Tag: women’s health

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Conflict Trauma In Kashmir Leads to Infertility, Miscarriage

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Ishrat Hussain says she locked herself in her room when she learned she could not conceive.

Two years after her wedding and still not pregnant, the 26-year-old visited a gynecologist, who diagnosed her with polycystic ovary syndrome, an endocrine disorder that can cause women to stop ovulating, gain unusual weight, develop irregular periods or skin problems and grow abnormal facial and body hair.

Hussain struggles to describe how people ridiculed her in her community in Kashmir, where infertility is taboo.

“An infertile woman is generally viewed as incomplete with a notion of having a curse bestowed for some misdeed,” she says tearfully.

Dr. Ashraf Ganaie, an endocrinologist at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, says plenty of other women share Hussain’s problem amid the decades-old conflict and related uncertainties of life in the Kashmir Valley, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

He says an unpublished study that he supervised attributed 90 percent of infertility cases in the valley to polycystic ovary syndrome and related diseases, 5 percent to premature ovarian failure and another 5 percent to other stressors in life.

“In the last few years, we have received more than 150 women who suffer from premature ovarian failure,” he says.

Clinical psychologist Iram Nazir says that stress can negatively affect women’s hormonal levels. Read full article.

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How excess body hair can be a warning sign of infertility

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The 30-year-old sales and marketing manager from Buckinghamshire has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal imbalance in which women’s ovaries produce excessive amounts of the male hormone testosterone.

This results in the formation of small harmless cysts as well as symptoms such as excessive hair growth (known as hirsutism), baldness, erratic periods, weight gain, acne and fertility problems.

The condition, which affects one in ten British women, should not be confused with polycystic ovaries, which merely describes the appearance of small cysts on the ovaries. (Roughly 20 per cent of women have this condition with no effects at all and no problems conceiving.)

Women with PCOS have both the cysts and the symptoms caused by excess testosterone.

While Marianne is fortunate to have few of the symptoms, she is blighted by excess hair, which she says makes her feel utterly unfeminine.

‘As well as waxing my face every fortnight, I use an epilator on my abdomen,’ she says.

‘If I didn’t, the hair on my face and body, which is thick and very dark, would be grotesque.

‘Bill is sweet and maintains he doesn’t notice a thing, but it’s impossible for him not to see the hair growth.

‘I hate it. I’m fighting what feels like a losing battle against hair sprouting in places no woman should have it.’

The condition can run in families and Marianne believes a great-aunt had it.

‘She didn’t have children, and I remember her whiskery chin very clearly,’ she says.

Read full article.

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Urine Test May Predict Women’s Bone Risk

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A simple urine test before a woman reaches menopause may predict her risk of bone fracture, researchers report.

Several indicators of bone deterioration are known to be associated with fracture, but only women over age 65 and older men are routinely tested for them. Now, researchers report that levels of a substance called cross-linked N-telopeptide of Type 1 collagen, or NTX, which is released into the urine when bones weaken, can predict the risk for future fracture in premenopausal, asymptomatic women.

In a prospective analysis published online in the journal Menopause, the scientists studied 2,305 healthy premenopausal women ages 42 to 52, measuring NTX at the start of the study and following them for an average of more than seven years. During that period, 184 of them suffered at least one fracture.

Read full article.

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The Possibility of Infertility Looms for Cancer Patient

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Staff writer Andrea Torres chronicles her breast cancer experiences in Tropical Life.

A woman in her early 30s should not have to think about infertility. But breast cancer changes everything.

Doctors have highly recommended that I have a hysterectomy, surgery to remove the uterus, and a prophylactic oophorectomy, removal of my ovaries. Both would be a preemptive move against uterine and ovarian cancer, which can develop after breast cancer.

Thinking about it has been difficult, especially faced with a gynecological appointment this week. On Saturday, I had a crying episode that lasted hours. I haven’t had one in months. Three of my best friends, all males, tried to comfort me.

I called Lawrence Pena, 34, who has a 2-year-old girl named Ella. After he heard my trembling voice, he asked, “What happened?”

“I sat in the shower holding my stomach crying this morning,” I said. “I haven’t been able to stop the tears.”

He listened and said, “It’s going to be OK.” I was calm again. He talked for a bit. And then his phone died.

Although the surgery is common, I am scared. Every 10 minutes, 12 hysterectomies are performed in the United States, or about 600,000 in a year. And about one-tenth of 1 percent of those, about 660 women, die from complications.

Also, when the procedures are done before age 45, there is an increased mortality risk associated with cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, a decline in psychological well-being, and neurologic and mental disorders, such as cognitive impairment, dementia and Parkinsonism, which is similar to Parkinson’s disease. Of course, there are others who don’t experience these issues.

Estrogen treatment may prevent some of these, but for some breast cancer patients, estrogen feeds tumors. To block estrogen, I am taking a chemoprevention drug called Tamoxifen for the next five years. The drug protects me from osteoporosis, but increases the risk of cancer in the uterus.

Even more concerning is that I inherited a genetic mutation known as BRCA2. This increases my risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Hence, my doctors’ recommendation to undergo a hysterectomy and remove my ovaries. Compounding this are uterine fibroids and some “abnormal cells” found in the uterus.

Some women, who are not as high risk, may have the option of undergoing regular pelvic exams, combined with ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor any possible irregularities in their uterus and ovaries.

Read full article.

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Low Fat Diet May Ease Hot Flashes

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In addition to its other benefits, a low-fat diet may also reduce menopausal hot flashes and night sweats, new research has found.

Scientists studied 17,473 menopausal women who were not on hormone therapy. Forty percent were assigned to a low-fat dietary plan with increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. They met periodically with nutritionists to assure compliance. The rest ate their customary diets. All participants recorded night sweats and hot flashes with details about their severity.

Over all, women in the diet group were 14 percent more likely to eliminate these symptoms in the first year than those not on the diet, a difference that persisted after controlling for initial weight, smoking, ethnicity and other factors.

Read full article.