Women these days are facing a lot of challenges when it comes to health issues like PCOS, weight gain, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Human Papillomavirus, Menopause and so on. It is of vital importance that they should take care of themselves.
The Healthcare Heroes Awards 2024 conducted a panel discussion on ‘Prioritising health for women and rising burden of infertility.’ A panel of experts and doctors discussed a lot of challenges that women face but are overlooked.
The panellists included Shivani Bajwa, CEO and Founder of YogaSutra Holistic Living, Dr Neema Sharma, Director and Unit Head, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, Dr Preeti Khanna, Nutritionist Expert, Dr Niranjan Hiremath, Senior Consultant - Cardiovascular and Aortic Surgery, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and was moderated by Vani Malik, Content Lead, Health, Jagran.
Rising Health Concerns In Women
According to Dr Sharma, there are a lot of problems that women face, starting from teenage, like PCOS, weight gain, facial hair growth, while adults go through STIs, HPV, infertility, endometriosis, rising rate of infertility and during late 40s and 50s, menopausal symptoms. She said, “Rising cases of cancer are a big problem. Nearly 11 lakh cases of cancer in women were recorded in 2020. And cancers are preventable, through treatment and early detection and Mammography.”
Also read: Heart Attack Risk Factors: How Different Are They For Men And Women?
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Importance Of Nutrition
Over processed foods are the real demons when it comes to women’s health. Dr Preeti said, “The amount of processed foods that women are consuming these days is leading to a number of health issues as these foods lack in nutrition. Nowadays kids are having PCOD problems.” Talking about earlier days, she said, “Going back to the roots of healthy recipes is a must. Our diets used to be colourful foods full of nutritional value.”
How Are Women Prone To Heart Attacks
Talking about the rising cases of heart attacks, DR Niranjan said, “Cholesterol levels tend to cause a lot of issues in your blood vessels, it irritates the lining of the blood vessels increasing the risk of heart attack. It is very important to understand that they build up for many years and eventually manifest heart attack. Young adults eventually manifest problems in their 20s and 30s like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. All this occurs because of an unhealthy life.” He emphasised on starting to take steps to improve lifestyle early to prevent heart attack.”
He further said, “One woman in three men poses a risk of heart attack. Oestrogen plays as a proactive factor to prevent heart attack. It increases 3 fold when a woman reaches her menopause, increasing the risk of heart attacks. So people think they are safe now and heart attacks will affect them in older age, but you will have to start now to prevent it later.”
The Problem Of Increasing Fertility
According to Bjawa, one health condition triggers another leading to enormous problems. And the biological clock keeps ticking. This means you have to start taking care of your health. “Go to gym, do yoga, eat healthy food, do anything that you like but it should be sustainable and in continuation.”
Dr Neema said, “A lot of patients come up with infertility issues these days. One of the major causes is late marriages. By the age of 30, the number of eggs in your ovary will fall, the quality of your eggs will fall and every woman should be aware of it.”
Conclusion
All the three panellists said that women of today can ensure that they can live healthy and lead healthy lives. Bajwa said, “My message is moderation and self awareness. Expand the word that I said, focusing on ourselves, even if it is 10 minutes, we realise that there are so many things to change.” Exercising, eating healthy and taking self-care, were the main takeaways of the panel discussion.