Sparks & Favor PC

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…

As ObGyn physicians, most of the care we provide on an urgent basis involves pregnancy and childbirth. For gynecologic problems, we more typically provide medical treatment at an office visit or surgery, if necessary, at a planned time in the future. But this is not always the case. Certain conditions in gynecology represent true emergencies, requiring immediate treatment to prevent long term consequences and even loss of life. We want our patients to be aware of the signs of these more urgent problems.

As you would expect, gynecologic problems generally manifest themselves with pain and/or abnormal bleeding. Most women…

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…

In the U.S. today, roughly a third of infants come into the world by way of a cesarean delivery. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates that a small number of these cesarean deliveries, around 2.5%, are performed without a medical reason, simply at the request of the mother who preferred not to have a vaginal delivery.

In an opinion published this month, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) urges both expectant mothers and their obstetricians to use caution when considering a cesarean delivery that is not for medical reasons…

The IUD’s popularity among American women for the prevention of pregnancy has varied greatly over the last four decades. According to the Guttmacher Institute for Reproductive Health, nearly 10% of American women used an IUD in the 1970s, compared to less than 1% today. Back then, a significant number of women using one popular IUD, the Dalkon Shield, developed serious and sometimes fatal infections. The government recalled the Dalkon shield, and the resulting legal actions and negative publicity created business risk for other IUD manufacturers who then chose to remove their products from the market. Remembering these stories, your…

Consider a common situation. After a long and uncomfortable pregnancy, an expectant mother asks her doctor if she can choose a date for her delivery.  She has considered her family’s complicated schedule including childcare issues, her work situation, her husband’s work schedule, and the availability of grandparents to visit and provide support. She might mention holidays or competing birthdays of other family members. (Not unusual—my wife and I did not want our daughter’s birthday to be Halloween). For discussion, let’s say she tells her doctor that “Friday” would be the ideal day for her baby…