Adult female acne: Why it happens and the emotional toll
Acne can be frustrating, especially when it does not go away after your teenage years. Believe it or not, acne can continue to affect adults beyond adolescence, or develop for…
Year three of the pandemic is underway: Now what?
Let’s not kid ourselves: the pandemic is still with us, despite how it may sometimes seem. Increasingly, people are going back to work in person. Schools reopened this spring. And…
Considering pregnancy and have lupus? Plan ahead
Like many autoimmune disorders, lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE) disproportionately affects women during child-bearing years. Lupus is one of more than 80 autoimmune illnesses that affect an estimated 23…
Untangling grief: Living beyond a great loss
"The horse has left the barn." Those six words, said by my husband’s oncologist, changed our lives forever, although the sense of impending loss had begun weeks earlier with a…
Some men whose prostate cancer progresses can safely delay treatment
Prostate cancer can progress over long durations, and if a man’s tumor has features that predict slow growth, he can opt for active surveillance instead of immediate treatment. Men on…
Period equity: What it is and why it matters
It’s happened to so many people who menstruate: you’re going about your life until you realize that you just got your period. The ungainly scramble to find a restroom and…
Corneal transplants becoming more common
At one time, replacement parts for the eyes must have seemed unimaginable. Nowadays, if the inner lens of the eye becomes clouded by a cataract, a routine surgery to swap…
Colon cancer screening decisions: What’s the best option and when?
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and rates are rising, particularly in adults ages 20 to 49. Unfortunately, approximately 30% of…
Weight stigma: As harmful as obesity itself?
Weight stigma, as defined in a recent BioMed Central article, is the "social rejection and devaluation that accrues to those who do not comply with prevailing social norms of adequate…
Misgendering: What it is and why it matters
As a cisgender woman with long hair and a closet full of dresses, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been misgendered by being called "he"…