Medical Questions

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Women's Health
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Women's Health

What Are Yeast Infections?

Yeast infections -- sometimes called candidiasis -- takes many forms. Yeast fungus infections often develop where a moist environment encourages fungal growth, especially on the webs of fingers and toes, nails, genitals, and folds of skin.

Oral thrush is a painless, often recurrent yeast infection of the mouth and throat; it is common in babies, young children, and the elderly, but can affect all ages. Moniliasis is a painful vaginal yeast infection experienced by many women, most commonly during pregnancy or treatment with antibiotics.

Systemic yeast infections can occur in cases of diabetes, AIDS, and other ailments or drug treatments that suppress the immune system.

What Causes Yeast Infections?
Candida albicans is a fungal organism, or yeast, that thrives in your mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and skin; your body produces bacteria that keep it in check. When fungal growth exceeds the body's ability to control it, yeast infection develops.

This can happen when you are weakened by illness or upset by stress. Modern antibiotics that treat many ailments can actually kill the bacteria that otherwise control fungal outbreaks.

Yeast infections are common among dishwashers and people whose hands are often in water, in children who suck their thumbs or fingers, and in people whose clothing retains body moisture. The diaper rash called candidal dermatitis is caused by yeast growth in the folds of a baby's skin.

Diabetics are especially prone to yeast infections because they have high levels of sugar in their blood and urine, and a low resistance to infection -- conditions that encourage yeast growth.

How to treat a yeast infection?
Over the counter products such as monostat and terazol are intravaginal products can be used to treat yeast infections. They normally take anywhere between three to seven day to treat yeast infections. Another alternative is an oral tablet called Diflucan. This drug actually when prescribed by a doctor needs to be only taken once and works for a week fighting the yeast infection. The Diflucan is a much better choice because a person is more likely to be successful in treating the infection if one dosage is all that is necessary rather than seven nights of applying an over the counter medication.

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Men's Health

What is impotence?

Impotence is a consistent inability to sustain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. Medical professionals often use the term "erectile dysfunction" to describe this disorder and to differentiate it from other problems that interfere with sexual intercourse, such as lack of sexual desire and problems with ejaculation and orgasm. This fact sheet focuses on impotence defined as erectile dysfunction.

What is Viagra used for?

Viagra is used to treat impotence in men. Viagra increases the body's ability to achieve and maintain an erection during sexual stimulation. Viagra does not protect you from getting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Who should not take Viagra?

Men who are currently using medicines that contain nitrates, such as nitroglycerin should not use Viagra because taken together they can lower the blood pressure too much. Viagra should not be used by women or children.

Do any precautions exist with Viagra:

You should have a complete medical history and exam to determine the cause of your impotence before taking Viagra.
Men who have medical conditions that may cause a sustained erection such as sickle cell anemia, leukemia or multiple myeloma or who have an abnormally shaped penis may not be able to take Viagra.
There are several medications that are known to interact with Viagra, so be sure to tell your doctor about all medications you are taking including those you can get without a prescription.
Viagra has not been studied with other treatments for impotence, so use in combination with other treatments is not recommended.

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