• 17Mar

    FEMALE SEXUALITY WITH AGE: ADJUSTING YOUR LOVEMAKING TO AGING

    Women's Health No Comments

    Apart from vaginal changes I have just discussed, there are few physiological reasons why getting older should erode a woman’s sex life. The studies suggest that the main problem for women is staying interested in sex. Here are some ways to keep desire aflame.
    Inject novelty into marital lovemaking. Many long-married women lose interest in making love because they have fallen into a rut. They have intercourse at the same time and place and in the same way year after year. When sexuality becomes predictable, the most fiery passion turns ho-hum. One antidote is to vary the sex act itself. Have intercourse on the floor, in the bath, or in the woods. Experiment with a vibrator. Read erotic literature together. Role play each other’s fantasies.
    Everything may not work out, but experimenting may help bring back some sexual spice.
    Bring back your courtship. Your romance may need rekindling too. Go away for a romantic weekend with your husband. Surprise him with a candlelight dinner, served in a filmy nightgown. Seduce him!
    Take care of yourself. Keep physically healthy. Exercise. Spend time on how you look. Maintaining sexual desire depends on feeling sexually desirable – taking pride in your appearance, keeping your passion for life. In some ways becoming an older beauty is easier, because as we age how we look is increasingly tied to what we do. While nature has a firm hand at twenty, at fifty nurture (work!) takes over an increasing share. The saying that after forty we get the face and body we deserve has its bright side. If we take action to be attractive, attractive we really can be.
    Keep sexually active. It you have no current partner, buy a vibrator. Masturbate; develop a fantasy life. If you have a partner, take the initiative sometimes. Don’t always wait passively to be seduced. In their classic studies, Masters and Johnson were surprised to find that the three most sexually active older women they tested produced just as copious amounts of lubrication when aroused as the twenty-year-olds. So they concluded that sexual activity itself may even prevent the physiological losses thought to be inevitable. Staying sexually active seems as much a cure for “losing it” sexually for women as it is for men.

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  • 08May

    ENDOMETRIOSIS: YOGA: A WAY TO RELAXATION

    Women's Health No Comments

    One first associates this ancient Indian discipline with its most famous symbol—the lotus position, a sitting posture with legs folded in a pretzel shape. Yoga is far more than just a series of such very specific postures. It is also, like acupuncture, based on a philosophical system that encompasses cosmic ideologies, theories about life forces and one’s control over them, and healing. Yoga, for one, teaches its practitioners to concentrate on deep and rhythmic breathing, which is instrumental for inducing relaxation and an overall sense of well-being. This concentration on taking in prana, or the purported vital force that is assimilated into the body through breath control, serves to quiet the mind by diminishing awareness of the external environment. Those who are very practiced at the breathing art, a Yogi or any devotee of the discipline, can learn to drastically slow down their breathing rate as well as alter consciousness to the point of a trance state. For most of us, yoga breathing techniques offer a means to a pleasant sense of tranquillity.

    Breathing technique is an essential part of doing yoga exercises, too. These asanas, or postures, are designed to strengthen the back, tone muscles, increase flexibility, stimulate nerves and glands, change the direction of blood flow, help in the elimination of waste products, and oxygenate the body through slow breathing. These exercises do not “go for the burn,” in the way that energetic calisthenics and aerobics can. Rather, nearly all the postures are static, held for a period of time while breathing rhythmically, and are usually not done in sets of repetitions.

    The following two simple yoga exercises can relax and gently stretch the back and pelvic muscles, especially aiding in the relief of menstrual cramps. They are best done along with slow, rhythmic breathing, so do not hold your breath as you ease into the postures.

    To begin, sit on a low-pile rug or towel; wear an exercise leotard or loose-fitting clothes. Keeping your back straight, cross your legs and clasp your hands behind your head, as shown in the illustration below. Point your elbows out, keep shoulders relaxed and down (not hunched), and keep your chest raised (do not collapse in). Breathe in slowly for two counts, then pull in your stomach and begin to round your back slightly. Breathe out, dropping your chin to your chest. Your elbows will be drawn together. Now breathe in again for two counts and return to the starting straight-back posture. Repeat four more rimes to relax.

