Please join us for either or both of these exciting seminars being presented in September. Be sure to invite your friends and family, too. All interested persons are invited to attend, and, as always, they are completely free.

The seminars are held in our office reception area, commencing at 6:00 PM and lasting until 7:00 or 7:30 PM. Please call 949-753-7475 to reserve your seats.

"Testosterone and Female Sexuality " with Dr. Felice Gersh, Gynecologist and member of the "International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health"on Monday, September 20, 2010.

Join us (gals only) for a fun and informative evening, learning about the role of testosterone and female sexual function. We'll also discuss how to use testosterone, the benefits, and potential risks.

"Maintaining Brain Function as We Age" with Dr. Felice Gersh on Monday, September 27, 2010.

Dr. Gersh will review the many risk factors associated with cognitive decline as we age, along with the numerous measures we can all take to maintain our intellectual powers. Join us for what will be a very enlightening evening. Please remember to attend, and bring friends and family with you.

 

Evidence continues to mount in favor of the use of probiotics for treating medical problems and maintaining health. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms that confer a beneficial effect when administered in adequate amounts to a person. There are different types of these bacteria and the varying forms can be helpful in different medical situations.

Several mechanisms of action have been proposed for the potential beneficial effects of probiotics, including their contribution to intestinal microbial balance and their ability to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Probiotics have been studied for use in many conditions, including bowel disorders and infections, vaginal and bladder infections, immune disorders, and pulmonary and upper respiratory infections. This month, we will focus on bacterial vaginal infections known as bacterial vaginosis, or BV.

Millions of women suffer from bacterial vaginosis each year, a condition which causes discomfort, pelvic infections, increased susceptibility to HIV, and preterm deliveries. The triggers that lead to BV include hormone deficiency, sexual activity, and contraception. These transform the normal microbial environment in the vagina from one with a predominance of lactobacilli to one with coliform pathogens (bacteria from the colon).

Until recently, the options for prevention and treatment of this common condition were limited to repeat courses of antibiotics. Since current literature suggests that it is an imbalance in the normal vaginal bacteria that influences the development of BV, the restoration of the normal vaginal flora with the use of probiotics has been proposed. The main microbe found to be beneficial for this purpose is the lactobacillus. Several sub-types of lactobacilli exist and proper treatment requires using the appropriate mix.

Many studies have now been completed, and the results are nearly universally positive. In the great majority of cases, the women were cured - a result not commonly seen with the use of recurrent antibiotics. The lactobacillus seems to achieve this high cure rate through a variety of proposed mechanisms, including assisting in the maintenance of an acidic pH, and producing substances that both kill the "bad" bacteria and then block them from adhering to the vaginal mucosa and retarding their growth.

It is very important for women with a persistent vaginal discharge or odor to come in for an examination. Studies have shown that many women who self-treat with over-the-counter products for vaginal yeast infections have misdiagnosed themselves. We are excited to be able to now offer our patients with BV a safe and effective long-term solution to a vexing medical problem.

A recent meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal created quite a stir with its conclusion. It announced that using calcium supplements increases the risk of heart attacks! While this is technically the correct conclusion based on the data obtained from this review, what must be recognized are the great limitations of this study, a fact freely acknowledged by the study's researchers.

The only subjects allowed into the review were women who did not take Vitamin D with their calcium supplements, nor were complex calcium supplements allowed. The only types of calcium permitted in the review were simple forms, predominantly calcium carbonate, along with a small amount of calcium citrate. No other forms of calcium supplementation were permitted, such as calcium hydroxy-apatite combined with calcium malate, as is supplied in our office. Additionally, the studies reviewed were not designed to evaluate the effects of calcium on the heart, and many of the patients' cardiac conditions were not evaluated prior to the start of the studies.

It is well known that it is very important that adequate amounts of Vitamin D be taken along with calcium in order for the benefits of the calcium to be realized, and this study excluded all patients who used Vitamin D. It is also acknowledged that all calcium supplements are not the same and that calcium carbonate is a very poor choice. In this meta-analysis, the majority of the subjects used calcium carbonate.

The logical conclusion from this meta-analysis is that all women should have their Vitamin D levels checked and be sure the levels are adequate prior to adding calcium. The calcium used as supplementation should be in a form most similar to calcium found in food, therefore, the best choice would be calcium hydroxy-apatite, and not calcium carbonate, and probably not calcium citrate.

The very best way to obtain calcium is through the diet, and calcium supplementation should be taken at the end of meals when the stomach contains the most acid. Clearly, many women would be best served by eliminating inappropriate forms of calcium as supplementation and by having adequate levels of Vitamin D, which usually requires supplementation. For more individual information on the risks and benefits of calcium supplementation, please call for an appointment.