Valentine's Special: Love Songs

Ladies and gents, here are a few love songs I happen to like. You'll have to understand that I've struggled to downsize this list to a blog-appropriate size. In no particular order, here goes nothing!


The Smiths - There's A Light That Never Goes Out



The Doors - Love Me Two Times



The Beatles - Real Love




Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper



Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love



Frank Sinatra - Blue Skies



Julie London - Black Coffee



Doris Day - Dream A Little Dream Of Me



The Kinks - Lola



Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah



Tom Waits - All The World Is Green


Now go forth and be merry and whatnot!

A Very Lady Post - Part Four

A Very Lady Post - Part One
A Very Lady Post - Part Two
A Very Lady Post - Part Three

This part, ladies and gentlemen, is about a topic often discussed: "Who has the higher pain threshold: Men or women?"

Men argue that women will never understand the pain of being kicked in the nether region, as they do not possess the anatomy. When one thinks of it, "growing a pair of balls" isn't the best advice nor is it advice to make one tougher and more impermeable to pain, as testicles are of the least protected body organs and are very prone to injury. I would suggest one grows a pair of ovaries instead.

Women, though, argue that men would never understand the worse pain they go through, as they are anatomically challenged: Labour pain. Here are two videos of experiments found online, give them a look.





Many would argue that men do not have the psychological safety net of "bringing new life into this world" and are thus less psychologically prepared/willing to go through this pain until the end.

During their simulated labour, they were offered Nitrous Oxide and Pethidine to help with the pain. As to not ruin the experiment, they were not offered an epidural. Sadly, epidurals are not readily offered at all hospitals in the Kingdom and most women only have access to Nitrous Oxide in the delivery room, I only wish I had statistics.

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) does have statistics!  Those numbers show who uses it, which birth and what complications did they have.

 Women do not have to go through all of this pain anymore during childbirth, it is our duty as doctors to improve their quality of life, and alleviating their pain is but a small part of that. Bringing children into this world should not be a punishment (having to raise them in the hypocritical, rotten world of today is punishment enough).

Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

A Very Lady Post - Part Three

A Very Lady Post - Part One
A Very Lady Post - Part Two

Ladies! Today we'll continue with contraceptive methods. We've already covered: Oral contraceptives and barrier contraceptives in part two

Now, it's time for intrauterine devices (IUD):

• What are they?
• Devices that are placed inside the uterus to prevent pregnancy. They can be inserted any time during the menstrual cycle once a pre-existing pregnancy is excluded.
• How do they work?
• By preventing fertilisation and implantation.
• Side effects:
• Heavy and painful menstruation with the copper T, but menstrual flow and cramping with levonorgestrel IUD.

Emergency Contraception:

• What is it?
• It is commonly requested due to failure of contraceptive methods.
• How is it used?
• It is called a morning after pill, to be taken during the first 72 hours of failure of the contraceptive method to cut down the risk of pregnancy. 
• it could be in form of oral contraceptive pills or insertion or an IUD

Failure Rates:

Method	Perfect Use	Typical Use
OCPs	0.3%	8%
Male Condoms	2%	15%
Diaphragm with Spermicide	6%	16%
Copper T (IUD)	0.6%	0.8%
Levonorgestrel IUD	0.2%	0.2%
Long Term Injectables (Depo-Provera)	0.3%	3%

That's it for contraceptives! What would you like to hear about next time?

Another thing, I'm working on translating this with the lovely Omair Taibah! Give his blog a visit and if you'd like to help translate this, do let us know!

A Very Lady Post - Part Two

A Very Lady Post - Part One

Ladies and gentlemen!

Today's topics are conception and contraception! Fun, no? Let's start with how babies are made.

To make a baby, we need a sperm from the father, an ovum (egg) from the mother and a uterus to contain the fertilized ovum. To make sure fertilization happens, sperm should be available at the time of ovulation (approx. day 15 of the cycle).

The father provides either a 23X or a 23Y chromosome sperm, and the mother provides a 23X chromosome egg. Thus, the father is the one to determine the sex of the baby (46XX being female and 46XY being male) . The sperm and the ovum meet at the fallopian tubes, then the fertilized ovum is implanted in the uterus where it grows.

Now, contraceptive methods.

There are few methods to prevent pregnancy:

• Oral contraceptives.
• Long-acting injectable contraception.
• Barrier contraception.
• Emergency contraception

Oral Contraception:

• The most popular.
• Administration: The first pill is taken on the fifth day of the period, or the day the bleeding stops. One pill per day for 21 days, followed by 7 days of placebo pills.
• Mechanism of Action: They prevent ovulation.
• Side effects: Irregular breakthrough bleeding, nausea, headache, elevated blood pressure, weight gain.
• Should not be used in cases of: Diseases of over-clotting of blood, chronic liver disease, pregnancy, smoking in women over 35, cardiac disease.
• Health benefits: They reduce menstrual cramps, decreases uterine bleeding, protection against benign breast disease, prevent formulation of ovarian cyst, reduces the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease, and reduce the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer.

