average age of onset 11 or 12 years) and last until menopause in middle age. They occur when the lining of the uterus is shed via ...
May 24, 2012 - 7:15am
The menstrual cycle occurs in all females from the onset of puberty (average age 11 or 12 years) and continues until the menopause at middle age. Each month, the uterus develops a deep, cushioned ...
May 23, 2012 - 4:53am
The menstrual cycle occurs in all females from the onset of puberty (average age of onset 11 or 12 years) and continues until the menopause in middle age. Blood is lost from the uterus via the ...
May 21, 2012 - 4:47am
Normally, when a woman takes the contraceptive pill she has a week off where she either doesn’t take anything or takes "dummy" pills that are inactive. During this time she will have her normal ...
May 17, 2012 - 1:47pm
Threatened miscarriage is bleeding in pregnancy that occurs within the first 20 weeks, which happens to one in four pregnant women.
About 50 percent of the time, the baby will be fine, so ...
May 12, 2012 - 5:46pm
Vaginal bleeding in the first trimester of pregnancy is very common and occurs in 1 in 10 pregnancies. In the very early stage of pregnancy, you may get bleeding at around the time you would have ...
May 9, 2012 - 5:38am
Women’s health clinics are doctor’s offices that specialize in the care and treatment of women. Basic care is covered by health insurance programs and available to all women, even those on low ...
April 28, 2012 - 6:35am
Trisomy 21, the most common type of Down syndrome, is a chromosomal abnormality where the developing embryo receives three chromosome 21s instead of the usual two.
Normally, a baby inherits ...
April 25, 2012 - 7:25am
There are many vitamins, available as supplementary tablets or through their natural food source that can help enhance the health of girls, women and babies.
Period Pain
Vitamin E
This has ...
April 24, 2012 - 7:45am
If you think you’re pregnant, choosing the right pregnancy test for you can be confusing as there is such an array of different tests it can be difficult to decide which one to buy.
There are ...
April 23, 2012 - 8:23am
By week 12 of pregnancy, your baby has already completed the embryonic stage and is now a fetus, which is Latin for "offspring".
All of his organs are fully formed (they just need to get a lot ...
April 19, 2012 - 3:14pm
The contraceptive pill is thought to be one of the most effective types of contraception. When it was first introduced in the 1960s it changed the lives of women who could, for the first time in ...
April 18, 2012 - 8:42am
If you’re a woman it can sometimes seem as if there are a million and one things that can affect your health. Luckily, the modern woman now has access to a wide range of natural supplements that ...
April 12, 2012 - 6:26am
In March 2012, 45-year-old Chris Bainbridge was found dead in his wooden cabin on a campsite, his wife unconscious next to him. The couple had wanted to keep warm and so had brought their ...
April 11, 2012 - 5:30am
Corticosteroids are used for a variety of reasons, for instance, to ease painful skin conditions or suppress symptoms of allergy. As they are hormones, they can have side effects. The side ...
March 30, 2012 - 10:22am
Asherman’s syndrome is a scarring of the uterus that can become so extensive, the uterus can be scarred shut or become a solid mass of scar tissue, completely incapable of carrying a fetus. ...
March 29, 2012 - 6:33am
Topical steroid cream is the first choice of doctors in the treatment of eczema and other inflammatory skin conditions. However, they do have side effects such as lowering your immune system ...
March 28, 2012 - 5:34am
Asherman’s Syndrome is scarring of the uterus resulting in infertility that occurs after dilation and curettage (D and C) or an operation on the uterus. Asherman’s Syndrome is the cause of ...
March 27, 2012 - 11:15am
Dilation and curettage (D and C) is a common surgical procedure in which the lining of the womb (endometrium) is scraped away. It is carried out after a miscarriage (often routinely), after ...
March 26, 2012 - 10:26am
An intraparenchymal hemorrhage is a bleed within the brain tissue. It differs from subdural or epidural hematomas because they occur only in the outer and middle coverings of the brain, whereas ...
March 21, 2012 - 6:22am
An epidural hematoma is a brain hemorrhage that occurs when an artery bursts between the dura (the outermost layer of meninges surrounding the brain) and the cranium. This is commonly caused by ...
March 20, 2012 - 7:41am
Most headaches are not dangerous so if you have a headache, it’s probably harmless. However, it’s helpful to know the causes of more dangerous headaches just in case.
A subdural hematoma is a ...
March 19, 2012 - 8:16am
Trichomoniasis is a sexually acquired parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis. It is the most common sexually transmitted infection, causing around 7.4 million infections in the U.S.A every year. ...
March 15, 2012 - 9:39am
Congenital vaginal obstruction occurs when the hymen (a membrane that surrounds the vaginal opening) has not formed properly and instead of surrounding the vagina, it completely covers it. This ...
