Columbia Asia Hospitals Pune highlights key health concerns women must pay attention to

While breast cancer has replaced cervical cancer as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in India, more women today are also experiencing hormonal disorders, excessive weight gain, calcium and vitamin D deficiency, along with early onset of arthritis.

Health concerns such as cardiovascular diseases and hypertension that were earlier considered more common among men are becoming rampant among women as well.

Especially relevant to our times are the problems of dual work responsibility (managing household and office work) and weight gain being faced by women, particularly in urban areas.

As we celebrate yet another International Women’s Day, doctors at Columbia Asia Hospitals, Pune, are exhorting women to pay more attention to their health concerns, improving lifestyles and eating habits and keep a check on their health vitals through regular preventive screenings.

“Rising incidence of obesity, high blood sugar levels as well as hypertension are major health concerns for women today. These health issues are driven by multiple factors including lifestyle aspects such as low physical activity, increased consumption of processed packaged and junk food, and high levels of mental stress caused by the dual work responsibility. While women have entered the urban workforce in a big way, they continue to shoulder a higher burden of household responsibilities at home, putting many of them under chronic mental stress. Apart from giving medical attention to such issues, it is also important socially to ensure better sharing of household responsibilities by spouses,” explains Dr. Madhuri Burande Laha Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology, Columbia Asia Hospitals,Pune

The findings of the latest National Health and Family Survey tell us that a whopping 31.3% women in urban India are overweight or obese. Similarly 9.6% urban women have blood pressure higher than the normal range, and 10.5% urban women have blood sugar levels higher than the normal (women in 15-49 years bracket), while 50.8% urban women in the age bracket of 15-49 years are anemic. At the same time, low prevalence of preventive health screenings is a major cause of worry.

According to the Survey, only 25.3 urban women between 15-49 years who have undergone examinations of the cervix, while only 11.7 have undergone examinations of the breast.

“Unlike western countries where preventive health check-ups are a norm, India is yet to catch up to the idea of regular health screening tests. When it comes to women, this practice is almost absent. Conditions such as high blood sugar and high blood pressure don’t necessarily show in initial stages, so it’s important to get tested from time to time for them. Women in their reproductive age can also experience a series of health concerns such as hormonal imbalance or development of cysts or fibroids in the ovaries. In fact thyroid imbalance and poly cystic ovary syndrome are quite common among women today, and in many cases remain undiagnosed for a long time,” adds Dr. Mukta Paul Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology, Columbia Asia Hospitals, Pune.