First let me say Happy Father’s Day! Whether you’re a first-time dad or you’re adding a brother or sister, you may be thinking quite a bit this weekend about the job you’re about to take on. Although you’ve been to the childbirth classes, taken the hospital tour, assembled the crib, and installed the car seat, you’re still a little nervous about being ready for the big day.
Of course, I am the only dad at Sparks & Favor, so this year I thought I’d try to offer you a few thoughts I…

One of the great success stories of modern preventive healthcare has been the fight against cervical cancer. In the U.S. deaths from cervical cancer have fallen nearly 75% (1955 to 1992) because we began regular screening programs for women (the Pap test).

In the 1980s we discovered that cervical cancer is caused by a virus known as the human papilloma virus (HPV). This discovery led to new tests to identify women who carry the virus, and therefore are at risk for cervical cancer. It also led to the development of a vaccine against the virus. We now view cervical…

In my practice as a Birmingham gynecologist, I must occasionally convey to a woman that she is facing ovarian cancer. Around 20,000 American women are newly diagnosed each year.  When ovarian cancer is discovered at an early stage, the chance of surviving the disease is good. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer has no specific symptoms in its early stage, and no accurate screening tests exist to help physicians diagnose it early. Advanced ovarian cancer is very serious and very difficult to treat. Among American women, it causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer. But now women’s physicians are discussing…

Low-Dose, Generic, Extended-cycle–which pill is best?
Since they became available in the 1960s, birth control pills have contained a combination of progestin and estrogen. The progestin prevents ovulation and the estrogen suppresses irregular bleeding. The early pills contained a very large dose of estrogen, 150 micrograms (mcg). As you can imagine, large estrogen doses caused side effects like nausea, headache, weight gain, breast tenderness, etc. Over the years since then, the pill’s estrogen dose has gradually been reduced. Birth control pills marketed today contain 35 to as low as 10 mcg of estrogen…

All women should have some basic knowledge about health issues that have a significant chance of impacting their lives. Many of my patients come to the office experiencing symptoms of one such common gynecologic problem, the growth of a non-cancerous tumor within or on the surface of the uterus.

These benign growths arise from the smooth muscle that forms the wall of the uterus. We call them leiomyomas, myomas or simply fibroids. By age 35, 30-50% of women will have developed fibroids. While the condition is extremely common for all women, it is somewhat more so for African…

September is National Cholesterol Education Month. Maintaining a healthy cholesterol level is a very important preventive health action for women of every age! High cholesterol is a main risk factor for stroke and heart disease. The body needs cholesterol, but when there is too much, fatty deposits can build up on the insides of blood vessels. Blockage in your arteries can lead to heart attack or stroke.

Only about 25% of your total cholesterol comes from the foods you eat (meat and dairy). Your body also makes cholesterol and packages it into little particles called lipoproteins so it can move…

About 1 woman in 72 women will face a diagnosis of ovarian cancer sometime in her life. When found at an early stage, this serious gynecologic cancer has a long-term survival rate over 90%. Sadly, only about 20% of these tumors are found before the disease has spread beyond the ovary. During September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, women’s health organizations are working to make you aware that early detection is the key to saving lives.
The most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of being diagnosed with a late-stage ovarian cancer is to know…

We have long known that prenatal care, the global care of a pregnant woman and her developing baby, leads to safer deliveries and healthier babies. As you visit your obstetrician monthly, then more often over the course of your pregnancy, we look for potential problems that may threaten your pregnancy outcome. Screening tests to identify certain birth defects have become a routine part of prenatal care…

What is Osteoporosis?
Who has not known someone who had always been active and healthy, and then had a fall and never recovered from a hip fracture?  Or an otherwise healthy 75 year old woman with severely limiting spine deformity caused by multiple spontaneous fractures of the spinal bones leaving her with a “humped” back such that she can never see the sky? These are the result of osteoporosis. Our interest in osteoporosis should be a personal interest in our own health and that of aging family members, along with a concern for the enormous health-care cost of this…

Many women feel conflicted about the decision whether to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to ease uncomfortable symptoms associated with menopause. Trends in the use of hormone replacement have shown a steep decline since the release of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study that raised concerns about increased risks of breast cancer and heart disease.

Since that study was published over a decade ago, researchers have re-examined several of its conclusions, and new research continues to expand our understanding of the issue…