Health Watch

Dispelling fears about Inter Sex Correction surgery

Nadira Gunatilleke

Two serious surgeries were performed at the Lady Ridgway Hospital, Colombo recently by three prominent Indian, Sri Lankan and British Pediatricians. Those were Hypospadias (Inter Sex Correction) Surgery and Oesophageal Replacement Surgery.

Over 500 female infants with male sexual organs are born every year. Such children and their parents face numerous social and psychological problems due to unclear biological sexual status of the children. But successful surgery can make them a complete female without any defect. The three foreign doctors operated on an eight year old girl recently at the Lady Ridgway Hospital and changed her into a complete female.

The surgery was shown to other pediatricians on a wide TV screen in order to educate them on the procedure. It is very costly and complicated to perform this surgery at a later stage when the child grows up and becomes an adult. Many of them prefer to live with the defect but lead problematic lives. Once they grow up, they face numerous social and psychological problems due to their unclear sexual identity.

The operation will solve all these problems before they arise.

The three doctors also performed Oesophageal Replacement Surgery on a two year old toddler. He has not taken any food or drink from his mouth since last two years because he only had a part of his (food passage).

He had been fed by an outside pump. Now he can drink and eat just like any other ordinary child. The doctors used a part of his bowels and constructed the (food passage).

Some people approve the idea and the others are not quite pleased with it.However the most important thing is the well being of the child and his/her future.

The persons who opposed the idea of carrying out inter sex correction operation usually say that it is the child who should decide whether to stay as she was born or to go for the operation at a later stage of her life. They said that it is a violation of her human rights. The persons who supported the operation say that it is the best thing that can be done for the child because she can go into the society as a female and there will not be any question about her sexuality.

The health and social problems faced by young girls with male organs is not a secret. They face all types of harassment, difficulties and problems because of their mixed sexuality. Such children get confused about their body from the beginning. Once they grow old they face all sorts of trouble when obtaining medical treatment. Most of the time only doctors treat them with compassion and they often get subjected to harassment by the other hospital staffers.

There is no point of describing the health risks they face because of their male sexual organs. They are one of the groups which face grave health dangers such as HIV, STDs etc. The possibility of getting infected with deadly HIV/AIDS is very high for them because of the mixed sexuality. Most of them get used to sell their bodies to earn a living. Their real life starts after that.

They enjoy their life and earn a good money while transmitting HIV/AIDs to others! Because of this they are being subjected to all types of discriminations.

The things happen after that is very interesting because only then the think about their `rights’.

All those problems can be solved by performing a simple surgery which can be done free of charge at a young age. Therefore there is no reason for parents to raise objections. It gives their child the natural life defined by nature and all existing religions.

Heavier women may have less IVF success

Genevra Pittman

The heavier a woman is, the more trouble she may have getting pregnant and having a baby through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, suggests a large U.S. study.

Researchers found that women who were overweight or obese were less likely to become pregnant using fertility treatments than normal-weight women-and when they did get pregnant, they lost the baby more often.

The patterns were especially clear for women using their own (non-donor) eggs that hadn’t been frozen.

The new findings bolster earlier studies, which have hinted at worse IVF outcomes in heavier women. They don’t prove the extra pounds are directly responsible for the reproductive troubles these women experience, but experts say that’s likely.

“We know that being overweight and obese is not good (for IVF), it’s just how bad is it, and where are the bad effects?” said Dr. Brian Cooper, of Mid-Iowa Fertility in Clive, who wasn’t involved in the new study.

To better get at that question, Barbara Luke of Michigan State University in East Lansing and colleagues drew data from a reporting system that includes more than 90 percent of IVF treatments done in the United States.

In total, they had information on 150,000 fertility treatment cycles done in 2007 and 2008 at 361 different clinics.

For each cycle, the reporting system included whether the cycle was canceled, if it led to a pregnancy, and whether that pregnancy ended early (a miscarriage or stillbirth) or the woman gave birth to a live baby. For most cycles, it also had data on women’s height and weight before starting treatment.

From the beginning through the end of fertility treatment, heavy women saw poorer results.

About nine percent of cycles in normal-weight women were stopped early, compared to 16 percent of cycles in the heaviest women those with a body mass index over 50 (equivalent to a 5 foot, 5 inch woman who weighs over 300 pounds.)

Normal-weight women had a 43-percent chance of getting pregnant during each cycle using their own, fresh eggs for IVF, compared to 36 percent for very heavy women. Rates for overweight and less obese women fell in between.

And for women who did get pregnant, the trend continued, with the heaviest about twice as likely as normal-weight women to lose the baby in many cases.

-Healthnews

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is the most common type of sleep apnea and is caused by obstruction of the upper airway. It is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep, despite the effort to breathe, and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. These pauses in breathing, called apneas (literally, “without breath”), typically last 20 to 40 seconds.

The individual with OSA is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing, even upon awakening. It is recognized as a problem by others witnessing the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body (sequelae). OSA is commonly accompanied with snoring.

Symptoms may be present for years, even decades without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance. Persons who sleep alone without a long-term human partner may not be told about their sleep disorder symptoms.

