By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D. and Elizabeth Poynor, M.D., Ph.D.

A number of factors will be considered in the management of an ovarian cyst: family or personal history of cancer, symptoms associated with the cyst, and the cyst’s size and characteristics.

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

Mommie was waiting for us. I have heard that the dying do wait for those they love, and this has now happened to me twice. Once, when my mother-in-law Natalie was dying, she, too, waited for us as we drove the eight hours from Kentucky to Orchard Lake, Michigan.

Dr. Patricia Yarberry Allen likes to be a collaborative physician. Here, she asks Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist, to tackle a frequently asked question about what a patient should do when she needs to take a progestin, but her body can’t tolerate it.

When describing a mammogram result to a patient as “normal,” the radiologist may be only 40 percent accurate in his or her diagnosis. Yet the patient is never informed of her mammogram’s degree of accuracy, nor have patients been educated that breast density in itself is a significant risk factor for developing breast cancer.

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.

Sun exposure will thin our collagen bundles and unravel our elastin fibers. No amount of Botox, fillers, or surgery—though very helpful—can restore the natural beauty that the unexposed person can achieve.

On the bus, a powerful sense of being out of whack in my head suddenly overtook me. It was as if the plates in my skull had slipped several notches—like the feeling telegraphed when a cartoon character gets slammed on the head by a two-by-four, and you see squiggles and exclamation points and pound signs revolving in the air above him. The balloon would have read, “Boing!”

It is important to realize that cigarettes also have a profound effect on brain health. And it’s not just smokers who should worry about their brain; it’s their loved ones as well, because secondhand smoke is also a major problem.

There is hope for women in the menopausal transition who are hot hot hot in the summer. Patients have lost patience. They don’t want to hear about cold water and cold cloths. Many doctors act as if low-dose, short-term systemic hormone therapy has a risk profile like that of heroin. It’s TIME for some balance here, people!

Sorting out why a patient has poor balance is one of the most challenging tasks a physician can face. There are dozens of potential causes, many of which are treatable.

It is quite astounding how little awareness people have of the potential effects of UV damage on the eyes. Not only is it important to be aware of these effects, but also to know how to avoid letting those rays harm our precious eyes. Sunglasses, sunglasses, sunglasses! And choose them not for their eye appeal, but for their power of eye protection.

Nobody knows what causes scleroderma. As with many autoimmune diseases, there is probably no single specific cause, but rather a complex series of issues leading to the disease. Unfortunately, there is no cure—but many of the most troubling manifestations of the illness can be treated.

June is National Cataracts Awareness Month. In Part 2 of our series, we take you through the steps of cataract surgery.

June is National Cataract Awareness Month.  Cataracts are the most common cause of reversible visual loss in people over 40, and are the leading cause of blindness in the world. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery. Though very common, and an increasingly important [...]

By Joseph Safdieh, M.D.

Imagine yourself in a foreign country—intelligent but no longer able to use your language skills to participate in society, even though you have no trouble speaking. This is exactly how someone must feel who has aphasia.