I like to work as a collaborative physician. My patients, I believe, will be my best partners in providing diagnostic information -- as long as they are asked the right questions. I also believe in consulting with the best medical minds on issues that require specialization or unique clinical experience....

I like to work as a collaborative physician. My patients, I believe, will be my best partners in providing diagnostic information -- as long as they are asked the right questions. I also believe in consulting with the best medical minds on issues that require specialization or unique clinical experience....

Arriving at a big birthday can't help but trigger intimations of mortality. Still, a milestone birthday is a precious gift. Treat your body and mind carefully and look forward to the next milestone.

1. Mindfulness -- being completely in touch with, and aware of, the present moment -- is an...

Walmart needs to hire a woman to be its CEO in order to convince the world that it is serious about changing its old-boy network and instances of turning a blind eye to conduct that includes its alleged past history of discrimination against women who made up 72%...

It's Save Your Vision Month, and to "celebrate" I have been speaking with Leila Rafla-Demetrious, M.D, a board-certified ophthalmologist on staff at the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical School, to get a clear description of common eye emergencies. Eye emergencies often require urgent evaluation and proper treatment to prevent...

There are many kinds of spring training.

We often associate the term "spring training" with baseball. The teams all head to warm-weather camps in late winter and work hard to strengthen muscles and work on injured tendons, muscles, ligaments and joints so that another season of baseball can begin with...

I recently got a letter from a reader asking whether a hysterectomy was the only way to eliminate complications she was experiencing as a result of hormone therapy. As readers of my Ask Dr. Pat columns know, I am often asked these types of questions.

Dear Dr. Pat:

...

Originally posted on Women's Voices for Change

What could be worse than hot flashes in this heat? Menopause specialists are besieged with women who were just barely functioning in early June and are now overcome by the high and humid temperatures that have plagued much of...

Originally posted on Women's Voices for Change.

Dear Dr. Pat,

I am 44 years old and six months ago I had a hysterectomy with removal of both ovaries because of endometriosis and severe pelvic pain that increased with menstruation. I tried all the drug treatments available to control...

Originally posted on Women's Voices for Change.

Dear Dr. Pat,

I am 51 years old and have been told that I need a hysterectomy. I have fibroids that are the size of a grapefruit and heavy menstrual periods. The bleeding has always been heavy, but it's now...

Originally posted on Women's Voices for Change.

I am 58 years old, 5 feet, 2 inches tall and I weigh 170 pounds. My doctor tells me that I am pre-diabetic and has warned me that I am increasing my risk for heart disease, stroke and...

Late last year, members of the Women's Voices for Change community were invited to an advance screening of the film Desert Flower (Yes, that's Dr. Pat in the LIFE Magazine photo below.) Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name, the film chronicles the story of Waris Dirie, a...

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a recognized cause of cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancer. For younger women, there is now a recommendation for a three-part vaccine (Gardasil) that may protect against two of the many forms of the high-risk strains of HPV. (Young men have not been advised to have this...

February is such a dreary month in much of the U.S., filled with cold, rainy and slushy days, punctuated by the usual prediction, made by a groundhog, that spring will return earlier than expected. The only redeeming features of this month are that it has the fewest days of any...

The Million Women Study is a British observational study that began in May 1996 and ended in December 2001. Women were 50-64 at the time the study began, and their numbers included one in four of all...

I can't tell you how many women come to me with the belief that menopause has caused their weight gain, and there's nothing they can do about it. Wrong!

Some claim hormone therapy made them fat. Others are certain that the loss of estrogen caused their weight gain. One...

Dr. Joseph Ragaz, a medical oncologist in the school of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada made a big media splash recently with the presentation of non-peer-reviewed data at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer...

I am learning that there are many unexpected benefits to rounding the years of each new decade. I have even learned to imagine that the fall and winter holidays may be fun.

My holiday season begins earlier than most, with the birthday party for a son in early November. It...

Originally posted on Women's Voices for Change.

The Wall Street Journal published an essay by Dr. Mark Lachs, head of geriatrics for the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, on sex and aging. He made it clear, with references to the Bible, Socrates, and Plato, that it has...