    As you begin the sixth repeat, breathe in and continue rounding down, bringing your forehead as close to the floor as you can, as shown below. Keep your elbows out to the side. Do not strain, bounce, or pull your head down with your clasped hands. Keep your stomach tucked in: Breathe slowly and rhythmically.

    Extend your arms in front of you, as shown in the fourth illustration. Breathe slowly for the count of five, then roll up to the original sitting pose. Repeat the entire set three times.

    For the next exercise, lie flat on your back. Bend both knees, lightly clasping each knee, as shown below. Relax your feet, take a breath, and then let it out slowly. Lightly pull your knees dose to your chest (see illustration). Breathe in and out slowly for a count of five, then release

    knees to starring position. Now point your toes and route your feet from the ankle, circling outwardly five times. Now flex your foot five tames, as shown. Repeat the exercise, circling your feet inwardly five rimes and flexing your feet five times. This exercise helps increase circulation and relieves menstrual cramps, so you may repeat it fully five tunes. Then stretch oat and breathe quietly for a few minutes. If your cramps are severe, do another set.

    Yoga is best learned at first with a teacher’s guidance, rather than through a book. Yoga looks easy and sounds simple, but you will get more out of it with the help of an expert. He or she can give you tips about body alignment and show you how to get in and out of the postures properly and safely. Yoga classes are frequently offered at Y’s, through adult education programs, and at dance studios, and are taught by individuals who have studied the system and have mastered it. There is also yoga instruction on videotape for home use including one led by Raquel Welch.

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  • 08May

    HYSTERECTOMY: CANCER OF THE ENDOMETRIUM

    Women's Health No Comments

    This form of cancer arises in the lining of the uterus and is diagnosed in approximately 1000 Australian women each year. Most are aged between fifty and sixty-five, and those affected are more likely than average to have diabetes or high blood pressure, to be overweight, to have polycystic ovarian syndrome or to have continued menstruating beyond the age of fifty. Women who have never had children and those who are on oestrogen after menopause without also using a progestogen are also at higher risk. This is why many doctors are reluctant to prescribe oestrogen on its own in pill, patch or implant form to women with a uterus, preferring to add progestogen hormone to protect the endometrium. (They may, however, safely prescribe forms of oestrogen that are made for absorption through the vagina such as creams and pessaries, as long as these are limited to two or three applications a week.)

    As only about half the women who develop endometrial cancer are in identified high risk groups, it is vital that all women are aware of tell-tale symptoms of the disease. The most common sign of endometrial cancer is unusual bleeding. This means any sort of bleeding — including just a few spots of blood — for women who have gone through menopause. For women who are still menstruating, it means unusually heavy bleeding during, or between, periods.

    Diagnosis usually involves one of two techniques, aspiration curettage or D and C. Aspiration curettage is a simple procedure that can be performed in a doctor’s office. A thin tube is inserted through the cervix into the uterus and a small sample of endometrial tissue is obtained under suction. This can then be sent to a laboratory for examination. If a D and C is performed, a general anaesthetic is usually required. The cervix is stretched, or dilated, and a small instrument inserted into the uterus. Cells from the endometrium are scraped off and this sample is sent for laboratory examination.

    If early pre-cancerous changes are detected, the situation is usually watched carefully to make sure that they do not develop. More serious pre-cancerous changes may warrant an endometrial resection or the triggering of a period using a medical therapy. A woman with a uterus who is using oestrogen on its own either needs to add progesterone to her hormone intake (for at least part of the cycle) or she should be prepared to have endometrial biopsies on a regular basis.

    If cancerous changes are evident in the endometrium an abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy is usually performed, with or without radiotherapy, chemotherapy and progestogen hormone therapy. Endometrial cancer detected in its early stages can be treated successfully about 75% of the time. The outlook is poor if the cancer has spread beyond the uterus.

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