Category: F
Foot Care
Lotions and exfoliants can be used to moisturize the area around the nails and dry skin on the feet. A pumice stone can be used to remove dead skin, particularly on areas that are callused. Individuals with dry skin may do so more frequently. Products containing aloe vera are often recommended to keep the skin [...]
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a real illness with multiple symptoms that each need to be dealt with in order to achieve recovery. To treat FMS, one must understand what it is. Most people with Fibromyalgia syndrome report at least several, if not all, of the following symptoms: Muscle and joint pain that can be severe [...]
Fibrocystic Breast Disease
Fibrocystic breast disease, better called “fibrocystic changes,” are common changes that affect most women, especially during the reproductive years. Approximately 60% of women will experience some symptoms related to fibrocystic breasts. Single or multiple benign tumors may be present, or a woman may just note general “lumpiness” in her breasts. Usually symptoms are worse prior [...]
Fetish
The word fetish denotes both a magical charm and a fabrication or artifact. Most recently, the term has acquired a large repertoire of meanings and is often associated with fashion, sexuality, and/or power. In the context of eroticism, fetishism has been conceptualized along a spectrum ranging from Level 1, at which point there is only [...]
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a pattern of birth defects resulting from drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in 1 out of every 750 births. It was formally recognized and named in the early 1970s and is currently the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States. Alcohol is directly responsible for [...]
Feminist Ethics
It cannot be said that there is one feminist perspective on issues related to health and health care. In fact, the perspective known as “feminist ethics” actually encompasses greatly divergent views and multiple schools of thought, including liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, radical feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, and socialist feminism. In addition, a distinction has been drawn [...]
Feminism
To speak of feminism in the context of a set of overarching ideals that define a unified movement is a misrepresentation. It is more accurate to speak of feminisms, which highlights the fact that identifying oneself as a feminist can mean different things. Characteristic of any expanding movement, there are disagreements and overlap between feminists. [...]
Femininity
Femininity is defined in various dictionaries in either a circular manner as the quality of being feminine or indirectly as qualities associated with the female sex. This is because femininity is typically conceptualized as a constellation of multiple interacting elements that coalesce to yield an energy, an essence, or a state of being. We recognize [...]
Female Genital Mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting, is a common practice in most African and some Middle-Eastern countries. FGM can be classified into five types: Type 1: Sunna (traditional)—removal of varying degrees of the clitoral prepuce. Type 2: Intermediate—developed by a midwife in the early 1950s in response to [...]
Fecundity
It is clear that women’s fecundity, or fertility, decreases with increasing age. By the age of 35, a woman has half the chance of becoming pregnant than a 25-year-old. An assessment of the ovarian capacity for fertility can be accomplished with some simple tests. These tests do not have a high sensitivity or a high [...]
Falls Prevention
A fall is defined as an unplanned descent to the ground with or without injury. Risk factors for falls are described as intrinsic (having to do with an individual’s condition and symptoms, or internal characteristics of the individual) or extrinsic (having to do with the environment, or characteristics that are external to the individual). Examples [...]