How can my diet affect my premenstrual symptoms? What you eat and drink can have a big influence on both the physical and emotional symptoms you may have each month during the week or two leading up to your period. Most experts recommend that women with premenstrual syndrome start by avoiding caffeine and alcohol, which can exacerbate headaches, anxiety, and depression. It's also a good idea to d...

• Dana Sullivan
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• March 11, 2013
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• • Food &, Nutrition: Misc. Menstruation Women's Problems: Misc.

Dong quai (Angelica sinensis ), or Chinese angelica, is a member of a plant family that includes parsley, carrots, and poison hemlock. Asian women have traditionally used its bittersweet root to relieve menstrual cramps and regulate periods. In this country it often shows up as the principal ingredient in "women's supplements," commercial mixtures of herbs that promise to treat everything from a s...

• Willow Older
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• March 11, 2013
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• • Holistic Medicine Menopause / Postmenopause Menstruation

What are menstrual cramps? For decades, the medical establishment thought of menstrual cramps as an ailment that was minor at best. Doctors tended to deal with it by either dismissing the pain as a psychological problem or prescribing painkillers or tranquilizers. Today researchers have come a long way toward a fuller understanding of menstrual cramps and the pain they cause some 50 percent of wom...

• Paige Bierma, M.A.
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• March 11, 2013
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• Full Page
• • Menstruation Women's Problems: Misc.

What is premenstrual syndrome? Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is the common name for the collection of physical and emotional symptoms that many women experience seven to 14 days before their menstrual period begins. Most women have at least a few PMS symptoms at some point, and it's usually a minor inconvenience. However, up to 40 percent of women deal with PMS every month, and it's sometimes sev...

• Chris Woolston, M.S.
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• March 11, 2013
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• Full Page
• • Menstruation Psychology / Mental Health: Misc. Women's Problems: Misc.

What is toxic shock syndrome? Toxic shock syndrome, or TSS, is a rare, life-threatening bacterial illness marked by high fever, lower blood pressure, rash and the shut-down of multiple organ systems. It became a household word only in the 1980s, after an epidemic of the disease was linked to tampon use. What causes it? The illness is caused by common staph bacteria that include Staphylococcus aure...

• Psyche Pascual, M.A.
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• March 11, 2013
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• Full Page
• • Infections: Misc. Menstruation Women's Problems: Misc.