By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

“My hour of morning light has been moved to the evening for people who want to walk or bicycle in the evening light. I wish these people would just go to the gym or do a Jane Fonda workout video indoors and leave my morning hour of sleep alone.”

Patricia Yarberry Allen, publisher of Women’s Voices for Change, is director of the Menopause Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Here, she takes on the question “If everything is normal on my exams, doc, why do I feel so bad?”

“Recently my gynecologist told me that I needed a Pap smear every three years, based on new recommendations. This makes me very anxious. What do you think of these new recommendations for a woman like me?”

In this week’s Wednesday 5, our last for the year, we highlight some of Women’s Voices’ more notable and popular stories of 2012. As our readers, your visits to our site, comments, emails, Facebook shares and likes, and Tweets let us know what stories mattered to you and why.

Obstructive sleep apnea, which your symptoms suggest, is associated with hypertension and other medical problems and is statistically associated with death at an earlier age.

When it comes to recommending yearly mammograms and affirming that mammograms save lives, let’s stop getting hung up on technicalities. Let’s stop re-crunching the numbers until they give us a different answer, and accept what the data demonstrates: From age 40—not age 50—yearly mammograms save lives.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Dear Dr. Pat: I am just 59 years old and have recently been diagnosed with early Parkinson’s disease.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

What’s going on? How can find out if I am at risk? If I am, can I get someone to pay for the removal of my implants?

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

“Dear Dr. Pat, I am 44 years old and need to know how to manage the symptoms I am having. In all the WVFC articles about menopause management, I didn’t find an answer to my question.”

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D. If I shouldn’t be taking either hormones or calcium supplements, what can I do to prevent osteoporosis?

Dear Dr. Pat, After having a hysterectomy I am suffering from depression, low energy and forgetfulness.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Hysterectomy remains the second most common major surgical procedure performed on women in the United States after cesarean section. Make sure your gynecologist examines all your options.

Dear Dr. Pat, My doctor tells me that I am pre-diabetic and has warned me that I am increasing my risk for heart disease, stroke and cancer because of my weight.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen

Straightforward information on a complicated medical situation, and a cautionary tale for all sexually active women.

Medical Advisory Board members Lauri Romanzi and Elizabeth Poynor explain when this has to happen, when it doesn’t, and how to approach your doctor for the best outcome.