Body mass index (BMI) is widely used to determine whether someone is over or underweight. For many people, it can provide a reasonable indication of this; however, BMI has several limitations. Because it is calculated using no more information than a person’s height and weight, it provides no actual insight into body composition. Understanding how your weight impacts your health requires information about the relative proportions of fat, bone, and muscle in the body ..read more

Fertility issues, including difficulty conceiving and recurrent pregnancy loss, can have many different causes. Doctors often order a variety of tests in the effort to learn why a patient has trouble getting or staying pregnant. These can include blood tests, genetic screening, biopsy, and imaging tests such as sonohysterography or hysterosalpingography (HSG). In this article, we’ll explore how HSG works, how it can help to identify the cause of fertility issues, and what to expect if you undergo this test ..read more

A Groundbreaking Discovery On November 8, 1895, physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays—streams of electrons that were first observed in 1859 by two other German physicists, Julius Plücker and Johann Wilhelm Hittorf. During his experiment, he noticed a glow appear on a screen that was nine feet away, although he had shielded the tube he was using to produce the rays with thick black cardboard. Investigation of this strange phenomenon led to the discovery of a previously unknown form of radiation that could penetrate solid objects. He named this newly discovered r ..read more

An analysis of your body composition can provide valuable information about your health. Various methods of body composition analysis (BCA) assess the content of fat, muscle, and bone in a person’s body. Many modern scales and even wearable devices provide body composition data, including estimates of the amounts of fat, muscle, bone, and water present.   Often, the goal of BCA is to determine whether a person has too much or too little fat in the body, putting them at risk for various conditions like cardiovascular issues, type 2 diabetes, bone loss, and heightened susceptibility to inf ..read more

If you’ve struggled to become pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term, your doctor may order a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to investigate the cause. This imaging test allows a radiologist to visualize the uterus and fallopian tubes to detect blockages and other abnormalities that can interfere with pregnancy. In this article, we’ll discuss how an HSG is performed, how it can help identify the source of female fertility issues, and what to expect if you undergo the exam ..read more

Cancer screening helps save lives by finding developing cancers early, before they begin to cause symptoms. Generally speaking, the earlier a cancer is detected, the more successfully it can be treated. With early-stage cancers, treatments may also be far less invasive and easier for patients to tolerate. X-ray exams play a critical role in screening for breast, lung, and colon cancer ..read more

Healthcare providers often look at patients’ body mass index (BMI) as an indicator of health and potential risks. We’re told that “normal” BMI is between 18.5 and 25, and anything outside this range is classified as underweight, overweight, or obese. However, these measurements are broad generalizations that were meant to reflect observations of large populations, not guide individual health advice. Because BMI uses no information other than a person’s height and weight, it provides no insight into the amount of fat an individual carries or how that fat might impact their health ..read more

What is an HSG? A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) is a real-time X-ray test that examines the uterus and fallopian tubes. It relies on fluoroscopy, which allows doctors to visualize the flow of contrast dye as it occurs to identify abnormalities in the reproductive system. It’s often used to investigate fertility issues such as recurrent miscarriage or difficulty conceiving. By highlighting the features of the uterus and fallopian tubes, the exam can reveal blockages and uterine anomalies like adhesions, fibroids, and other masses ..read more

At the beginning of 2022, there were more than four million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. Breast cancer is an incredibly common illness, affecting approximately one in eight women (12.5%). Fortunately, great strides have been made in early detection and treatment. As a result, more than nine in 10 patients are surviving more than five years after breast cancer diagnosis. While this is positive news, the breast cancer survivorship journey is always a difficult one. In this article, we’ll examine some of the challenges survivors face through treatment and beyond ..read more

The Role of Estrogen in the Body Estrogen is the main female sex hormone. However, both male and female bodies produce estrogen as well as testosterone and progesterone, and everyone needs a healthy balance of these hormones to maintain good health. Estrogen helps maintain appropriate levels of cholesterol and blood sugar, muscle and bone mass, brain function, immune response, collagen production, and more. While females often experience health concerns related to reduced estrogen, low estrogen levels are less of a concern for males and usually occur alongside low levels of other sex hormones ..read more