Category Archives: cancer

Gwyneth Paltrow’s detox smoothie has too much arsenic for my taste

Gwyneth Paltrow threw down the gauntlet. Having people ask about the validity of second-hand medical information from a ghost, wanting explanations about the antiparasitic properties of goat milk, or questioning the physics of recharging a jade egg with lunar energy is apparently more tiresome than adrenal fatigue. Too much entropy!  To remind herself that chicks …

Continue reading “Gwyneth Paltrow’s detox smoothie has too much arsenic for my taste”

Women should get a routine check in with their GYN, not a routine pelvic exam

I have been a gynecologist for over 20 years. Including residency I have been performing pelvic exams for over 26 years. I have done thousands of routine well-woman pelvic exams and thousands of exams for women with symptoms. While my personal n of 1 is certainly not research I have not once picked up a …

Continue reading “Women should get a routine check in with their GYN, not a routine pelvic exam”

Hey Gwyneth Paltrow, a GYN says stop scaring women about bras and breast cancer

Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP is the latest site to stoke false fears about bras and breast cancer (scaremongering being a nice touch for breast cancer awareness month – wraps up the whole October fright fest thing with a pink bow). The post is written by Dr. Habib Sadeghi, a doctor of osteopathic medicine and apparently the person who …

Continue reading “Hey Gwyneth Paltrow, a GYN says stop scaring women about bras and breast cancer”

HPV vaccine over age 26 – is it worth it?

Currently the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccines are approved in the United States up to the age of 26. This has nothing to do with safety but due to the fact that the studies submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involved this age range. The HPV vaccines were primarily studied in women aged …

Continue reading “HPV vaccine over age 26 – is it worth it?”

The HPV vaccine protects African American and white women equally from cancer

The Internet, or parts of it, claims the HPV vaccine is ineffective or less effective for African American women than for white women. This idea appears to have originated with Bustle and their take on a study that looked at HPV types in women undergoing testing of pre-cancers of the cervix. Drawing conclusions about the …

Continue reading “The HPV vaccine protects African American and white women equally from cancer”

The importance of the HPV vaccine in one graphic. Really.

Here are the percentage of cancers (by site and sex) due to HPV 16/18 and 31/33/45/52/58 The older HPV vaccine covers HPV 16/18. The new 9 valent HPV vaccine protects against 16/18 as well as 31/33/45/52/58. The vaccines are highly effective and have already begun to reduce pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix. Current data indicates …

Continue reading “The importance of the HPV vaccine in one graphic. Really.”

What if the HPV vaccine only lasts for 10 years?

Once of the concerns tossed around by critics of the HPV vaccine is the fear that it might only delay HPV infections. This was brought up by Dr. Harper on the infamous Katie Couric HPV episode, it’s also not an infrequent comment left on my blog, and of course it’s bandied about by a variety …

Continue reading “What if the HPV vaccine only lasts for 10 years?”

Dear Toronto Star, your Gardasil article isn’t about transparency

The title of the Toronto Star’s misleading front page article about vaccine safety has been changed. No longer is it “A Wonder drug’s dark side,” now it reads “Families seek more transparency on HPV vaccine.” They just don’t get it, do they? Here we have a vaccine that can protect from the virus that causes cervical cancer. …

Continue reading “Dear Toronto Star, your Gardasil article isn’t about transparency”