Reproductive Health 3 Flashcards
what are stds
Diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse
are collectively called sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or venereal
diseases (VD) or reproductive tract infections (RTI). Gonorrhoea, syphilis,
genital herpes, chlamydiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis, hepatitis-B
and of course, the most discussed infection in the recent years, HIV leading
to AIDS are some of the common STDs.
Though all persons are vulnerable to these infections, their
incidences are reported to be very high among persons in the age group
of 15-24 years – the age group to which you also belong. There is no
reason to panic because prevention is possible.
how are std’s spread
Some of these infections like hepatitis–B and HIV can also be
transmitted by sharing of injection needles, surgical instruments, etc.,
with infected persons, transfusion of blood, or from an infected mother to
the foetus too. Except for hepatitis-B, genital herpes and HIV infections,
other diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated
properly.
symptoms of std’s
Early symptoms of most of these are minor and include itching,
fluid discharge, slight pain, swellings, etc., in the genital region. Infected
females may often be asymptomatic and hence, may remain undetected
for long. Absence or less significant symptoms in the early stages of
infection and the social stigma attached to the STDs, deter the infected
persons from going for timely detection and proper treatment. This could
lead to complications later, which include pelvic inflammatory diseases
(PID), abortions, still births, ectopic pregnancies, infertility or even cancer
of the reproductive tract.
how to prevent stds
STDs are a major threat to a healthy society.
Therefore, prevention or early detection and cure of these diseases are
given prime consideration under the reproductive health-care
programmes.One could be free of these
infections by following the simple principles given below:
(i) Avoid sex with unknown partners/multiple partners.
(ii) Always use condoms during coitus.
(iii) In case of doubt, one should go to a qualified doctor for early
detection and get complete treatment if diagnosed with disease.
infertility
A large number of couples all over the world including India
are infertile, i.e., they are unable to produce children inspite of unprotected
sexual co-habitation. The reasons for this could be many–physical,
congenital, diseases, drugs, immunological or even psychological.In India, often the female is blamed for the couple being childless, but
more often than not, the problem lies in the male partner. Specialised
health care units (infertility clinics, etc.) could help in diagnosis and
corrective treatment of some of these disorders and enable these couples to
have children.
ART
However, where such corrections are not possible, the couples could be
assisted to have children through certain special techniques commonly known
as Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).
IN VITRO FERTILIZATION FOLLOWED BY EMBRYO TRANSFER (ET)
In vitro fertilisation (IVF–fertilisation outside the body in almost
similar conditions as that in the body) followed by embryo transfer (ET)
is one of such methods. In this method, popularly known as test tube
baby programme, ova from the wife/donor (female) and sperms from the
husband/donor (male) are collected and are induced to form zygote under
simulated conditions in the laboratory. The zygote or early embryos (with
upto 8 blastomeres) could then be transferred into the fallopian tube
(ZIFT–zygote intra fallopian transfer) and embryos with more than
8 blastomeres, into the uterus (IUT – intra uterine transfer), to complete
its further development.
After IVF, the formed zygote (or early embryo developed from it) is
transferred into the female (genetic or surrogate mother) to complete its
further development.
in vivo fertilisation
Embryos formed by in-vivo fertilisation (fusion
of gametes within the female) also could be used for such transfer to assist
those females who cannot conceive.
gift
Transfer of an ovum collected from a donor into the fallopian tube
(GIFT – gamete intra fallopian transfer) of another female who cannot
produce one, but can provide suitable environment for fertilisation and
further development is another method attempted.
icsi
Intra cytoplasmic
sperm injection (ICSI) is another specialised procedure to form an embryo
in the laboratory in which a sperm is directly injected into the ovum.
ai
Infertility cases either due to inability of the male partner to inseminate
the female or due to very low sperm counts in the ejaculates, could be
corrected by artificial insemination (AI) technique. In this technique,
the semen collected either from the husband or a healthy donor is artificially
introduced either into the vagina or into the uterus (IUI – intra-uterine
insemination) of the female.
drawbacks of art
Though options are many, all these techniques require extremely
high precision handling by specialised professionals and expensive
instrumentation. Therefore, these facilities are presently available only
in very few centres in the country. Obviously their benefits is affordable
to only a limited number of people. Emotional, religious and social
factors are also deterrents in the adoption of these methods. Since the
ultimate aim of all these procedures is to have children, in India we have
so many orphaned and destitute children, who would probably not
survive till maturity, unless taken care of. Our laws permit legal adoption
and it is as yet, one of the best methods for couples looking for
parenthood.
test tube baby
1st Test tube baby England, 25 July, 1978, Louise Joy Brown
* India’s first & world’s 2nd test tube baby ‘Kanupriya Agarwal (Durga)’
was born on October 3, 1978 through the efforts of Dr. Subhas Mukherjee and
his colleagues.
Gonorrhoea
Syphilis
Chlamydiasis
Genital warts
Hepatitis B
AIDS
Trichomoniasis
Genital herpes
i) Neisserria gonorrhoeae ( bacterium)
ii) Treponema palidium ( bacterium)
iii) Chlamydia trachomatic ( bacterium)
iv) Human Papilloma Virus
v) Hepatitis B ( virus)
vi) HIV virus
vii) Trichomonas vaginalis ( bacterium)
viii) Herpes simplex ( virus )
