Women's Health and Pregnancy

In a study that followed more than 2,200 obese women during pregnancy, scientists found that some simple interventions can help prevent high birth weights in newborns. This is important because previous studies have shown that infants with a high birth weight have a greater risk of becoming obese as children or adults. Professor Jodie Dodd summarizes the results: "Infants born to women who received lifestyle advice were 18% less likely to have a high birth weight compared to infants born to…

New drug combo shows promise in relieving pain, symptoms A recent clinical study, conducted at the University of Bath in England with women of reproductive age, demonstrated great potential of a new drug combination. The two drugs are E2MATE – created in the university’s Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology – and norethindrone acetate, or traditional progesterone. Researchers must test the drug combination further in human trials to confirm that it will be an effective treatment of…

My cancer could have been caught earlier if I had been alerted about spotting between periods, heavy periods and watery blood between periods as the main symptoms of womb cancer,” she says. But when she asked NHS Choices whether there should be mention of womb cancer on the menopause pages, she received the following reply: “The problem with adding a warning about womb cancer to the menopause pages is that it may cause unnecessary panic.” And this, says Widschwendter, is the nub of the problem…

Women with arthritis who are pregnant are affected in different ways. In arthritis, joints are inflammed and painful. For some pregnant women, the added weight of pregnancy may increase pain and discomfort. But 70-80% of women with rheumatoid arthritis actually see an improvement in their symptoms. This is probably due to the many changes in the immune system occuring during pregancy. These changes enable a foetus to grow and develop and some of these changes contribute…

Planning a pregnancy? Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Chandan Dubey tells you what you need to do before you conceive. A woman’s good health prior to and during pregnancy is vital for optimal outcomes for her and the baby. You should consult a general physician or gynaecologist for preconception care and counselling. In the meantime, here’s what you should be aware of:  Lose weight (if you are overweight): Obesity is a serious problem in pregnancy. It increases the…

Hypertension or high blood pressure refers to the amount of force exerted by the blood against the walls of the arteries. A person's blood pressure is considered high when the readings are greater than 140 mm Hg systolic (the top number in the blood pressure reading which shows the force of the blood in the arteries as the heart beats) or 90 mm Hg diastolic (the bottom number shows the force of blood in the arteries as the heart relaxes between the beats). Read…

Menopause refers to the end of a woman’s monthly periods or menstruation. It correlates with the end of a woman’s reproductive ability. The word ‘menopause’ is derived from the Greek word menopausis. Menos means month and pausis is cessation or stop. A woman is said to have menopause only if she has not had her periods for a year (and there are no other health reasons for this). Women go through different symptoms during peri-menopause and menopause phases of their…

For women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy, yoga offers unique benefits beyond fighting fatigue, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  The preliminary findings were first reported in 2011 by Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson, and are now published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This research is part of an ongoing effort to scientifically validate mind-body…

With inputs from Dr. Chandan Dubey What is it If you have 2 or more of the following symptoms, you should get yourself checked by a gynaecologist to confirm or rule out Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS):  • Multiple small cysts in the ovaries • Infrequent (more than 35 days) or absent periods due to eggs not releasing every month  • High androgen features (facial and body hair, acne, abdominal fat, frontal balding) PCOS and its impact  PCOS may lead to acne,…