Articles
HELLP Syndrome
HELLP syndrome is a pregnancy complication that usually presents in women who have pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. Affected women also show signs of liver damage and abnormalities in blood clotting. HELLP syndrome is characterised by: Haemolysis ELevated liver enzymes Low...
What is Evidence-based Medicine?
Evidence-based medicine is the term used to describe the process of systematically reviewing, appraising and using the findings of clinical research to assist with the delivery of optimum clinical care to patients. The most commonly quoted definition of evidence-based...
The Story of Penicillin
I sometimes take antibiotics for granted. As a doctor, I have prescribed thousands of courses of antibiotics throughout my career. I have taken many courses myself also, and they almost certainly saved my life when I perforated my appendix in my mid-20s. Antibiotics...
The Menopause
The menopause is the biological stage in a woman’s life when menstruation permanently ceases. It marks the end of the female reproductive life. It occurs with the final menstrual period and is usually diagnosed clinically after 12 months of amenorrhoea. In the UK, the...
Maternal Changes During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a period of profound physiological transformation. The mother’s body undergoes wide-ranging adaptations across virtually all organ systems, designed to support foetal growth, prepare for labour, and safeguard maternal well-being. These changes are...
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, also referred to as gestation, is the period during which one or more offspring develop inside the uterus. It typically lasts around 40 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP) and is divided into three trimesters. The first...
Conception
Following the deposition of sperm in the vagina at the cervix, it is subsequently transported to the uterus. Here it fertilises the ovum and implants in the uterine stroma, and this process is known as conception. Transport of sperm Immediately after...
Sexual Intercourse
Sexual intercourse, which is also referred coitus or copulation, is the reproductive act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. Upon completion of the reproductive act, sperm cells are passed from the male body into the female,...
The Menstrual Cycle
The menstrual cycle is the regular cycle of vaginal blood loss (menstruation) that results from the breakdown of the uterine lining when the implantation of a fertilised ovum does not occur. Menstruation occurs on a monthly cycle throughout a woman's reproductive...
Puberty
Puberty is the process by which a child's body matures into an adult body and becomes capable of sexual reproduction. It is a complex process involving both physical growth and sexual and psychosocial maturation. Puberty usually begins between 8 and 14 years of age in...
