Where do babies come from? How do they get there? Whether your child is two or twelve, this is one of those questions, which all parents want to escape. Ask any twenty years old also and the reply will be sheer nonsense with lot of imagination. This is because generally all biology teachers tend to skip the chapter on human reproduction. Then where will the answers come from? Would you prefer that your child explore and find out for himself/herself?
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Rubella is dangerous Watch out, ladies!
Rubella is a viral infection, first recognised by German authors in the eighteenth century and known by its popular name as German measles or scarlet fever. It was originally considered a mild self-limiting disease. But later it was identified as one of the most common infections of the unborn baby, with severe potential for physical and mental damage (teratogenesis).
What is PMS?
Premenstrual Syndrome or PMS, as it is commonly known, is a disorder in which certain symptoms occur in the days just before a period. These symptoms may be physical, like backache, headache, pain or swelling of the breasts, a sensation of bloating or weight gain before the menstrual period. The patients may have emotional symptoms, like anxiety, irritability, exhaustion, lethargy, mood swings, depressions, loss of appetite or craving for certain foods, or else the patient may have changes in behaviour e.g. violence, clumsiness or loss of concentration.
There has been considerable interest in certain bioactive , non- nutrient plant derived Estrogenic compounds and whether they can serve as alternatives to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in menopause . These phytochemicals exhibit estrogenic actions in humans either by acting as modulators of estrogen receptors ( SERMs ) or as enzyme modulators (SEEMs) . These compounds are called Phytoestrogens. The blanket term Phytoestrogens refers to various plant constituents , their extracts which are available as pills, as well as to synthetic compounds like Ipriflavone, which is similar in structure to estrogen and Isoflavones.
As women are beginning to stand tall, confident of their role in society and their own path, the need to make correct choices especially regarding fertility becomes important. When a couple decides not to have a baby, many contraceptive choices open up. Despite oral contraceptive pills (OCP) being a good option, their use is restricted by the fear of developing breast cancer. This issue is quite complex and often the topic of research and debate. Pooling the world research literature, many interesting facts come to light. Let’s look at this by analyzing different categories of women to make this complex issue simpler.
More than 100 years ago, Pantaleoni performed the first hysteroscopy using a tube and a candle as a light source to remove a nasal polyp and an endometrial polyp in the same woman. Hysteroscopy has come a long way since then. With increasing sophistication of instrumentation and enhanced operator expertise, the indications for diagnostic and operative hysteroscopic surgery cover a wide variety of conditions. Currently, hysteroscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis and surgery of several intracavitary lesions. Additionally, hysteroscopy gives an extremely good clue to endometrial pathology and is diagnostic of atrophic endometritis even when ‘no tissue obtained’ on curettage, strongly indicative of tuberculosis (Nettle’s syndrome) and adenomyosis depending on specific findings on directly looking inside the uterus.
Whenever faced with this question, you should differentiate between planned normal delivery from planned C-section because the risks of unplanned, emergency C-section cannot be compared to the other two categories. Naturally, all emergency surgeries carry higher risks. These risks may, in part, be due to the sudden surgery and, in part, due to the reasons for the emergency surgery. Till about a decade ago we felt that a normal delivery is better than a planned caesarean section.
Q 1 – Can my husband also be responsible for me not having a baby?
Not being able to have a baby is called infertility and it is as much a responsibility of the husband as the wife. In fact, one third of the cases infertility are due to problems in you, the female partner, and in one third only your husband is responsible. In the rest of the one third there may be problems in both the partners. The husband should have his semen analysed where the number, movement, quality and appearance of his sperms are tested. This should be done early so that invasive and expensive testing of the wife can be prevented. Further testing may also be required. Remember that any medicines given to the husband will improve the sperms 3 months later since the immature sperms spend that time in those tortuous tubules before ejaculation.
The Dilemma of Hormone Therapy in Menopause
Estrogen, the main hormone during a woman’s reproductive years, is no longer produced after menopause which is the cessation of periods. This deficiency of estrogen has an amazing wide range of effects on various tissues and organs of the body. The menopausal woman may have symptoms of which the most common is hot flushes. This is an intense sensation of heat on the upper part of the body, lasting up to few minutes, and coming on several times a day in severe cases. Around 45% of women report palpitations or ‘ghabrahat’ as the first symptom. Such women will require a cardiology checkup before attributing these to menopause. Complaints like frequency, urgency of
For pregnancy to occur, the entire system has to work perfectly – egg has to release; it is picked up by the fallopian tube where it meets the sperm which has wriggled its way up from the vagina; the fertilized egg then re-enters uterus where it grows to a full sized baby. Problems can occur anywhere in this system causing infertility. Medicines can help when hormonal problems prevent pregnancy. However, there are many cases where relief can only be obtained by surgery. These are known as Fertility Enhancing Surgeries and are best by a hysteroscopist – gynaec laparoscopist surgeon. These are minimal access surgeries and are extremely fascinating in what they can achieve with least discomfort to the patient and maximum results.