Health Issues Specific to Women’s Health

While both men and women contract various conditions, some health issues affect women differently and more commonly. Some of the issues/ conditions are:
Gynecological conditions (PCOS/PCOD), Pregnancy, Menopause. All these conditions will lead to other health issues in the body like diabetes, heart disease, mental health, obesity, sleep apnea, endometrial Cancer and many more.

What is PCOS/PCOD ?

Many women are confused about the two and frequently use them interchangeably, especially when trying to comprehend the relationship between PCOS & PCOD.

Despite the similarities, such as being tied to the ovaries and producing hormonal disruptions, these illnesses are distinct.

Let’s take a deeper look at these two…

PCOD: Polycystic Ovary Disease
Every month, each of a woman’s ovaries releases one egg alternately. Androgens, or male hormones, are produced in minute amounts by the ovaries.

PCOD is a condition in which ovaries produce many immature or partially mature eggs, this happens due to poor lifestyle, obesity, stress and hormonal imbalance.
PCOD doesn’t affect fertility in women, in this condition women still can ovulate and become pregnant with little help, following medication can complete pregnancy.
PCOD doesn’t have any serious complications.

PCOS: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
is a serious medical condition around 0.2% to 2.5% of the world women population is affected by it.
PCOS is a metabolic disorder and a more severe form of PCOD can lead to anovulation where ovaries stop releasing eggs.
PCOS seriously affects fertility in women. Due to PCOS women cannot ovulate regularly, making them hard to get pregnant. If become pregnant, there is a risk of miscarriage, premature birth or complications in their pregnancy.
PCOS has serious complications such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure and endometrial cancer in later stages.

To elaborate further
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects a woman’s hormone levels.

Women with PCOS produce higher-than-normal amounts of male hormones. This hormone imbalance causes their body to skip menstrual periods and makes it harder for them to get pregnant.

PCOS affects a woman’s ovaries, the reproductive organs that produce estrogen and progesterone — hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle. The ovaries also produce a small amount of male hormones called androgens.

The ovaries release eggs to be fertilized by a man’s sperm. The release of an egg each month is called ovulation.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which are produced in the pituitary gland, control ovulation.

FSH stimulates the ovary to produce a follicle — a sac that contains an egg — and then LH triggers the ovary to release a mature egg.

PCOS is a “syndrome,” or group of symptoms that affects the ovaries and ovulation. Its three main features are:

• Cysts in the ovaries
• High levels of male hormones
• Irregular or skipped periods

In PCOS, many small, fluid-filled sacs grow inside the ovaries. The word “polycystic” means “many cysts.”
These sacs are actually follicles, each one containing an immature egg. The eggs never mature enough to trigger ovulation.

The lack of ovulation alters levels of estrogen, progesterone, FSH, and LH. Progesterone levels are lower than usual, while androgen levels are higher than usual.

Extra male hormones disrupt the menstrual cycle, so women with PCOS get fewer periods than usual.

In both the conditions – PCOD vs PCOS,
Regular Yoga asanas have shown effective results along with diet control. Early diagnosis of the disease will help in treating the conditions.

Yoga for PCOS/PCOD

Yoga is a discipline that helps balance and harmonizes our mind , body and breath.
Yoga practice aligns the balance of the body, improves blood circulation to the pelvic areas, and helps reduce blood sugar levels and testosterone levels, which eventually improves the hormonal imbalance and helps in losing weight.

Several asanas open up the pelvic region, align the lower spine, infuse blood and oxygen into all lower organs which will help with digestion, improve metabolism and hormone secretion. Insulin resistance is one of the main reasons that women with PCOS find it hard to lose weight affecting their blood sugar levels.

Asanas like Shavasan, bhadkon asan, janushirasana asana, vipreet karni, nauka asana, bhujang asana can help treat pcos.

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