Some women do not make enough progesterone, one of the dominant female hormones, to achieve and maintain a pregnancy. They may take progesterone supplements to increase progesterone levels before and during early pregnancy. Others take progesterone as part of hormone replacement therapy.
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Getting pregnant, a complicated hormonal event, requires an interplay of hormones released at exactly the right time to develop, mature and release an egg from the ovary, and then to implant it in the uterus.
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The nose is a common site for skin cancer, due to its exposure to the sun. Skin cancer will affect one in five people over their lifetime, with the highest risk group being those with light skin, eyes and hair. Fortunately, cancer on the nose is easily visible.
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Different classes of cholesterol-lowering medications work by different mechanisms. Statins block cholesterol synthesis in the liver, while cholesterol absorption inhibitors decrease cholesterol absorption.
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Excess weight puts a strain on every part of your body, including your ankles. Having to bear additional weight puts stress on bones, tendons and ligaments.
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Neck pain is a common complaint; over 50 percent of people complain of neck pain during the course of a year, according to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's McKinley Health Center. Ligaments attach bone to bone; stretching the ligaments too far or tearing them causes pain.
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When you feel hungry, eating should make you feel better. But for some people, eating makes them feel worse, due to a drop in blood sugar that occurs within one to three hours after they eat certain types of meals, according to Frank Jackson, M.D. of Jackson/Siegelbaum Gastroenterology.
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Redline energy drink, made by Vital Pharmaceuticals, which trades as VPX, is marketed as an energy booster and weight-loss drink, sold in health food stores and health clubs. Ingredients include a number of stimulants, including dehydrated coffee, yerba mate, green tea and yohimbine.
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Iron deficiency frequently occurs in women of childbearing age. Women of reproductive age have higher iron requirements than post-menopausal women or men, because they lose blood every month during their menstrual periods.
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Twilight anesthesia, more commonly known as conscious sedation or sedation analgesia, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, consists of intravenous medications to decrease pain, reduce anxiety and facilitate relaxation during procedures such as minor surgery.
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Quinine, a bitter tasting powder made from the bark of the cinchona tree, is known mainly for its use in malaria treatment.
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Babies have delicate skin, so they develop rashes more easily than adults. Because their skin is thin and unmarked by hair, old scars, sun spots and other skin conditions acquired with age, rashes also might be more visible on babies.
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The jaw consists of two bones, the maxilla, or upper jaw, and mandible, or lower jaw. Pain in the lower jaw can occur from many different causes, and can be acute or chronic. Pain may also occur from conditions in the jaw bone itself or may be "referred" pain from problems in nearby regions, such as the mouth or neck.
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D-mannose, a type of sugar, has become a popular alternative treatment for preventing and treating urinary tract infections. Unfortunately, nearly all the evidence on the effectiveness of D-mannose is anecdotal, without clinical studies to back it up.
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Colostomies divert stool from the colon to an opening on the abdominal wall. While many colostomies are permanent, some are placed temporarily to allow damaged bowel to heal after infection or removal of a portion of the intestine.
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Hormones are substances produced by the body that have chemical effects on other parts of the body. Women produce hormones, such as estradiol, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and progesterone. Certain hormones rise at various times of the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy.
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It's always a surprise to open your baby's diaper and see what he produced today. Once your baby starts eating solid food, the remnants of yesterday's dinner are usually plainly visible. Baby stools are usually not, like adult stool, perfectly formed and firm. Sticky stools can occur for a number of reasons.
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A Z-Pak is a prepackaged form of the antibiotic azithromycin, sold under the brand name Zithromax. Like other antibiotics, a Z-Pak treats bacterial infections. Zithromax will not cure or shorten the duration of a viral infection.
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Dangerously high blood glucose levels--over 300 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL)--can cause life-threatening complications. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) occurs mostly in type 1 diabetics, but can occur in type 2 diabetics in some cases. In DKA, insulin stores are exhausted and fats are broken down to use as energy.
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Cellulitis is a bacterial skin infection that commonly occurs on the lower extremities—including the feet, which are prone to edema (swelling) in people with poor foot circulation, like diabetics and those who are sedentary.
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