PCOD, infertility crisis looming large among obese women

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 25

Sedentary lifestyle, excessive reliance on home junk food and wrong eating habits have lately resulted in several young women getting prone to polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) and hence infertility.

The dieticians and experts across the city said it were the young women in the age-group of 20-35 years, who most commonly visit the doctors for counselling these days. The common signs of PCOD are disturbance in their menstrual cycle, hormonal balance, weight gain, mood swings, water retention, hirsutism, acne and pregnancy-related issues.

Shivali Malhotra, a nutritionist, says, “Most of my patients these days are young girls, who suffer from PCOD and are grossly overweight. We tell the girls not to fall for crash diets as it only gives temporary results, quick weight regain and depression. I do not tell them to completely wean off carbohydrates completely from their diet but just focus on having portion control, maintaining a good dietary regime, skipping all kind of refined carbohydrates and lifestyle changes. My mantra to such girls is ‘Eat carefully and burn cheerfully’.

Infertility expert Dr Jasmine Dahiya too points out, “PCOD has now gone down to girls who are just 15-17 years. Parents bring to me girls who are just in Class VII or VIII. They tell us that their daughters got periods in Class VI but never in Class VII and so on. The overuse of gadgets is to blame. Girls have a sedentary lifestyle, remain seated and occupied in front of screens. The worse is that PCOD takes all the beauty out of the girls with excessive hair growth and acne issues.”

Some experts said it had become common for them to see patients, including women, who weigh over 200 kg and they need to carry special chairs along. Bariatric surgeon Dr G S Jammu said, “All those patients who are done with all sorts of other means to reduce their weight and cannot see any hope come to me for the surgery. Many of my patients also have co morbid conditions such as Type II diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, PCOD, snoring and sleep apnea etc. Recently, we operated upon a woman from Canada, who had visited every place for the treatment of obesity and PCOD. She was married for 15 years but could not conceive. As expected, after two years of gastric bypass surgery, she lost more than 50 kg of her extra weight and also conceived. Now, she even has a son and is leading a happy personal and professional life.” 

Know Anti-Obesity Day

• Anti-Obesity Day (AOD) is observed in various parts of the world on November 26, with several healthcare organisations and leading media primarily in India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries marking the day with activities to highlight how obesity is a public health hazard.
• According to the WHO, being overweight and obese poses the fifth leading risk for global deaths. A person who's body mass index- the individual's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters - is greater than or equal to 25 is overweight. A person whose BMI is greater than or equal to 30 is considered to be obese.

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