Docs sound alarm as pill becomes the preferred contraceptive among girls

Pre-marital sex is on the rise, and with it the 'trend' of popping a pill. gynaecologists are alarmed by the use of emergency contraceptive pills, especially i-pill, among young women.
This, gynaecologists say, reveals that these girls are not insisting on the use of condoms by their partners, significantly increasing the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Leading gynaecologist Dr Yash Bala says while several sexual partners seems to have become a norm with girls in the age group of 18 to 28 years, the heavy use of emergency contraceptive pills is adding fuel to the fire.
During their interaction with patients, doctors say, they find even girls between 15 to 16 years old are comfortably using emergency contraceptive pills.
"Girls are not concerned whether their partner uses condom. The use of i-pill has increased manifold. It's almost like girls are gulping i-pills," Dr Bala says. "Pre-marital sex seems to be more common than marital sex, and the number of unplanned pregnancies higher than planned pregnancies."
Dr Rachna Abrol, a gynaecologist, agrees that the use of i-pill among young girls is alarming. "It is supposed to be an emergency contraceptive pill, but my interaction with young patients reveals that girls are using it as a regular contraception tool."
"Some years ago, if a young girl came with complaints of irregular menstrual cycle, we would hesitate to ask her if she was sexually active. Now, this is among our first questions. And the answer is usually in the affirmative," Dr Abrol adds.
Even chemists in the city are surprised by the 'major' demand for i-pill. "The demand for i-pill is exorbitant, and all buyers are young girls," says Vinay Jain, finance secretary of the Chandigarh Chemists Association. "The sale of condoms has become negligible as compared to emergency contraceptive pills."
"Sometimes the first customer in the morning wants an i-pill. And if you try to make these youngsters understand the implications, you will lose your customer," Jain adds.
Emergency contraceptive pills are available on the counter and do not need a doctor's prescription.
And in cases where the i-pill may fail, girls are going for abortion pills — without seeking a doctor's advice. Doctors say these girls are "cool" about taking abortion pills without getting a haemoglobin test conducted, or a test to reveal their Rh status.
Dr Bala says that if the girl is Rh negative and the foetus is Rh positive, the girl must be given an injection to protect her and her future pregnancies. If this is not done, the girl may face problems in her future pregnancies, or if she ever requires a blood transfusion.
Gynaecologists say an abortion pill causes a drop in haemoglobin by one or two per cent. "If the haemoglobin of the girl was only 9 gram per cent earlier, it will go down to 7 gram per cent after taking an abortion pill. And the way girls eat these days...anaemia is very common," Dr Abrol says.
Demand for 'revirgination' on the risePlastic surgeons say the demand for hymenoplasty — the surgical reconstruction of hymen, also called 'revirgination' — is on the rise. Dr K M Kapoor, a leading plastic surgeon and a consultant at Fortis, says girls demanding it are those about to get married. Another leading surgeon Dr V D Singh says the procedure costs between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.

SEX CONTROVERSIES

For many women sex has a single purpose:procreation. In many cultures for many centuries that purpose overshadowed all others. Research on female sexuality radically changed the perception.Now the focus is on 'sexual pleasure',truly speaking 'pleasure oriented sex'. The rediscovery and acceptance of the G-spot opened up a new dimension of sexual pleasure for women because contrary to earlier researchers, claims "sensations derived from orgasms resulting from those achieved from stimulation of the clitoris". But this elusive spot remains contraversial. secondly, the sex researchers discovered that some women expelled fluid from thier urethras during orgasm. This theory is highly controversial.

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Ayurvedline

Garlic Reduces Blood Pressure

The anti-cholesterol effects of garlic are very well known.But recently a direct antihypertensive effect of garlic has been studied. 600 to 900 mg dosage of garlic supplements were given to patients.The effects of lowering blood pressure were similar to common anti-blood pressure drugs.The above dosage was equivalent to 3.6 mg to 5.4 mg of allicin, the active ingrdient of garlic. one fresh clove of garlic contains 5 mg to 9 mg of allicin. so doctors can advise their patients to take one clove every day.The above study was published in BMC cardiovascular diseases journal.

First Ever Vigilance Program for Indian Herbal Medicine Companies

Change is everywhere. On one hand, we can see innovations in the field of science and technology; while on the other hand we observe a return to the ancient tradition. People all over the world are waking up to the need for Ayurvedic medicines and the stressing the importance of herbal medicines in curing or managing certain serious ailments. And India is the last country to realize the potential of this phenomenon, although it is here that the medicine was born.

However, better late than never, they say! And purists are now considering the importance of universal recognition for international promotion of herbal medicines. In a recent incident, almost 200 samples of herbal medicines bought from the Internet were tested by researchers of an American University and found to contain rich deposits of minerals and metals. This has come as a punch in the face of the herbal medicine market in India. For the first time, the Government is launching a quality checking program, a vigilance program unparalleled in the history of ancient Ayurveda. The Health Ministry has announced that all Ayurvedic doctors as well as patients can report any adverse effects of Ayurveda to a regulatory body that will investigate the matter and take legal actions against the company to ensure a ‘clean’ reputation for the Ayurvedic drugs.

The national research centre selected for this program is the Post Graduate Institute of Ayurveda at the Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar. There will be eight regional centres under this apex body that will report individual cases to the committee. The committee will cross check the cases before taking any decision. The committee will also report the case to the World Health Organization if the violation of norms is of serious nature. Such a pharmacovigilance initiative has also been taken in the past for preventing the corruption in the manufacturing and selling of modern allopathic medicines, but it yielded no result, thanks to corrupt doctors and irresponsible pharma companies.

For a $300 million market in India alone, and almost $1 billion world over, this was a move that had to come sooner or later. They say, “Health is wealth”. Better if India understands the potential of its traditional medicines promising heath to the individual and wealth to the economy!

Avoid Fake Herbal Medicine Companies

Herbal medicines are consumed by almost 80% of the world’s population. In India alone, the industry stands at a huge $1 billion. The demand comes from the people’s faith in the 5000 year old science of life. Despite many allegations, people never lose their faith in Ayurvedic medicines. This leads to an increase in demand over the years. This is primarily because of the distrust associated to anything chemical, and modern drugs are composed of chemicals and nothing else. Herbal medicines stand for anything natural, and provide us a chance to establish an association with nature. This explains the consumer attitudes behind the purchase decisions.
But, the fly-by-night quack Ayurvedic companies are taking advantage of this faith. According to a recent finding, a whopping twenty percent of Ayurvedic medicines sold over the Internet contains over permissible limits of lead, mercury, or arsenic. The conclusion was arrived at after the researchers of a university purchased 193 samples of medicines available over the Internet and analyzed them for possible toxicity. And their doubts came to be true.
This is shocking since the herbal medicine market is mainly a export oriented market and the main demand comes from the foreigners, affected by health tourism and looking towards the east to fix their physiological problems. These guys are an easily decieved lot, and seldom cross check the products or even the profile of the company. The decision is influenced by an eye catching design of the website and a compelling copy that enthralls the readers. Some aggressive and often misguided SEO efforts lead to high Page Rank which makes the company listed among the first few pages of any search engine. Most of these products flaunt a GMP certification and there is no means by which you can verify this certification.
So, if you are living abroad and looking for herbal remedies to relieve you of asthma or other chronic illnesses, then don’t go for any Tom-Dick-or Harry manufacturer. Take time to know more about the disease, its chances of recovery and the available medications. If you are purchasing something over the Internet, do a Google search for the company to look for any media mention or press release that has come out in a national daily. Also, look for the research and development work of the company. Remember, Ayurveda is not just a quack medication. You can’t just mix some herbs, boil them and say, “Here is a miracle cure for Asthma!” It requires careful clinical experimentation and a proper lab-oriented approach to churn out the right medicine. Thankfully, the research work of Asoka Lifescience Limited is undertaken by Jadavpur University, one of the largest universities in Asia. Just the right approach needed to rub off the blemishes that fake companies put on Ayurveda.

Removing Tonsils May Not Be Helpful

Surgery to remove offending tissues in children having mild throat infections, enlarged Tonsils ot enlarged adenoids offers no major clinical benifits.

Reasearchers from university Medical centre, Utrecht, conducted a study of 300 children who were candidates for adeno-tonsillectomy because of recurrent throat infection or because they had enlarged tonsils or adenoids. The kids were randomly assigned to undergo surgery or be followed with a watchful waiting strategy. After an average follow up of 22 months, the number of fever episodes in the surgery group was nearly the same as in the watchful waiting group.Subjects in the surgery and watchful waiting groups averaged 0.6 and 0.8 throat infections per person per year, respectively.

Though the improvements in quality of life were significantly seen with tonsilectomy from a statistical stand point, but they were not considered clinically relevent. There was also evedience that surgery was more effective for children with three to six throat infections per year, rather than two or fewer. The result of the study indicate that surgery offers little benifit to children, but it does marginally reduce the number of episodes of fever, throat infections, and upper respiratory tract infections per person per year.

End of era

My heart-felt condolence on the death of Kirana Gharana singer Gangubai Hangal. Gangubai was one of the greatest classical singers in India. The death of Gangubai is a great loss to the music world, which can not be replaced.I wish her family the courage to bear the lose.

With tears in the eyes

Dr Aravind T.V