Health and medical topics important for women of all ages: nutrition, gynecology heart disease, and more... Post-Partum Depression    Depression, from mild to severe, is experienced by approximately eighty percent of mothers after giving birth. The 'baby blues', with feelings of anxiety and sadness, usually recedes within one or two weeks. However, some mothers [one or two out of ten] suffer more severe forms of this condition; post-partum depression [PPD] may have intense symptoms that would interfere with normal daily activities. PPD may appear in the first few weeks after the baby is born, or several months later. If not adequately treated, PPD may last much longer. Family support and medical treatment usually resolve most situations.    Guilt, feelings of weakness and the perception of character or personality flaws may also be part of this condition. Other symptoms may include a sense of failure, unworthiness, and intense sadness. Many other symptoms have been described, which may appear at different times, such as insomnia, fatigue and mood swings --that usually affect family relationships.    There could also be a general emotional numbness, with lack of interest in normal, daily life, sometimes with fear of hurting herself and the baby. Withdrawal from family members, eating habits changes, with weight gain or loss, sense of loneliness, inability to concentrate and memory changes are signs and symptoms that are frequently temporary.    In more severe cases, requiring prompt medical attention, the mother may feel strong, unexplained anger, having thoughts of harming the baby and herself, with confusion, agitation and delusions, expressing unusual statements and symptoms of paranoia...   [continued] Ovarian Cancer    Located deep in the pelvis, one at each side of the uterus, the ovaries are a pair of organs in the female reproductive system. Each ovary is about the size and shape of an almond; they produce eggs and female hormones, estrogen and progesterone.    There are several types of ovarian cancers: 'epithelial' cancer, which develops from the tissues covering the ovaries, 'germ' cell cancer, affecting mostly teenage and young women, developing from reproductive cells. It usually affects only one ovary. There are other types of tumors, affecting tissues that provide support to these organs, and also, although rare, from vascular structures.    Women who have a family history of ovarian cancer are at an increased risk of developing the disease, particularly if close relatives suffered from it. The risk is higher if one, or more, first-degree relatives are affected.    Ovarian cancer affects approximately 25,000 women a year in the US; ten percent of patients are younger than thirty-five, while the peak age is between fifty five and sixty.    Most diagnoses are made on Caucasian women, a rate fifty percent higher than all other ethnic groups. It is also estimated that approximately five to ten percent of women would be diagnosed with this disease in their lifetime.    Most ovarian cancers in adult women, eighty-five percent, are 'epithelial', while the 'germ cell' type is found mostly on young women...   [continued] Home  ::  News  ::  Newsletter  ::  Site Map  ::  Exercise & Fitness  ::  Sports Medicine  ::  Nutrition  ::  Cancer Center Breast Cancer  ::  Medical Journals  ::  Mental Health  ::  Alternative Medicine  ::  From NIH  ::  Health Insurance  ::  Drugstore Publications  ::  Guestbook  ::  Download  ::  Shopping  ::  Corporate Services  ::  Digital Content  ::  Q & A  ::  Kids' Corner Women's Health  ::  Testimonials  ::  Bookstore  ::  Privacy  ::  Press Releases  ::  Tell a Friend  ::  Help  ::  About Us The information in our pages is published for educational purposes only and must not be taken as medical advice or medical treatment in any form. For health problems, visitors to our site are encouraged to seek help from licensed, competent physicians.