Since the muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes during sleep, and since, at the level of the throat, the human airway is composed of walls of soft tissue, which can collapse, it is easy to understand how breathing can be obstructed during sleep. Although a very low level of obstructive sleep apnea is considered to be within the bounds of normal sleep, and many individuals experience episodes of obstructive sleep apnea at some point in life, a much smaller percentage of people are afflicted with chronic, severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Many people experience episodes of obstructive sleep apnea for only a short period of time. This can be the result of an upper respiratory infection that causes nasal congestion, along with swelling of the throat, or tonsillitis that temporarily produces very enlarged tonsils. The Epstein-Barr virus, for example, is known to be able to dramatically increase the size of lymphoid tissue during acute infection, and obstructive sleep apnea is fairly common in acute cases of severe infectious mononucleosis. Temporary spells of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome may also occur in individuals who are under the influence of a drug (such as alcohol) that may relax their body tone excessively and interfere with normal arousal from sleep mechanisms.

Common signs of obstructive sleep apnea include unexplained daytime sleepiness, restless sleep, and loud snoring (with periods of silence followed by gasps). Less common symptoms are morning headaches; insomnia; trouble concentrating; mood changes such as irritability, anxiety and depression; forgetfulness; increased heart rate and/or blood pressure; decreased sex drive; unexplained weight gain; increased urination and/or nocturia; frequent heartburn or Gastroesophageal reflux disease; and heavy night sweats.

In adults, the most typical individual with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome suffers from obesity, with particular heaviness at the face and neck. Obesity is not always present with OSA; in fact, a significant number of adults with normal body mass indices (BMI) have decrease in muscle tone causing airway collapse and sleep apnea. The cause of the decreased tone is not presently understood. The hallmark symptom of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in adults is excessive daytime sleepiness. Typically, an adult or adolescent with severe long-standing obstructive sleep apnea will fall asleep for very brief periods in the course of usual daytime activities if given any opportunity to sit or rest. This behavior may be quite dramatic, sometimes occurring during conversations with others at social gatherings.

The hypoxia (absence of oxygen supply) through OSA may cause changes in the neurons of the hippocampus and the right frontal cortex in the brain.

Research through the use of neuro-imaging revealed evidence of hippocampal atrophy in people suffering from OSA. They found some OSA sufferers to have problems in mentally manipulating nonverbal information and executive function.

Although this so called “hypersomnolence” (excessive sleepiness) may also occur in children, it is not at all typical of young children with sleep apnea. Toddlers and young children with severe obstructive sleep apnea instead ordinarily behave as if “over-tired” or “hyperactive.” Adults and children with very severe obstructive sleep apnea also differ in typical body habitus.

Adults are generally heavy, with particularly short and heavy necks. Young children, on the other hand, are generally not only thin, but may have “failure to thrive”, where growth is reduced. Poor growth occurs for two reasons: the work of breathing is high enough that calories are burned at high rates even at rest, and the nose and throat are so obstructed that eating is both tasteless and physically uncomfortable. Obstructive sleep apnea in children, unlike adults, is often caused by obstructive tonsils and adenoids and may sometimes be cured with tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

This problem can also be caused by excessive weight in children. In this case, the symptoms are more like the symptoms adults feel: restlessness, exhaustion, and more.

Children with OSA may experience learning and memory deficits. OSA has also been linked to lowered childhood IQ scores.

Old age is often accompanied by muscular & neurological loss of muscle tone of the upper airway. Decreased muscle tone is also temporarily caused by chemical depressants; alcoholic drinks and sedative medications being the most common. Permanent premature muscular tonal loss in the upper airway may be precipitated by traumatic brain injury, neuromuscular disorders, or poor adherence to chemical and or speech-therapy treatments.

Individuals with decreased muscle tone, increased soft tissue around the airway, and structural features that give rise to a narrowed airway are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Men, whose anatomy is typified by increased body mass in the torso and neck, are at increased risk of developing sleep apnea, especially through middle age and older. Adult women suffer typically less frequently and to a lesser degree than men do, owing partially to physiology, but possibly to emerging links to levels of progesterone. Prevalence in post-menopausal women approaches that of men in the same age range. Women are also at a greater risk for developing OSA during pregnancy.

Obstructive sleep apnea also appears to have a genetic component; those with a family history of OSA are more likely to develop it themselves. Lifestyle factors such as smoking may also increase the chances of developing OSA as the chemical irritants in smoke tend to inflame the soft tissue of the upper airway and promote fluid retention, both of which can result in narrowing of the upper airway. An individual may also experience or exacerbate OSA with the consumption of alcohol, sedatives, or any other medication that increases sleepiness as most of these drugs are also muscle relaxants.

Wikipedia

Aerobic exercise: the best weapon against belly fat

In the battle against the bulge, aerobic exercise is the most effective weapon for defeating stubborn belly fat and reducing serious health risks. The health benefits from aerobic exercise go beyond belly fat, however; you can reduce both visceral and liver fat and improve risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, things that resistance training fail to deliver.

A new study from Duke University Medical Center researchers found that aerobic exercise provided significant benefits over resistance training. The researchers studied the impact of both aerobic exercise (such as jogging), and resistance training (such as weight lifting), on the reduction of visceral and liver fat found deep within the abdomen that fills spaces between internal organs, and poses a series threat to health. Previous research has linked this type of fat to an increase in risk for developing such illnesses as heart disease and diabetes, as well as certain forms of cancer.

The eight-month study, recently published in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, involved 196 sedentary and overweight adults who ranged in age from 18 to 70 years. The subjects were assigned to groups who participated either in aerobic exercise, resistance training, or a combination of both.

Subjects in the aerobic exercise group achieved the equivalent of jogging 12 miles weekly at 75 percent of their maximum heart rate, with the use of a treadmill, an elliptical machine, or a stationary bike. Those in the resistance group completed three sets of eight to 12 repetitions three times weekly, while those in the combination group performed amounts of both types of exercise.

-Healthnews