Libido and sexual performance Archive

If you have a child and wish for more but are struggling with fertility issues, you may have many feelings and concerns. Here are some steps and strategies you may find helpful.

Is surgery the best choice to treat your prostate cancer? Here's what you need to know.

There are many ways to deal with a prostate cancer diagnosis. You might choose the wait-and-see approach of active surveillance for low-risk disease, in which you monitor your condition and only treat if the cancer becomes more aggressive. In terms of treatments, you can opt for radiation therapy, which attacks cancer cells, or androgen deprivation therapy, which tries to slow cancer growth by shutting down testosterone production.

The remaining option is radical prostatectomy: surgery to remove the entire prostate gland. While this is the most invasive approach, it's the right choice for some men.

Urinary tract infections can be dangerous. Here's how to recognize, treat, and prevent them.

More than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections now occur in the United States each year, according to a CDC report published in November 2019. Among them are a growing number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) that can no longer be treated with the most common antibiotics.

"Antimicrobial-resistant UTIs are on the rise and have been since the early 2000s," says Dr. Lisa Bebell, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and an infectious diseases specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. This trend is especially concerning for women because UTIs are so common: one of every two women will have a UTI in her lifetime.

Many women are reporting symptoms they believe are associated with their breast implants. Sometimes called breast implant illness, this combination of vague symptoms—such as hair loss, fatigue, anxiety, and depression—is also associated with a number of other conditions, including menopause, thyroid problems, and autoimmune conditions. Researchers are now working with patient advocacy groups to better understand the problem. Experts recommend that women understand the potential risks and benefits of breast implants before having the surgical procedure.

Infections aren't the only conditions that can cause discomfort.

Certain urinary symptoms are quite common, particularly in women: painful burning with urination, an urgent need to urinate like you can't hold it (urinary urgency), and urinating frequently (urinary frequency).

These symptoms can be caused by any of the following conditions.

Women who are hoping to become pregnant want to do everything they can to ensure that their babies will be as healthy as possible, which means following recommendations to minimize the possibility of birth defects.

When should you see a clinician about excessive or unexpected bleeding?

Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common problem for women of all ages, accounting for up to one-third of gynecologic office visits. The two main types are heavy bleeding that occurs at an appropriate or expected time, such as a heavy menstrual period (menorrhagia), and any type of bleeding that occurs unexpectedly (metrorrhagia). The absence of regular menstrual periods for several months (amenorrhea) is also considered an abnormal bleeding pattern. AUB can be tricky to identify, because what's normal depends on a woman's reproductive age.