Beauty and Personal Grooming

I've mentioned umpteen times in many posts that strength training and weight bearing exercises are extremely good for your bone health and help prevent dreaded diseases like osteoporosis or the brittle bone disease . And no, strength training exercises don't bulk you up -- they in fact help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass and make you look fitter and leaner.

Miscarriage can be devastating for any woman who's looking forward to hold her baby in her arms after a long wait of 9 months. In most cases, it's often difficult to ascertain the exact cause of miscarriage; in fact most missed abortions occur for reasons you have no control over.

Painful menstruation or having menstrual cramps can be very annoying and discomforting. Several methods such as popping over the counter pills as well as home-remedies are tried out by suffering women during this period. While some self-care methods and home-remedies work to relieve menstrual pain to a great extent, few know that exercise during this period can help too . And that includes treadmill workout too! Yes, treadmill workout can relieve period pain . But is it the only exercise to ease pain during menses? No. Then why the emphasis on working out on a treadmill? But before you seek an answer to your questions, take a look at the reasons that cause menstrual cramps and period pain.

When I read about a study that says "Fewer reproductive years in women linked to an increased risk of dementia", I was intrigued. Earlier, I had mentioned about a study which links being underweight to hitting menopause early . Early menopause is linked with a higher risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease and dementia.

Miscarriage is a devastating experience for any pregnant woman who looks forward to hold her baby in her arms. Whether she loses her baby in the first term,  second term or for that matter even after completion of the full term, the loss is extremely traumatic and catastrophic for her. It takes several months or sometimes even a year to come out of the mental, physical and emotional trauma of the unfortunate incident. Do read the gut-wrenching account of one woman who had to go through the agony of missed abortion and how she had suffered terrible headaches and nightmares in the period leading to her ill-fated loss . While such a calamity should never befall anyone, things don't work out as per our wishes and in the event of an unfortunate miscarriage here are some tips and home-remedies to cope up with it .

Men do have a distinct advantage over women as far as skin ageing is concerned. Men’s skin, apparently being slightly thicker, ages more slowly than that of women’s. At least that’s what studies say. Do read the post Does a woman’s skin age faster than a man’s? However it’s also true that women deal with aging better than men and contrary to popular belief, are more accepting of their age and wrinkles as compared to men.

One day when I was doing my regular yoga poses / asanas in the privacy of my cozy room, the doorbell rang. I hastily rushed to open the door only to find the courier boy who had come to deliver some parcel. Strangely, the very next morning, I found that I was unable to move my left arm. Photo by sixninepixels at freedigitalphotos.net I carried on somehow for days, asking my part-time maid to help me while dressing and doing my hair. I decided that age was catching up on me and that I would have to put up with all these body ailments, joint pains, disability of movements, etc. But I started feeling more and more uncomfortable as the days passed by and my whole body slowly started to get stiff. Eventually, I consulted a surgeon.

Women may reach early menopause for a myriad of reasons. The reasons for this can vary from genetically inheriting this condition, diseases like cancer, premature ovarian failure (POF), Turner's Syndrome and surgeries like  hysterectomy. Besides these, some uncommon reasons that increase the risk of early menopause are reaching menarche before the age of 12 and being childless, precocious puberty or early puberty - all of  which I have shared in the post " Mother's obesity may cause early puberty in daughters ".

Some time back, Smitha had related her harrowing experience of a missed abortion / miscarriage in the post " Are headaches in early pregnancy a sign of miscarriage?"   She also wondered what could possibly cause miscarriage - low progesterone, chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, environment in the uterus not favourable for foetal growth. or something else. Smitha had conceived through assisted reproductive method, IUI (Intra Uterine Insemination) and was eagerly waiting to hold her baby in her arms after the completion of nine months! Alas, but destiny had other plans for her and she lost her baby in her 17th week or pregnancy and she had to go through severe depression for several months. Do read Top home-remedies after miscarriage .

Bones constantly take up and release calcium throughout life – in both, men and women. However, post-menopausal women are more susceptible to osteoporosis or brittle-bone disease because declining estrogen levels impair the skeleton’s calcium retaining ability. So the most common advice offered to women is to eat plenty of calcium-rich food, particularly, milk and milk-products. But, before gulping down glasses of milk in your eagerness to replenish your depleting calcium levels, have a look at these articles from  Cleveland Clinic and WebMD

Precocious Puberty or early puberty has become quite common these days and we find young girls reaching menarche before the age of 10. Myriad causes are responsible for this and we have already discussed some of it in the post " Air pollution possibly delays menarche - A surprising result of a study ." In a large study involving involving 50,000 postmenopausal women in the UK, Australia, Japan and Scandinavia, it was found that women were 31 percent more likely to go through menopause early - between the ages of 40-44 if they started menstruating before their 12th birthday.

