Online Women's Health

Birth control methods have always intrigued people, and the ability to control one’s fertility has been the desire of different populations. Some old civilizations used honey, stones, acacia leaves and lint to be inserted in the vaginas to prevent sperm migration into the uterine cavity, while others relied on prayers and more spiritual methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Many ancient documents talk about birth control methods, including the Ebers Papyrus and Kahun Papyrus.  In this article, I will be focusing on one form of contraception known as the intrauterine contraceptive method. Intrauterine devices (IUD) are considered one of the most effective contraceptive methods we have nowadays. They belong to a group of contraceptives called LARCs or long acting reversible contraceptives. Generally speaking, IUDs are considered to be safe, cost effective, reversible and easily accessible, however, what is the actual effectiveness and safety of these devices? And are there any n...

Condom companies tend to portray a 98 to 99% efficacy of their products; however, many studies have shown that this tremendous contraceptive efficacy is only seen with the perfect use of condoms. This “ perfect use ” does not account for the human error, and thus the actual failure rate of condoms with “ typical use ” can be as high as 18 to 20%. But why does this efficacy dramatically differ between “perfect” and “typical” uses?  Studies have shown that condoms  break  in up to 33%,  slip  in around 15% and  leak  in up to 7% of cases. These failure rates were secondary to improper storage or use of condoms, including adding the wrong kind of lubricants that some were shown to damage latex.  In addition to the above-mentioned condoms failures, sometimes you feel caught in the moment and engage in unprotected intercourse for a more pleasurable experience. Moreover, some women might unfortunately face unconsented coerced unprotected sexual interc...

The famous Aphrodite and Venus were considered to be the Goddesses of fertility in the Greek and Roman mythologies respectively. Actually, tens of other fertility Gods and Goddesses have been described across different civilizations and historically couples used to pray for their respective deities in hope of conceiving. Today, after thousands of years some people still hold superstitions concerning a woman’s fertility, and women tend to be blamed for not being able to conceive! This belief of a woman’s hostile environment standing in the way of natural conception is still being portrayed in some parts of our current “modern” world. Infertility is commonly seen nowadays, and it has been shown to be linked to psychological, economic and medical burdens. Couples tend to seek fertility counseling much more often than before, and this is mostly secondary to their understanding that infertility is not something to be ashamed of, it has solutions and it should be handled by specialists. T...

I have been asked many times to talk about urinary tract infections, shortly known as UTIs. They have been commonly confused by some ladies with vaginal or even sexually transmitted infections. But the question is: what are UTI? How can you tell if you have one? And what are the behavioral changes that can allow you to decrease the chance of their occurrence? Well, before talking about the infections of the urinary tract, you should become more familiar with your anatomy. The urinary tract is a group of organs that handle your urine; starting from the kidneys (the two bean shaped organs that filter your blood from many toxins) , to the ureters (the tubes that take urine from the kidneys to the bladder) , the bladder (the urine reservoir) ending with the urethra (the tube that takes urine from your bladder to the outside during the process of urination) . Infection of any of the previously mentioned organs falls under the definition of a urinary tract infection. If the infection...

 (This article is based on the latest data concerning COVID-19 and pregnancy. This information is amenable to change in case new data emerge) Since its beginning in Wuhan China in December 2019, more than 14 million people were inflicted with COVID-19, with more than half a million deaths worldwide. It occupied the headlines of all medical and non-medical journals and was a hot topic on every tongue. It was capable of infecting everyone without any discrimination, however some individuals were more negatively impacted by the virus as they were considered to be part of a “vulnerable population”, such as people with existing medical conditions, lung disease and advanced age. But what about pregnancy? Are pregnant women at a higher risk for infection or disease progression? And should they seek more preventive measures? The name COVID-19 was designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2019, and it represents the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV...