Project

in
English IV
Research Paper
Submitted by:

Shahara Khandaker

Submitted to:

Mrs. Angeles
Women
and
Their
Problems
 “WOMEN AND THEIR PROBLEMS”

I. TITLE PAGE

II. TABLE OF CONTENTS

III. INTRODUCTION

IV. BODY
 Female Hormones
o Estrogen
o Progesterone
 Premenstrual Tension
 Painful Menstruation
o Treatment
 Vaginal Discharge
o Treatment
 Female Fungus Infections
o Treatment
 Painful Intercourse
o Frigidity
 Female Sterility
o Treatment
 Heavy Bleeding
o Treatment
 Ectopic Pregnancy
 Menopause or Change of Life

V. CONCLUSION

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. INTRODUCTION

From the very moment of a baby girl first arrives in the world her future is
already laid out for her. Unlike her brothers who can turn to various types of activity,
the little girl is always first of all a woman. Nature has given her the responsibility of
producing the next generation and for this she has given wonderful organs of
reproduction.
Although these female organs are present from birth, it is not until early
adolescence that they really begin to develop and function. From then until the end
of her life they are of deepest concern to her, for they are often subject to types of
illness, against which she must be constantly on guard.

II. BODY

 Female Hormones
The maternal or motherly instincts of a woman are almost entirely from
the female hormones within her body. These important hormones are produced
in a pair of almond-shaped organs known as the ovaries. They lie deep within the
pelvis, one of each side of the uterus or womb. There are two major female
hormone, estrogen and progesterone. Both are produced in the ovaries under
the direction of the pituitary, the master endocrine gland of the body. The
amount of female hormones varies a great deal according to the time of the
month. Both are necessary to give her strength and stamina and are largely
responsible for the graceful curves and peculiarly feminine shape of her body.
Those female hormones change the texture of her skin, the size and shape of her
bones, the current of her thoughts and effect everything, she does in life.

 Estrogen
The dominant female hormones, give her enormous drive and energy and
great staying power, so that most women now outlive their husbands by several
years.

 Progesterone
Has a special function of its own, all human and animal life begins with
some form of ovum or egg. Many thousands of underdeveloped egg cells are
present in the ovary at birth. Only a few of these ever mature and become ready
for fertilization, one each month of a women’s menstrual life. Next month the
whole process is repeated. The conpus reteun perhaps forming in the other way.
Here is where progesterone is produced. This special female hormone stimulates
the productions of milk glands in the breasts and promotes the growth of a soft,
velvet-like inner living to the uterus.
 Ovulation
Is the time the egg cell or ovum leaves the ovary. Some women
experience a slight pain in the pelvis at this time, lasting perhaps a few minute or
longer. When more severe, this pain has sometimes been mistaken for
appendicitis, but ovulation is a perfectly normal function of female body. The day
of ovulation is probably the only time in the month when the women can become
pregnant.

 Premenstrual Tension
Just before menstruation some women become nervous and irritable and
suffer from depression, headaches, fullness in the breasts, and swelling in the
lower extremities. This is probably due to increased hormone activity from the
adrenal glands during the latter part of the menstrual cycle, causing retention of
sodium and water in the tissues.
Treatment: Avoid using extra salt during these times of premenstrual
tension and swelling. Further relief may be obtained by the use of chlorothiazide
(Diurit or Esidrix), two tablets daily for the elimination of salt from the body.
These medicines eliminate the excess sodium and thus help to relieve the
headaches, nervousness, and irritability. One or two aspirin tablets may also be
used for severe headaches.

 Painful Menstruation
Some mild discomfort is to be expected at the beginning of menstruation,
although many women have little if any difficulty. If there is severe pain it might
be due to some abnormality that should be corrected. Some young women tend
to magnify their symptoms apparently in an unconscious effort to gain sympathy.
But in other cases the pain may be due to some endocrine imbalance which may
clear up entirely following pregnancy or satisfactory marital relations. Abnormal
positions of the uterus may also lead to menstrual pain or discomfort certain
pelvic conditions, such as endometriosis and fibroids are also a possibility. But
most of these conditions tend to come on later in life. Finally there is the problem
of emotional tension. This always increases any menstrual discomfort and makes
the woman more irritable.
Treatment: Encourage the girl to enter into active sports, for these always
help to improve the pelvic circulation special exercises to strengthen the back are
recommended, but they must be taken in moderation. The patient should not
allow herself to become exhausted by too strenuous a program at first. She
should be sure to get adequate rest and sleep. As for as possible, she should be
encouraged to ignore the discomfort, carrying on her regular daily activities.
Some simple medicine such as aspirin may be given, but codeine and other habit-
forming drugs should be avoided except in cases of severe pain. Some doctors
given an injection of progesterone about seven days, prior to menstruation. This
medicine decreases the uterine constructions and thus helps to relieve the pain.
 Another useful medicine is testosterone or male hormone, 25 mg. daily for several
days before menstruation.