Some time back, I had shared how being underweight is a risk factor for early menopause . Besides body weight, the food that you eat also determines when you will enter menopause, a new research (1) has found.

A neat, trim waist and a flat belly looks gorgeous but a bulging, pendulous belly can lessen the charm of the most alluring woman and it has its own health hazards as well.   Do read Woes of having a big belly .     A protruding midriff is the result of flabby, soft abdominal muscles. Lack of exercise, being overweight or obese and child bearing – all take their toll on the woman’s belly. Childbirth generally sees a weakening of abdominal muscles and the start of a protruding belly. To get a flatter tummy after years of neglect will certainly take time and lots of effort on your part.   A controlled diet, an exercise regimen consisting of specific yoga poses and most important of all your determination is required to regain your slender, flat and trim belly . Do read the posts I wanna reduce my waist and thighs, Please help !,    Have Craving for a flat tummy? Check these top treatments for a tighter core , Slim Down and Stay in Shape with Yoga ...

Pregnant women need to think hundred times before they pop pills and they should never ever do this without consulting their doctor. Pregnancy isn't without constraints and an expectant mother is bound to catch a flu or cold in the course of her pregnancy. Paracetamol, usually considered safe during pregnancy is usually prescribed for this. But is the use of paracetamol safe for the unborn baby? Apparently not, according to a study which says that high doses of paracetamol during pregnancy could affect the fertility of the unborn child, especially if it is a girl.

These days girls are hitting puberty at a very early age due to various reasons - (1) increased childhood obesity due to sedentary lifestyle and gorging on unhealthy, junk food, eating meat & poultry treated with antibiotics and hormones, soft drink consumption, exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)  by usage of plastics containing BPA & phthalates for storing food  & beverages,  exposure to Dichlobenzene in moth balls, air fresheners and deodorizers, acute stress or extreme sensitivity to stress in childhood years,  in-utero exposure to excessive female hormones such as estrogen if the mother was administered the same during IVF or IUI procedures etc.   Precocious puberty (2) has become a huge issue in recent times.

Few years ago, my mother used to suffer from excruciating pain in her soles or rather her heels . The minute she put her foot down in the morning,  after she got up from bed, she used to scream in pain. It was a torture for her to get out of her bed with pain akin to pricking of pins and needles as soon as her feet touched the ground. But, somehow she pushed herself to move about and do her work. The pain would slowly subside as hours passed by and as she went about her work and as the feet muscles warmed up. The pain would also occur after she would stand up after a prolonged period of sitting.  An X-ray at the orthopedist revealed that she had a heel spur or calcaneal spur or heel spur .

I admit I do suffer from a few unpleasant symptoms during PMS , but it's nothing severe that can disrupt my routine. Sometime back,  I'd heard one of my friends saying that she usually has headaches / migraines around the time of her period . At that point of time, I didn't think much of it. And although I didn't voice my thoughts to her, I believed that it was just a coincidence and that she was mistakenly linking her headaches with her menstrual cycle .

Apparently there seems to be a connection between being underweight and hitting menopause early . While perusing the articles at Washington Post and NYTimes , I came across this study, Adult adiposity and risk of early menopause , in which researchers analyzed data on 78,759 pre-menopausal women who were mostly in their mid-30s, when the study was started. This study spanned for about 22 years and in that time around 2,804 women reached menopause before the the age of 45, which is considered early. All these women reached menopause naturally and none because of hysterectomy, oophorectomy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

M.S asks: My problem is an embarrassing one. I am a 16 year old girl, smart and attractive. But there is one feature of my physique which is bothering me a lot.  My left breast is smaller than the right one. Due to this, I always wear salwar suits with dupatta, although I long to put on shirts and blouses like my friends. Is there any cream or medicine which will help me?

Today, let's talk about something super common, yet often misunderstood: PMS and "brain fog. " You know, those days when you feel a little… off.  Maybe you're a bit forgetful, your mood's a rollercoaster, or you're just not feeling your sharpest. Sound familiar? We've all heard the jokes, right? " Is it that time of the month? " or " Someone's having a case of the Mondays, huh? " But let's get real for a minute.  Is there actual science behind this, or is it just another stereotype? And what about those "sexy" remarks that are often thrown around? They're not only dismissive, but they also perpetuate harmful misconceptions. The Hormonal Rollercoaster: What's Really Happening? It's true that hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle are real. Progesterone levels rise in the luteal phase (the second half of your cycle), and this can indeed lead to some changes.  It's often linked to a drop in serot...