Galactorrhea Causes

Galactorrhea is a milky nipple discharge unrelated to the normal milk production of breast-feeding. Galactorrhea itself isn't a disease, but it's a sign of an underlying problem. Although it occurs most often in women, galactorrhea can happen in men and even sometimes in infants.

Sometimes, the cause of galactorrhea can't be determined, and the condition goes away on its own.

Galactorrhea often results from too much prolactin — the hormone responsible for milk production (lactation) when you have a baby. Prolactin is produced by your pituitary gland, a marble-sized gland at the base of your brain that secretes and regulates several hormones.

Possible causes of galactorrhea include:

* Medications, such as certain tranquilizers, antidepressants and high blood pressure drugs
* Herbal supplements, such as fennel, anise or fenugreek seed
* Birth control pills
* A noncancerous pituitary tumor (prolactinoma) or other disorder of the pituitary gland
* An underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
* Chronic kidney disease
* Excessive breast stimulation, which may be associated with sexual activity, frequent breast self-exams, a skin rash on the chest or prolonged clothing friction
* Nerve damage to the chest wall from chest surgery, burns or other chest injuries
* Spinal cord surgery, injury or tumors

Idiopathic galactorrhea
Sometimes doctors can't find a cause for galactorrhea. This is called idiopathic galactorrhea, and it may just mean that your breast tissue is particularly sensitive to the milk-producing hormone prolactin in your blood. If you have increased sensitivity to prolactin, even normal prolactin levels can lead to galactorrhea.

Traditional Chinese Medicine:Suggestions for Long Term Breast Health

# Eat as many fresh, lightly cooked vegetables as you wish. Go easy on spicy, sweet, or greasy foods

# Avoid overeating. This stagnates the stomach qi - the stomach channel irrigates the breast tissue. Stagnant qi in any form is bad for the breasts.

# Try to avoid becoming overweight. There is a known relationship between body fat, fat consumption, and breast cancer.

# Stay relaxed. Remember the "Serenity Prayer" or simply learn to know the difference between what you can and cannot change and control in your life and in the lives of those around you. Try to let go of what you cannot change and work at changing what you can.

# If you cannot relax, use relaxation tapes or meditation techniques to help you learn to do so. Stress, when not released or diffused by some method, is an enemy of breast health.

# Avoid caffeine in as many forms as you can. Stop eating chocolate except as a rare treat. Switch from coffee to black tea, or better yet, to green tea.

# If you can, get some form of exercise every day, or at least every other day. It burns fat
cells, reduces stress, increases energy, and improves self image.

# Eat meat sparingly. Use it in broths, soups, stews, and not necessarily every day. Don’t just eat chicken and fish; a variety of meats is better over the long term.

# Grains, well cooked and/or in the form of noodles, should be the foundation of any diet. Try eating something else instead of bread. Try cutting back to bread products only once per day.

# When you use oil, use olive oil. Studies show it to be a better option for breast health than other oils or fats.

#Breast massage and any form of self-massage is helpful in keeping qi and blood circulating. Learn a simple self-massage regime from a book or make one up for yourself.

Cervical Health:How to reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

It's time to ask yourself if you're doing all you can to reduce your risk of cervical cancer. So what's the best way to protect your cervix? For starters, you should know the facts about HPV.
HPV or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted virus responsible for causing genital warts and has been linked to cervical cancer as well as other cancers. Women under thirty can decrease their risk of HPV infection by getting the HPV vaccine and/or using a condom during sexual intercourse. Regular pap smears are also recommended for women 21-30 to detect any abnormal changes in the cells around the cervix.

According to the American Cancer Society, between 60% and 80% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have not had a pap smear in the past 5 fears. The ACS website advises that “women who have their Pap tests as often as they should are least likely to get cervix cancer.” Women who are at a higher risk of cervical cancer include those who have HPV and it doesn't go away, those who have HIV or AIDS and those who smoke.

For women over 35, however, replacing pap smears with HPV testing may be more effective, according to a new Italian study. Researchers studied a group of Italian women for over three years and found that HPV testing in women over 35 led to fewer cervical cancer deaths. Once women over 35 receive a negative HPV test, they can wait five years before their next test, according to the researchers. HPV testing in place of a pap smear would not be suitable for women under 35, however, since most HPV infections in young women clear up on their own.
A separate study at McGill University in Canada found that 56% of college couples have HPV.The researchers gave questionnaires to 263 college students between the ages of 18 and 24. The participants had been sexually active with their partners for no longer than six months. The study found that HPV spreads quickly in new sexual relationships; most of the couples were infected with HPV within the first couple months after they began having sex. The researchers stressed the need for prevention. 44% of the participants had the type of HPV that causes cancer.

According to the CDC, about 50% of sexually active people will be infected with HPV, but most will not experience any symptoms and the virus will usually clear up on its own. The American Cancer Society also stresses that though most women who have sex will get HPV, most of them will not develop cervical cancer.