Pregnancy is an exciting time in a woman’s life, but also one that can be quite stressful. While there are already a million things on your mind, it’s important to make sure that your dental care is one of them. The fact is that many women don’t realize that poor oral hygiene can have a negative effect
What is vitamin B12? Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a vitamin that plays a crucial role in the synthesis of our genes (DNA and RNA). Vitamin B12 is very important for our body’s cells to function normally, particularly for red blood cell formation and for neurons (the cells in our nervous system). Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause serious
Low or no calorie sweeteners are common. They are present in soft drinks and many other foods to replace sugar and other high caloric sweeteners in efforts to aid in weight loss or help control diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are on every restaurant table to add to your coffee or tea as an alternative to sugar. What are
I was 30 weeks pregnant when our family travelled through New Mexico and Colorado while we were relocating from Atlanta back to Edmonton. The mountains in these states have altitudes greater than 10,000 feet (3048 metres)! During my medical training, I learned about the potential consequences of high altitudes for non-pregnant travellers. But what I didn’t know was
Many women consider intrauterine device (IUD) as a form of birth control both before having a baby, and after. This is because the IUD is very reliable, safe, and is as effective as permanent sterilization. These features make the IUD a very desirable birth control option. There are two main types of IUDs available on
Stephanie Liu, University of Alberta; Erin Manchuk, University of Alberta, and Shannon Ruzycki, University of Calgary Is it safe to drink alcohol and breastfeed? As physicians, we have always cautioned patients not to. As mothers, we look forward to the occasional glass of wine. We also know that drinking while breastfeeding remains a controversial and
When I was going through my undergraduate training – I would have 3 cups of coffee per day. My mom and my relatives kept telling me to cut back on my caffeine consumption, but never really told me why. “Its not good for you!” they would say, but what does the evidence say? What are
When I was pregnant with Madi I smelled like coconut oil constantly. I was told by my mom and her friends to slather my belly with coconut oil to prevent stretch marks. I suspected that this may not have been the best method to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, but I did it anyway because
As we age, our bone density naturally changes, putting us more at risk for osteoporosis, making bones more brittle, weak, and increased risk for fractures and breaks. Building strong bones is especially important for women because it affects women almost 5x more than men! Osteoporosis increases as women age because of the female biology after
Cervical cancer is a scary diagnosis, with it affecting 1 in 5 Canadian women. Fortunately, there are many steps we can take to prevent it and one of them is by talking straight to my patients about the pap smear. Cervical cancer screening (done through a pap smear) can identify cervical cancer and cervical “pre-cancer”