Stress affects girls’ health badly

Vijayawada: Teenage girls face menstrual irregularities due to stress they face in studies, says noted gynaecologist Dr RS Ramadevi.

Addressing the health education programme at Vasavya Nursing Home here on Saturday with Dr Goparaju Maru in the chair, Dr Ramadevi stated several issues like physical health, psychological problems and hormones play a vital role in the menstrual cycle of teenagers. 

“It is high time awareness is brought among teenagers regarding menstrual cycles,” she added. Referring to the ‘size zero’ syndrome among girls, she said that in a bid to achieve size zero, girls stop taking food which would result in menstrual irregularities. She pointed out that the rural girls who work regularly without any stress or tensions find no problem of menstrual cycles.   

“Whereas the girl students face the problem of menstrual irregularities as they don’t have any physical exercise, and experience lot of stress,” she said. Dr Ramadevi said that the menstrual cycle starts in every woman in 28 days but at times it may be 8 days before or after.  “During menstrual cycle which ranges between 3 to 5 days the women lose only 35 to 50 ml blood,” she said. Mensus irregularities are found in women who have thyroid problems, she said and added that even if there is no exercise or over exercise also, they face such problems.

In addition, irregular production of estrogen and progesterone hormones may lead to menstrual problems, she said.
More bleeding is found among women suffering from heart problems, blood-related ailments, or women who have fibroids or polyps in the uterus, she averred.

Particularly, teenage girls suffer severe stomach ache during the menstrual period, she said and added some feel exhausted, headache, nauseating, severe sweat and other problems. “Teenage girls also face menstrual irregularities due to the problems in the ovaries like chiefly Polycystic Ovary Syndrome popularly known as PCOS,” she added. Apart from menstrual cycle irregularities, ovum may not be released among women with PCOS. They also face problems like obesity and unwanted hair, she said.

Anemia is another problem for menstrual irregularities, Dr Ramadevi said. “Blood test for anemia, thyroid and other hormonal tests should be conducted to effectively tackle menstrual irregularities,” she said. The gynaecologist said that it is common that blood discharge is minimal among some women and more in others. “While some girls would not get menstrual cycle for three or four months, the cycle starts fro some girls in 15 or 20 days,” she said.

Necessary tests should be conducted during the menstrual period to treat the problem, she said.Girls should do exercise regularly, take nutritious food and feel no tension or stress and finally check overweight to avoid menstrual irregularities, she advised.