Saturday, November 11, 2017

A Brief Look at Endometriosis - A Condition Affecting Women and Girls


Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics, Dr. Chad Hill provides prenatal, gynecological, and women wellness care as the lead OB/GYN physician at Siloam Springs Women’s Center in Arkansas. Dr. Chad Hill provides annual wellness exams and treats a range of gynecological conditions that include endometriosis, a painful disorder affecting the uterus. 

Endometriosis is a condition wherein uterus lining tissue grows outside the uterus, primarily in pelvic organs such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. The displaced endometrium tissue functions normally and with each menstrual cycle, the tissue thickens, breaks down, and bleeds. Its position outside the uterus leaves the tissue with no way to exit the body, causing surrounding tissues to become irritated and develop scars or abrasions. Additionally, endometriosis involving the ovaries may cause cysts called endometriomas to form. 

A wide range of symptoms come with endometriosis depending on the affected areas, and symptoms are not universal among all patients. While pain is the most common symptom, the severity and location varies. Types of pain range from worsening menstrual cramps and chronic pelvic pain to intestinal pain and painful bowel movements. Patients may experience nausea, heavier menstrual flows, and digestive problems as well. Endometriosis also can lead to infertility, and approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of women with the condition experience fertility issues.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Siloam Springs High School Honored for Academic Excellence


Dr. Chad Hill owns, directs, and cares for patients at Siloam Springs Women’s Center, an Arkansas OB/GYN clinic he founded in 1998. Active in his community, Dr. Chad Hill has donated approximately $70,000 to programs and departments at Siloam Springs High School.

In April of 2017, U.S. News & World Report announced that Siloam Springs High School (SSHS) had again earned placement on the publication’s annual rankings of the nation's Best High Schools. This marks the third consecutive year SSHS has achieved this honor.

To compile the rankings, U.S. News first gathered data from over 20,000 public high schools across the country. The publication then undertook a three-step process for each school to confirm that students exceeded state averages in math and reading, that students who are considered disadvantaged excelled in math and reading at rates higher than state averages, and that students graduated at rates equal to or greater than the national standard. Schools that met each of these criteria proceeded to a fourth step, which evaluated how well they prepared students for college.

Following the conclusion of the analysis, U.S. News awarded SSHS a silver medal, an honor that placed it among the top 12.7 percent of public schools in the country. SSHS also stood out as the 21st-ranked school in Arkansas and one of only 26 schools in the state to earn either a gold or silver medal.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

What Prenatal Vitamins Offer Expectant Mothers


An MD graduate of the University of Arkansas, Dr. Chad Hill is an OB/GYN who owns the Siloam Springs Women’s Center. Women can visit OB/GYNs such as Dr. Chad Hill to receive regular prenatal care, which is an important part of delivering a healthy baby.

Seeking prenatal care from a doctor is one important step that women take to facilitate healthy pregnancies. Another action that OB/GYNs often recommend in the months before a baby’s birth is the ingestion of a daily prenatal vitamin that includes folic acid, calcium, iron, and iodine.

These four vitamins and minerals offer unique protections to both mother and child. For example, folic acid may help prevent the development of neural tube birth defects. 

Mothers taking vitamins that contain calcium can help prevent the deterioration of their bone density during pregnancy. Iron helps facilitate healthy blood flow between mother and child, leading to better oxygen levels, while iodine must be maintained to prevent the development of mental disabilities, deafness, and problems with the physical growth of the child.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Effects of Pregnancy on the Brain


Dr. Chad Hill has been the physician and owner of Siloam Springs Women's Center in Arkansas since 2012. Through his practice, Dr. Chad Hill provides prenatal care to women with both routine and high-risk pregnancies and delivers their babies.

A study published in Nature Neuroscience in February 2016 suggests that pregnancy changes the size and structures of the part of the brain that is sensitive to the feelings of others. Furthermore, these changes persist for a couple of years after the birth of the child. Testing also revealed that mothers who demonstrated the most significant changes to the brain experienced the greatest emotional attachment to their babies.

The test involved a brain scan for study participants before they had ever been pregnant, and then another one after they had their first child. The scans revealed that the women lost gray matter in brain areas associated with social cognition. The results may suggest that the reduction in gray matter is due to a streamlining of the area to increase motherly instinct.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

CME at the 2017 ACOG Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting


Dr. Chad Hill is a physician based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the owner of Siloam Springs Women’s Center, a facility that has specialized in women’s health care since 1998. In addition to running his practice and working as Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) at Siloam Springs Regional Hospital, Dr. Chad Hill is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

A companion to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Congress was established in 2010 and is made up of board-certified OB/GYNs. In May of 2017, the ACOG will present its Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting in San Diego. The theme of the meeting is the “Next Generation of Health Care.”

Each day of the four-day event will focus on a different area of women’s health care, contraception and family planning, surgery, sexuality and menopause, and genetics, and offer seminars, networking “conversations,” tutorials, and continued medical education (CME) courses.

The final day consists of a variety of courses centered around either obstetrics or gynecology. In the morning, attendees can choose one three-hour course on infertility, diagnosis and management, or critical care medicine, followed by a second three-hour course in cervical length education, complications in gynecologic surgery, or colposcopy.

Alternatively, physicians may select one six-hour course. Many options are available, including obstetric ultrasound, operative and office hysteroscopy, and high risk pregnancy.