Dr Raju Sahetya is the director of Pushpaa hospital, a practicing Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. He is a specialist in infertility, endoscopy and prenatal diagnosis.He is also the Vice President of Indian Society for Prenatal Diagnosis & Fetal Therapy.

He did his PG from Seth G. S. Medical College and was trained at The King Edward Hospital and The Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, Mumbai.

Dr Raju Sahetya answered Sify readers’ queries related to the above in an exclusive chat. Read the transcript below.

Sir, Does IVF Produces baby girls only? often noticed baby girls from IVF pregnancies.

It not true!!

Hello doctor, I m 35 married female. my periods are regular but last 2 -3 they last upto 7 days. I feel low bp after periods. Bleeding is ok. Feels bodyache alot fater periods. I want to conceive for my second child. pls advice me……….

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An experienced clinical dietician, nutrition specialist and a Reebok Certified Fitness Consultant, Sheela Tanna has counselled at various health camps.

She deals with lifestyle disease management like diabetes, blood pressure, cardio vascular diseases, obesity, PCOD etc. Her special interests include child nutrition, menopause management, arthitis, hair and skin care.

Sheela answered Sify readers’ queries related to diet and nutrition in an exlusive chat. Read the transcript below

Why is Protien a vital element is our diet and from where do we get it ?
proten is building block of our body.. We need it on regular basis for wear and tear of tissues.. Natural diet like dals, pulses,lean meat has enough protein..No need to buy supplements.

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Gaining weight back after intentional weight loss is associated with negative long-term effects on some cardiometabolic (CM) risk factors in post-menopausal women, researchers say.

In the new study, lead authors Daniel Beavers and Kristen Beavers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center wanted to look at how weight regain affects health risk in these women.

The researchers looked specifically at CM risk factors – a cluster of risk factors that are indicators of a person’s overall risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

They include blood pressure, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose and insulin.

“In this group of women, weight loss and maintaining that loss offers the most health benefit, but therein lies the problem,” Daniel Beavers said.

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A Henry Ford Hospital study has found that post-menopausal women suffered significant bone density loss in their hip after they were treated with an epidural steroid injection for back pain relief.

Bone density loss after six months was six times greater when compared to the typical bone density loss seen in a year in a post-menopausal woman who doesn’t receive steroid injection, researchers said.

Shlomo Mandel, M.D., a Henry Ford orthopaedic physician and the study’s lead author, said physicians should exercise caution prescribing an epidural steroid for select patients, suggesting that multiple injections may compromise bone strength.

“The findings of our study suggest that epidural steroid injections for back pain relief should be approached cautiously in patients at risk for bone fragility,” Dr. Mandel said.

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While physical activity is necessary for both men and women, there are gender-specific benefits that women need to be active, researchers say.

Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have reported a list of benefits that should help push people, especially women, out the door and into the gym.

Men are more likely than women to meet the federal guidelines for adults of at least 2.5 hours of physical activity per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Inactive adults have a higher risk for early death, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and some cancers. For women, increasing research is showing exercise may help reduce breast cancer risk, says Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine.

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The menopause is clearly a defining moment in the biology of any woman and can lead to unwanted side-effects, including weight gain. However, the menopause doesn’t have to spell an end to your hard-earned fitness. Instead, here’s our guide to exercising through the menopause and beyond.

Despite the huge emotive significance that menopause has in our society – the turning of the corner, the slippery slope towards old age, the passing of femininity – put simply, the menopause is the signal of the end of reproductive potential. There is no longer enough of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone to facilitate or sustain pregnancy.

The average woman reaches menopause at 52-years-old, but the changes associated with the menopause can begin as much as a decade earlier. During this ‘peri-menopause’ stage, levels of the female hormones are depleting, influencing everything from mood to fat distribution, and causing unwelcome affects such as hot flushes.

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Experts say post-menopausal women who have Type 2 diabetes may be at greater risk of developing breast cancer.

An international team examined 40 separate studies looking at the potential link between breast cancer and diabetes. These studies involved more than 56,000 women with breast cancer.

Being obese or overweight has been linked to both conditions. But cancer experts say there may be a direct connection between the two.

The researchers found that post-menopausal women with Type 2 diabetes had a 27 percent increased risk of breast cancer. But there was no link for pre-menopausal women or those with Type 1 diabetes.

Writing in the British Journal of Cancer, the researchers have suggested that a high body mass index (BMI), which is often associated with diabetes, may be an underlying contributing factor.

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Breast feeding, daily moisturizing and hormone replacement therapy can make a woman’s breasts appear more beautiful, but smoking, drinking alcohol and having multiple pregnancies can take an aesthetic toll, researchers say.

A study of identical twins shows that environmental factors play a key role in how a woman’s breasts age.

According to the study, other factors like higher body mass index (BMI) and larger bra and cup sizes also contribute to accelerated breast aging.

Now, women can identify lifestyle behaviours that can slow the aging process to avoid surgical intervention, according to the study, which was funded by a grant from the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation.

For the last three years, plastic surgeon Hooman T. Soltanian of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, studied 161 pairs of twins.

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Women could remain fertile indefinitely after successful ovarian transplants lead to births and delay the menopause, doctors said.

A technique to remove pieces of ovary, store it for decades and then replace it with delicate surgery could effectively put a woman’s menopause ‘on ice’, doctors said during a conference.

They said that the only thing preventing them from having babies into their old age would be their physical ability to carry a pregnancy.

The controversial notion would allow career driven women peace of mind with a fertility insurance policy so that they can find a partner, settle down and become financially secure before starting a family.

By delaying the menopause they could also avoid the increased risk of osteoporosis and heart disease that are associated with the end of their fertile life but may raise the risk of breast and womb cancer.

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Menopausal women who exercise may experience fewer hot flashes, according to researchers.

Women who are relatively inactive or are overweight tend to have a risk of increased symptoms of perceived hot flashes, noted Steriani Elavsky, assistant professor of kinesiology at Penn State University.

Perceived hot flashes do not always correspond to actual hot flashes. Most previous research analysed only self-reported hot flashes. This is the first study known to the researchers to look at objective versus subjective hot flashes.

Elavsky and colleagues studied 92 menopausal women for 15 days. The women recruited for this study were different from many earlier menopause studies, said Elavsky, according to a university statement.

“Our sample included women with mild to moderate symptoms and they were recruited for a study of physical activity, not for a study of menopause,” said Elavsky.

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