March 14, 2012 - 8:19am
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a vaginal infection that is not a sexually transmitted disease. It is caused by an overgrowth in the bacteria that naturally live in the vagina after the normal, ...
March 13, 2012 - 8:08am
Vaginal atrophy is a condition in which the vaginal wall becomes thinner, dryer and inflamed. It is the result of lowering estrogen levels.
This can lead to vaginal pain, pain during sexual ...
March 12, 2012 - 9:45am
The Fenton’s procedure (also called Fenton's repair) is an operation to remove scar tissue and widen the vaginal opening when a woman experiences persistently painful sexual intercourse.
Health ...
March 8, 2012 - 8:09am
Lichen Planus is a skin disease thought to be caused by an immune system disorder. It isn’t solely a genital disease and can occur in other areas of the body such as the mouth, gums, wrists, ...
March 7, 2012 - 3:24pm
Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN), also called vulvar or vulval neoplasia, is a pre-cancer of the vulva, located in the top most layer of skin called the epidermis. It is NOT cancer, but ...
March 6, 2012 - 5:25am
Cancer of the vulva is a rare female cancer affecting the external genitals. Based on U.S. cancer rates between 2006-2008, it is estimated it will affect 1 in 372 women. The death rate is 0.5 ...
March 5, 2012 - 8:36am
If you have persistent vulvar pain that hasn’t responded to treatment and is severe and interfering with your enjoyment of life, you may be a candidate for surgery.
Surgery is usually only ...
February 29, 2012 - 6:36am
Pudendal neuralgia occurs when the pudendal nerve or one of its branches becomes trapped or damaged. The pudendal nerve is in the pelvic region of both men and women and is responsible for ...
February 28, 2012 - 6:53am
Lichen simplex is a severe form of eczema that affects the vulva. It can also affect other areas of the body such as the anus, the legs and the nape of the neck. The condition is intensely ...
February 27, 2012 - 12:42pm
Crohn’s disease of the vulva is a rare manifestation of Crohn’s disease. It usually occurs when the patient has intestinal Crohn’s disease as a complication of that disease, but it can sometimes ...
February 27, 2012 - 6:03am
Pelvic inflammatory disease is inflammation of the organs of the pelvis and it is caused by an infection that starts in the vagina and cervix. When the bacteria travels from your cervix into the ...
February 23, 2012 - 8:01am
Bartholin’s glands are two glands on either side of the opening to the vagina. They were first discovered in the 18th century by Caspar Bartholin the younger son of the Danish physician Thomas ...
February 23, 2012 - 4:24am
Vulval pruritus is the medical term for vulval itch. Many women automatically assume if they itch in that area then it must be down to a thrush infection, but not everything that itches is ...
February 22, 2012 - 6:13am
If you have thrush you may want to treat it naturally, particularly if you keep on getting it. Why?
Because candida, the fungus responsible for thrush infections, is mutating to become more ...
February 21, 2012 - 6:13am
Candida (thrush) is a fungus that lives in the gastrointestinal tract, the mucous membranes of the respiratory system and the female genital tract, where it normally does no harm. It only causes ...
February 17, 2012 - 11:21am
Clobetasol Propionate is a topical steroid ointment that is used to treat various auto-immune and skin conditions, such as:
• Severe eczema
• Anogenital pruritus (genital and anal ...
February 15, 2012 - 10:50am
It is normal for every woman to have a certain amount of vaginal discharge. It keeps the area lubricated, stops her skin from becoming sore and allows for intercourse without pain. Amounts of ...
February 14, 2012 - 11:35am
Sex is supposed to be pleasurable and romantic. Movies often lead to high expectations of a really positive experience. However, various medical problems can severely affect a person’s sexual ...
February 12, 2012 - 8:18am
How can you tell if the headache you’ve got is just a headache or something more? Most headaches are harmless but sometimes they can be a sign of something serious. Bacterial meningitis is one ...
February 8, 2012 - 8:53am
The majority of headaches are not dangerous, however, it helps to know the signs and symptoms of potentially dangerous headaches so that you can seek medical help promptly.
One type of ...
February 7, 2012 - 7:18am
Most headaches are not dangerous but a few are so it is useful to know about the various headaches that can be dangerous so you can recognise the symptoms and know when to seek medical ...
February 6, 2012 - 9:02am
Most headaches are not dangerous and resolve without risk to your health, but if you’re pregnant, a headache may be a sign of pre-eclampsia, a potentially life threatening condition for you and ...
February 2, 2012 - 8:53am
Silent thyroiditis is swelling of the thyroid gland in a person who fluctuates between having hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).
Unlike many other ...
January 31, 2012 - 5:22am
Dental implants are a modern solution to the problem of tooth loss but they can have side effects. It can be useful to know of the possible risks before you decide to have surgery. Bacteria ...
Joanna Karpasea-Jones commented on Joanna Karpasea-Jones' post Dental Implants: The Side Effects