Abdominal pain during the first trimester of pregnancy can be alarming, but there are many perfectly normal explanations. There are also more serious causes of abdominal pain in early pregnancy that may include symptoms other than pain. A pregnant...
Testicular cancer occurs in men, typically around the age of 30 when normal cells in the testis change and become tumorigenic. The majority of testicular tumors originate from germ cells. While most testicular tumors respond favorably to radiation...
Many newly pregnant women wonder, "Is it twins?" Although twin pregnancies are more easily identified later in pregnancy, even at the time of the first missed period, or 4 weeks of pregnancy, there may be clues that more than one baby is on the...
At six weeks, some doctors perform a sonogram, also called an ultrasound, to determine the health or viability of the developing embryo. This is generally the earliest that anything is visible on an ultrasound, although at this point it will not...
Germ cell tumors are uncommon neoplasms that develop from the primitive cells that give rise to eggs and sperm. These tumors most commonly develop in the ovaries and testicles but may occur anywhere in the body, including the brain. Germ cell...
Week 6 of pregnancy is considered early pregnancy and is about halfway through the first trimester. Some women find out they are pregnant around this time. Babies at this stage can be measured with an ultrasound, although many details may be...
Although many women have only just recently discovered their pregnancy at eight weeks' gestation, the fetus has already made several changes from the cluster of cells that appeared shortly after conception. Weight, length, body characteristics and...
Ovarian cancer is a gynecologic cancer that arises from the ovaries. There are various types of ovarian cancer, depending on where in the ovaries the cancer started, and how the cells look under the microscope. The American Cancer Society lists...
Tumor markers are proteins found in the blood or urine when cancer is present in the body, according to the American Cancer Society. Doctors order lab tests on patients' blood to test for the presence of tumor markers if some type of cancer is...
The time honored method for your doctor to assign a due date is to take the first day of your last menstrual period, or LMP, count back three months and add seven days. For example, if the first day of your last menstrual period was April 1, count...
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) belongs to the Monocotyledones, or Liliopsida, class. According to many sources, such as Biology (Campbell), this grouping is not technically a class, but more a general grouping, due to the difficulty in classifying...
Pregnancy is counted from the first day of the last period, so a woman who is five weeks pregnant is just one week past her first missed period. If you weren't thinking you might be pregnant this month, the possibility may just be occurring to...
Ultrasound pictures are created by bouncing high frequency sound waves off body tissue. A transducer is used to convert energy into sound waves and then record pictures on the ultrasound screen. Ultrasound is often used in pregnancy, not only to...
Before the advent of routine ultrasound in pregnancy, medical personnel estimated a baby's due date by the date of the last menstrual period and by feeling the uterus and determining the size to see if it matched the given due date. With...
The gestation of human pregnancy is approximately 38 to 42 weeks from the first day of the mother's last menstrual period, or roughly 266 days from conception. The fetus grows in a double-layer membrane sac filled with amniotic fluid during most...
Many pregnant women have wished for a window into the uterus, to reassure themselves that their baby-to-be is healthy. Ultrasound provides such a window and there are several signs of a healthy pregnancy that appear in the first seven weeks of...
Alpha-fetoprotein, or AFP, is a protein found normally in abundance in the developing fetus. Only very low levels of the protein are present in healthy children and adults, except for pregnant women. Elevated blood levels of AFP can be associated...
Pregnancy is measured from the first day of a woman's last period, although the conception typically happened some 14 days after this. The first 12 weeks of pregnancy, or the first trimester, is the most critical for the growth and development of...
The embryonic period begins at implantation, when the fertilized egg attaches itself into the uterine lining, and continues through the first eight weeks of pregnancy. This is when most rapid changes in prenatal development occur. All the major...
Soon after learning about a pregnancy, expectant parents often wonder what their unborn child looks like. Although a new embryo is too small to see in an ultrasound, science and technology can give an idea about what the embryo looks like and how...
If you have experienced the miracle of birth, you may also have wondered just what goes on inside a woman's body during pregnancy. From conception to birth typically takes nine months; plenty of time for organs and bones to develop. Birth may be a...
Under normal circumstances, pregnancy lasts approximately 40 weeks, although a pregnancy of only 38 weeks is thought of as a full term. The start of pregnancy is considered the first day of a woman’s last period. Pregnancy is divided into...
The Wai diet is a raw food diet. Everything that a person eats while on the diet is raw. Proponents of the diet say that it provides all the nutrients you need and can eliminate problems like acne, constipation and other health problems. In fact,...
With its high levels of heart-healthy, omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. MayoClinic.com recommends eating two servings a week. However, a salmon's diet can affect your own diet. Farm-raised salmon...
The brook trout--scientific name Salvelinus fontinalis--is a native species in the northeastern United States and in eastern Canada. They are members of the salmon family in the subgroup of char, which includes lake trout, Dolly Varden trout, bull...