Long Acting Injectable Contraception:

• Dosing: Intramuscularly or inserted beneath the skin.
• Mechanism of action: prevention of ovulation.
• Side effects: Irregular vaginal bleeding, amenorrhea, weight gain, alopecia, reduced libido, depression. Removal may be mildly uncomfortable due to fibrosis.

Barrier Contraception:

• Works by placing a physical barrier to stop the sperm from reaching the ovum.
• Male condoms: 
• The most popular, a sheath placed over the penis and prevents semen from entering the vagina.
• Disposable, convenient, inexpensive, readily available, prevents some STDs.

• Intravaginal devices:
• Diaphragm:
• A circular patch of latex held in place by a metal frame. It prevents the passage of sperm into the cervical canal.
• Must be removed several hours after coitus.

• Cervical cap:
• Smaller than the diaphragm.
• it may be left in place for several days after coitus, but has a higher failure rate than the diaphragm.



• Female condom:
• fits loosely inside the vagina. Infrequently used.

I guess this post is long enough for today! Next post: The rest of the contraceptives! Don't miss it!

A very lady post - part one

A Very Lady Post - Part Two

Ladies!
there is a little thing I'd like to talk to you about which I believe is an important part of every woman's wellbeing: your menstrual period.
Get yourselves a calendar or an app and mark the first day of your period every month, and the last day of bleeding. Apps usually detect the pattern and provide you with important information:
-the length of your cycle:
      the normal cycle ranges from 24 to 35 days, 28 days being the average.
-the number of menstruating days:
       ranges from 3 to 7 days, and blood loss is typically 80ml.
-Probable day of ovulation:
       which is usually the 15th day after the 1st day of menses.
Phases of the menstrual cycle:

-The Menstrual Phase: Begins on day 1 with the onset of bleeding, until the bleeding stops. (usually day 3-7)
-The Proliferative Phase: Begins at the end of the menstrual phase and ends at ovulation (usually day 13-15)
-The Luteal Phase: Starts at ovulation and ends when the entire process starts over again with day 1.
Why do you need to know all of this?
-To figure out if you're pregnant
-After figuring out that you're pregnant, you'll find out how far along you are.
-In cases of abnormal vaginal bleeding: Prolonged bleeding, inter-menestrual bleeding, abnormally short intervals between menses, abnormally long intervals between menses.
What is PMS?
- It stands for Pre-Menstrual Syndrome.
-Definition: A cyclic appearance of a number of symptoms which affect lifestyle and work.
-Common Symptoms: Abdominal bloating, weight gain, constipation, anxiety, breast tenderness, depression, cravings for sugar or salt, and irritability.
-There is no unified theory to explain why/how we PMS.
-Treatment: supportive therapy, exercise, and diet modification have been found to help.
List of apps:
Android:
-https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.period.tracker.lite
-https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sleekbit.ovuview&feature= related_apps
Apple:
-Here's a review article, since I'm an android user: http://www.imore.com/ladies-app-app-review-iperiod-period-tracker-iphone
Next post: Contraceptives!

Book Review: The Casual Vacancy.

"The Casual Vacancy" on GoodReads 

Half of this book review is volunteered by Ahmed, who was kind enough to offer his opinion.

I'll have to admit that I was more than excited to hear that J.K. Rowling's new book was coming out. So excited that I postponed reading 1Q84, which I've been waiting to read since it's been translated.

J.K. Rowling's books carried many through their childhood and teenage years, the characters developed and grew up with us. I guess it's only a natural turn of events that her books grew up as well.

*SPOILERS!!! maybe...*

"All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"
-Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina"

The book starts with the introduction of  each character individually, which is a very classical thing to do. Many considered that to be dull, but as a fan of classical literature this gave me more hope for the book.

She carries on drawing a complete picture of the town alongside its inhabitants, their families, their roles in this immaculate small town society unsullied, on the surface, by the grime of big cities.

Then, it starts to show how flawed this society is.


Among the daily parent/teenager quarrels, one quarrel in particular finds its way into a different realm: the larger parish council quarrels. This unexpected turn of events stimulates a few other to follow, and the book picks up pace, one thing leads to another, and before you know it the book is over!

One thing I personally liked very much was the parallel beginning and end. Not to mention, it was a fun light read much less grim than we were lead to believe. Or I could just have a twisted sense of humour.

If you were hoping for an Agatha Christie sort of book, you're in the wrong place. This is a J.K. Rowling book, written in her clear precise voice and her wonderful choice of words.

===

Ahmed:

Let me begin by saying that I have not read any of the Harry Potter books or watched any of the movies. I generally don’t read much fiction, and the little fiction I read I usually prefer to read in Arabic. But after reading a long profile of Rowling in the New Yorker magazine, I have become curious about her first novel post-the Harry Potter era.

I agree with Asmaa that Rowling’s portrayal of life in the town and the traditional build up of events and characters were both nice, although I was a little taken aback by the crescendo in the end which was tragic but probably fitting.

But over all I really enjoyed reading the book: the descriptive language, the quirks of the characters, and the interactions and parallels between them were all very enjoyable. Though I have to say that I found the young characters more polished than the older ones.

I’m ready to read 1Q84 :-)

Shoe shopping!

I blog to you while shoe shopping in besancon, France, in one of those warehouse places, using my tab 10.1. That will be all.