 Vaginal Discharge
Recent investigations have shown that secretions from the uterus and
upper portions of the vagina flow down and are reabsorbed in the lower part of
the vagina. This is the normal, constant flow within the female organs. The
presence of infection in any of these tissues will usually cause a whitish discharge
that may continue for weeks or months at a time. Such discharges may arise from
trichomonas vaginalis, an infection due to a small parasite that normally inhabits
the bowels. Other causes of leucorrhea are pelvic congestion, endocrine
disturbances, lacerations, injuries, and perhaps atrophy of the vaginal tissues
following the menopause.
In mature women a profuse, yellowish discharge associated burning on
urination may be due to gonorrhea, a serious infection that should be cleared up
as soon as possible, a thin, watery discharge may be due to the presence of
cancer in the uterus or cervix, whereas a creamy discharge, slightly blood-stained,
may be due to trichomonas or some infections.
Treatment: Wherever possible, a direct diagnosis should be made by using
suitable smears and other tests. Most germ infections, including gonorrhea, will
usually respond well to antibiotic treatment, such as penicillin, 600,000 units
injected daily for several days, or terramycin, 250 mg three times a day by month.
Trichomonas infections may be brought under control by taking a vinedar douche
(2 tablespoons of vinegar to a quart of warm water) once or twice a day, after
which a vaginal suppository or tablet should be inserted in the vagina. Floraquin
(diodohydroxyquin compound) has proved beneficial in many of these cases.

 Female Fungus Infections

Occasionally, the female genital organs are infected with monilla or some
other type of fungus. This may sometimes occur during pregnancy, probably
because of the increased sugar control of the blood. Women suffering from
diabetes are more likely to have fungus infections. This may result in intense
itching around the genital areas, as well as a thick discharge from the vagina. Ften
this arise4s from the use of broad spectrum antibiotics because other useful
organisms normally present in the vagina and rectum have been suppressed by
these medicines. This usually clears up soon after the antibiotics have been
discontinued.
Treatment: Any tendency toward diabetes should be corrected without
delay, the patient should also take a warm vinegar douche, once or twice daily,
after which she should insert a nystatin tablet or suppository. Continue this
treatment at least two weeks until infections is brought under control.
 Painful Intercourse
Painful intercourse or dyspareunia may arise from muscular spasm of the
vagina. Sometimes there is a superficial ulceration following some injury and the
tissues are very painful to the tough. Bladder infections are not uncommon in
such cases and these may lead to further complications. Painful Intercourse
developing in later life may be due to tightness in the female genital area
following surgery. The tissues may have been drawn too tightly together. Almost
any type of pelvic inflammation may cause pain during sexual intercourse. But the
most common cause of painful intercourse arises from nervous tensions. The
woman may be unconsciously afraid of pregnancy, or she may have faulty notions
about her female anatomy and physiology and her role in life. Other problems,
such as body odoros, halitosis or lack of understanding on the part of the
husband, may also cause her to resent marital relations.
Frigidity. Sexual coldness in women is far more common than lack of drive
in men. In women the trouble arises from lack of normal sex instruction during
their early years. Some have the idea that all matters pertaining to forget that
women are more slowly aroused sexually and as a result they are often left
unsatisfied and disappointed. Every married woman should realize that marriages
in which both partners are satisfied are more likely to continue. Women who are
indifferent and who accept sex as their duty may one day find themselves facing
the prospect of a broken home. Also many wives who have missed the enjoyment
of a normal sex life tend to become neurotic. Others tend to suffer from
premenstrual tension. In all these cases the emotions always play a part. It is a
strange fact that some women can enjoy sex while away on a vacation, but fail to
do so on returning home and assuming the normal burdens of everyday living.
This shows how important it is that all women and girls understand fully the
factions their reproductive organs and the part they play in building and
maintaining a happy house.

 Female Sterility
Sterility or failure to have children may arise from several different
causes. Sometimes the trouble is due to the husband. In a women, sterility may
be due to some congenital malformation. That has existed from birth, such as an
absence of the tubes, ovary, or uterus such conditions are rare. Pelvic infections,
involving the vagina or cervix, are a more common cause of sterility. Inflammation
of the tubes may prevent the sperm from reaching the ovum. Other conditions
such as endometriosis and adhesions involving the genital organs, may also
interfere with pregnancy. Lack of normal menstrual cycle may also be a factor. In
some cases the real cause of sterility arises from emotional factors.
Treatment: In searching for the causes of sterility a sperm count should be
done on the husband to make sure there is no problem on the male side. If any
abnormally is found, he should be treated accordingly. The woman herself should
also have a thorough physical examination, and all infections of the genital tract
should cleared up. If after all such measures are carried out conception fails to
 occur it may be wise to considered adopting a baby. This will not only satisfy the
woman’s maternal instincts, but many even increase her own hormones to where
she may give birth to a child of her own.

