Dr. Pallavi A. Pawal

Follow a heart-healthy diet

There's an easy recipe if your goal is to keep away problems like heart disease and strokes.

Eat more fruits and veggies. Choose whole grains. Try brown rice instead of white. Switch to whole wheat pasta. Choose lean proteins like poultry, fish, beans, and legumes. Cut down on processed foods, sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

When eating healthy, flexibility often works best, says joyce meng, md, assistant professor at the pat and jim calhoun cardiology center at uconn health. If you like to follow a strict diet plan, go for it. If not, it's ok" find what works for you"

Tricia montgomery, 52, the founder of k9 fit club, knows first-hand how the right diet and lifestyle can help. For her, choosing healthy foods and planning small, frequent meals works well" I don't deny myself anything" she says" I still have dessert -- key lime pie, yum! -- and I love frozen gummy bears, but moderation is key"

Health balance:

Women's health tips for heart, mind, and body

By kara mayer robinson

Looking for the path toward a healthier you? it's not hard to find. The journey begins with some simple tweaks to your lifestyle. The right diet, exercise, and stress-relief plan all play a big role.

Follow a heart-healthy diet

There's an easy recipe if your goal is to keep away problems like heart disease and strokes.

Eat more fruits and veggies. Choose whole grains. Try brown rice instead of white. Switch to whole wheat pasta. Choose lean proteins like poultry, fish, beans, and legumes. Cut down on processed foods, sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

When eating healthy, flexibility often works best, says joyce meng, md, assistant professor at the pat and jim calhoun cardiology center at uconn health. If you like to follow a strict diet plan, go for it. If not, it's ok" find what works for you"

Tricia montgomery, 52, the founder of k9 fit club, knows first-hand how the right diet and lifestyle can help. For her, choosing healthy foods and planning small, frequent meals works well" I don't deny myself anything" she says" I still have dessert -- key lime pie, yum! -- and I love frozen gummy bears, but moderation is key"

Exercise every day

The more active you are, the better, meng says. Exercise boosts your heart health, builds muscle and bone strength, and wards off health problems.

Aim for 2 and a half hours of moderate activity, like brisk walking or dancing, every week. If you're ok with vigorous exercise, stick to 1 hour and 15 minutes a week of things like running or playing tennis. Add a couple of days of strength training, too.

If you're busy, try short bursts of activity throughout the day. Walk often. A good target is 10, 000 steps a day. Take the stairs. Park your car far away from your destination.

Montgomery exercises every day, often with her dog. By adding lunges, squats, and stairs to a walk, she turns it into a power workout" I also am a huge pilates fan" she says.

Lose weight

When you shed pounds you'll lower your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Aim for a slow, steady drop. Try to lose 1-2 pounds a week by being active and eating better.
It doesn't have to be an hour of intense exercise every day" meng says" any little bit helps"

As you improve, dial up the time and how hard you work out. If you want to lose a lot of weight, try for 300 minutes of exercise a week.

"Eating a healthy diet will go a long way" meng says. Start by cutting sugar, which she says is often hiding in plain sight -- in store-bought items like salad dressing, packaged bread, and nuts. Try to avoid soda and sugar-laced coffee drinks, too.

Cut down your stress

It can take a toll on your health. You probably can't avoid it altogether, but you can find ways to ease the impact. Don't take on too much. Try to set limits with yourself and others. It's ok to say no.

To relieve stress, try:

Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, exercise, healthy eating, talking to a friend, family member, or professional counselor.

The uterus, or womb, is a muscular structure and is held in place by ligaments and pelvic muscles. If these muscles or tendons become weak, they cause prolapse and are no longer able to hold the uterus in its place.

Uterine prolapse happens when the uterus falls or slips from its ordinary position and into the vagina, or birth waterway. It could be complete prolapse or even incomplete at times. A fragmented prolapse happens when the uterus is just hanging into the vagina. A complete prolapse depicts a circumstance in which the uterus falls so far down that some tissue rests outside of the vagina. Likewise, as a lady ages and with a loss of the hormone estrogen, her uterus can drop into the vaginal canal. This condition is known as a prolapsed uterus.

Risks: The risks of this condition are many and have been enumerated as follows:

1. Complicated delivery during pregnancy
2. Weak pelvic muscle
3. Loss of estrogen during menopause causes atrophy of uterus 
4. Excessive straining on the abdomen and pelvic area ex. Chronic cough, chronic constipation, etc.
5. Being overweight
6. Obesity causing extra strain on the muscles
7. Pelvic surgeries in the pelvic zone
8. Smoking

Symptoms: Some of the most common symptoms of prolapse involve:

1. Feeling of sitting on a ball
2. Abnormal vaginal bleeding
3. Increase in discharge
4. Problems while performing sexual intercourse
5. Seeing the uterus coming out of the vagina
6. A pulling or full feeling in the pelvis
7. Constipation
8. Bladder infections

Nonsurgical medications include:

1. Losing weight and getting in shape to take stress off of pelvic structures
2. Maintaining a distance from truly difficult work
3. Doing Kegel workouts, which are pelvic floor practices that strengthen the vaginal muscles. This can be done at any time, even while sitting down at a desk.
4. Taking estrogen treatment especially during menopause
5. Wearing a pessary, which is a gadget embedded into the vagina that fits under the cervix and pushes up to settle the uterus and cervix
6. Indulging in normal physical activity

Some specialists use the following methods to diagnose the problem:

1. The specialist will examine you in standing position keeping in mind you are resting and request that you to cough or strain to build the weight in your abdomen.
2. Particular conditions, for example, ureteral block because of complete prolapse, may require an intravenous pyelogram (IVP) or renal sonography. Color is infused into your vein, and an dye is used to view the flow of color through your urinary bladder.
3. An ultrasound might be utilised to rule out any other existing pelvic issues. In this test, a wand is used on your stomach area or embedded into your vagina to create images of the internal organ with sound waves. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Gynaecologist.