Health and medical information

A headache is probably the most common symptom from which we suffer.

This is not due to the hectic pace of life in the highly developed countries, as our brothers and sisters in the underdeveloped world where the pace of life is slower suffer just as often. Even our ancestors were not free from this common disorder.

The pain in your head may be an “ordinary” headache, not dignified by having a specific name or an associated symptom, occurring along with others in the course of some illness, such as one of the infectious diseases.

Or the pain may be one of the common specific disorders, such as migraine or tension headache.

Headaches are such a common occurrence that it is usually only the severe, the persistent, the recurrent or the bizarre headaches which make us seek medical attention, or it may be the more sensitive, introspective or hypochondriacal of us who bother to take such a symptom for medical evaluation.

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Excessive bleeding from the womb may be due to a condition called metropathia hemorrhagica.

This condition is more common in the forties, although it may occur at any age during reproductive life.

It is due to an unbalanced action of the oestrogen hormone from the ovary which acts on the lining of the womb.

Usually ovulation ceases and there is an excess production of FSH, or follicle stimulating hormone, produced by the pituitary gland.

This is often called the master gland of the body and it lies at the base of the brain and produces hormones which control the other endocrine glands of the body.

FSH acts on the ovaries causing the ovum to ripen and produce oestrogen. Over-activity of this hormone may cause the development of a cyst in the ovary which in itself produces oestrogen.

These often spontaneously disappear and rarely require treatment. The oestrogen acts on the endometrium or lining of the womb, causing it to thicken and to develop a greater blood supply.

Then a drop in the level of oestrogen leads to the onset of bleeding and this may go on and on.

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