 Heavy Bleeding
Regular monthly bleeding or menstruation occurs in all women from
adolescence to the end of the menopausal change of life. Some women also have
a slight show of blood on the day of ovulation, midway between the regular
menstruation period. This is not abnormal. Heavy bleeding during the
childbearing age may be due to an miscarriage or abortion or perhaps to an
ectopic pregnancy. Malignant tumors of the uterus and cervix may also result in
vaginal bleeding. Certainly all women with irregular or very heavy bleeding should
have a pap test done at least every six months. Intermittent spotting may be due
to cervical polyp, a condition, more common in women over 40 years of age. All
such polyps should be removed and examined for evidence of malignancy. Heavy
bleeding may also be due to fibroid tumors and polyps, within the uterus itself.
Endometriosis may also cause heavy or painful bleeding. The patient should have
a complete physical examination, including a careful evaluation of all the pelvic
organs, even using anesthesia if there is very much pain.
Treatment: This depends on the cause. Bed rest is always advisable
following heavy bleeding the patient should be given a high protein diet and one
of two multivitamin capsules or tablets each day. If the women has lost a great
deal of blood, a transfusion may be needed. Heavy bleeding following abortion
usually requires a surgical operation to clean out from the uterus any fragment of
the placenta that may still be present. This will usually stop the hemorrhage.
Bleeding arising from tumors of the uterus and other pelvic organs may need to
be controlled by surgery. In any case, it is important to be sure all the products of
conception are expelled from the uterus, otherwise bleeding may not cease, and
there is the further danger of serious infection within the uterus.

 Ectopic Pregnancy
Ectopic or tubal pregnancy is a rate complication in which the fertilized
ovum or embryo becomes blocked in its passage through the fallopian tube.
There the embryo continues to grow as it normally would within the uterus.
However, the space within the tube is too small to allow much expansion, so that
soon the tube may rupture causing a serious hemorrhage and also intense pain in
the pelvis. This may resemble acute appendicitis. Surgery should be done as soon
as a tubal pregnancy is suspected, preferably before the hemorrhage has
occurred. One or two transfusions may be needed to replace the blood loss.

 Menopause or Change of Life

The female reproductive time of life begins at adolescence in the early
teens and continues until the end of the menopause in the mid or late forties.
Most women during their childbearing years have a regular monthly cycle, usually
 occurring every four weeks except during pregnancy. Sometime in the middle or
late forties, many women suddenly become aware of increased nervous tension,
menstrual disturbances, hot flashes, chilly feelings, excitability, easy fatigue,
depression, crying spells, sleeplessness, palpitation, dizziness, headaches,
numbness and tingling, and other annoying symptoms. Such a woman may feel
absolutely miserable through no fault of her own. All this misery arises from the
fact that her ovaries are no longer producing on their normal amount of estrogen
or female hormone. Not every women will get such severe reactions as these.
Treatment: More serious symptoms of the menopause are quickly brought
under control by the use of estrogen. The usual dosage is 2 mg. (20, no units)
given by injection each week until the patient is relieved. Estrogen tablets such as
Premarin 125 mg may be given once daily as a maintenance dose.

III. CONCLUSION

Menstruation is the periodic monthly discharge of the inner living of uterus

(endometrium), lasts about 4 to 5 days and occurs, on the average, every 28 days.
During this period; known as the menstrual cycle, an egg loocytel matures and its
ovulated. The uterus at this time prepares a suitable environment in which a fertilized
egg could develop into a fetus the first day of senses or the onset of menstrual flow,
is considered the first day of the cycle. Although 28 days is considered an average
cycle, the time may range from 21 to 35 days. Climate, emotional factors, age, and
drugs can alter the length of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle is under
hormonal control. At the beginning of the follicular phases. There is an increase in the
secretion of follicle – stimulation growth of a follicle in one of the ovaries. In the
absence of fertilization the elevated levels of progesterone secreted by the corpus
luteum begin to inhibit the LH – releasing centers in the brain causing a decline in the
levels of LH. Because LH is responsible for maintaining the secretion of progesterone.
Dysmenorrheal is abdominal or pelvic pain prior to associated with menstruation. It is
usually caused by an increased level of prostaglandin secretion and may be gravated
by emotional and environmental factors.

IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Modern Guide to Health. Clifford R. Anderson M.D., pp. 393-399

Encyclopedia of Knowledge. Danbury, Connecticut. Pp. 262-263