THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Feb 23: Young girls are having a new complication. It’s their irregular and erratic period. Some speak up. Some keep silent.
The Jharkhand Story correspondent met a cross section of girls who were bold enough to say that they ride cycles given to them by the government for schooling and hence their too much cycle riding has caused them irregular period.
It was an appalling apprehension, as there is no truck between a girl’s riding a cycle and her period. Both are apart.
The Jharkhand Story correspondent spoke to a popular gynaecologist Dr Qadir Perwez denoted here by QP. He remains in the news more than any other co professional. Here are the excerpts.
Q: Has girls’ riding a cycle anything to do with their period?
QP: Absolutely not. It’s a huge misconception. There is no relation between cycling and period. Why only cycling. Weightlifting is also not related to the period. Girls and women should shed off such a fallacy. I rather ask women and girls to do some exercise a day, every day. It’s good for their health. An irregular period is a hormonal imbalance. I repeat irregular periods have nothing to do with cycling, exercise, weight lifting etc.
Q: General public has this perception that even where normal delivery is possible, gynaecologists create such a scene that family agrees to have a caesarean section which gives lots of money to the gynaecologists and the staff. Why is this kind of greed on the part of the noble profession?
QP: Public is most free to have its opinion. But the matter of fact is that a doctor sees and gauges the risk to the life of the foetus and mother. It’s our prime task and duty to keep the foetus and mother safe. Where there is a risk for either of the two or for both, a doctor decides to go for the C section which is normally called ‘operation se bachcha hua ya bara operation.’ Public attributes many things to it.
Q: As one talks about more and more cases of breast cancer, teenage girls complain about breast pain citing their breasts are tender and painful if touched by fingers.
QP: A girl has to be conscious and cautious about her breasts. It does pain. It does become tender. There may be hormonal changes or injuries or infections etc. Fibroadenomas may be another reason. It’s not a sign of breast cancer. It’s a benign one. There is mammography for it to detect. FNAC (Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology) is also done.
Q: Cleanliness is a big bond between infant and mother. It’s seen a mother hardly cares for her breasts while feeding.
QP: Mother’s milk is the best. There is no substitute for it. I encourage and motivate young mothers to go for breastfeeding. It’s a proud moment for them. I ask them to wash their nipples of breasts before allowing their infants to suckle them. Breasts pop in and pop out in the blouse. Hence nipples touch the linen of the blouse every time it’s taken out and taken in the blouse. A mother should also keep her nails well-trimmed. Cleanliness is a guarantee of saving infants from infections. Infants are to be protected from vermin infestation.
Q: Girls and women do household chores yet despite their hard job a day and every day they remain anaemic.
QP: Anaemia is there. It’s quite common with girls and women too. Teenage girls in the age group of 15 to 22 are prone to anaemia. Women account for 60 per cent of anaemia. I ask girls and women to eat ‘chana and gur’. They should also include in their diet leafy vegetables called saag. Eat palak saag. It has enough iron content in it.
