Thinking About Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery? Think Again. Bariatric weight loss surgery is a double edge sword. It has been devised as treatment for extremely obese patients, also known as morbidly obese. Statistics show that close to 200,000 bariatric surgeries are performed yearly in the country, 80% of which are women and only 20% are men, in spite of the fact that … [Read more...]
The Case of Little Charlie Gard ~Filling In the Blanks
Most of you have heard, read or seen on TV the saga of the little boy Charlie Gard, in England, and his parents fight for his life against all odds. Even the Vatican and the White House offered to help little Charlie, if possible. Charlie Gard, an 11 months old baby, was born with a very rare genetic disease known as Mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDS or MDDS). There … [Read more...]
Fertility 101 ~ A Basic Understanding of Infertility
Dr. Aladjem shares a basic understanding of infertility; what happens when you can’t get pregnant and what to do about it. Infertility problems are more common than one would suspect. Questions abound, public knowledge is scarce. Not too long time ago the wife of a friend of mine asked me if I could tell her why, in spite of her good health, she apparently is “sterile”. I … [Read more...]
Sleep Disorders During Pregnancy
Tired and Sleepy During Pregnancy? Sleep disorders during pregnancy are more common than first thought. Pregnancy is an episode in a woman’s life that is unique. Never before or after pregnancy, did you or will ever feel the same. The norm is happiness, elation, high expectations, blissfulness, wonder to the miracle of life entrusted to your body, and a sense of … [Read more...]
Picking Up the Pieces
Life is full of pleasant surprises alternating with others that are painful. The painful events we attribute to the very essence of life, like the death of a loved one. We learned to accept such events as being out of our control. We mourn, cry and, eventually, time heals the emotional wounds and we remember the departed for the good memories we have of them. We never feel … [Read more...]
ZIKA Virus: An Emergent Threat to Pregnant Women and their Babies
During the past year you have probably seen, read or heard the news about ZIKA virus and its devastating effects upon the unborn child. Two years ago, if you would have asked your doctor about ZIKA virus, most likely he/she would have had no information and probably thought your information came from a TV series! ZIKA virus was not on the medical radar at that time. Today, … [Read more...]
Advantages and Pitfalls of Home Deliveries
As I was pondering what would be a suitable topic to write about as a farewell to 2015, I realized that this is the month in which the Christians worldwide celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. We all know the picture of the Nativity: no fancy delivery rooms, no midwife in attendance. Just the newborn Jesus surrounded by his mother, his father, the Three Kings, as well as a few of … [Read more...]
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey ~ Saved America from Thalidomide
Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey died recently at the age of 101. Her name, most likely, is unknown to the generation of American babies born in the sixties. Many owe their having been born healthy to Dr. Kelsey. Back in the fifties, control, supervision and approval of new drugs was almost a perfunctory process not only in USA but also in Canada, Europe and the rest of the world. … [Read more...]
How Old is Too Young and How Young is Too Old?
If the title of this blog is puzzling to you, please bear with me for the time being. Let’s start from the beginning. At birth, a baby girl is born with a pool of about 1,000,000 potential eggs in her ovaries. By the time of her first menstrual period, between 11 and 13 years of age in the majority of cases, only about 300,000 can still become potential eggs for … [Read more...]
Our World Before Birth
The evolution of our understanding the development of the baby prior to birth is a fascinating and ongoing story in obstetrics. It is fair to say that during the first half of the 20th century, the general consensus was that the pregnant uterus was protective and inviolable. What we knew about the fetus was minimal and much of it was wrong. The advent of the amniocentesis in … [Read more...]