Posts Tagged ‘women’
Cancer Appears to Occur When the Growth of Cells in the Body is out of control and cells divide too quickly. It can also occur when cells “forget “how to die.
There are Many Different Kind of cancers. Cancer Develop in Almost Any organ or tissue, Such As The lung, colon, breast, skin, bones, or nerve tissue.
There are Many Causes of cancer, Including: Benzene and Other Chemicals, Certain poisonous mushrooms and a type of poison That Can Grow is peanut plants (aflatoxins), certain viruses, Radiation, Sunlight, Tobacco.
However, the Cause of Many Cancers remains unknown.
The MOST common Three cancer in Men at the United States is:
Prostate cancer: Urination difficulties due to blockage of the urethra; bladder retains urine, creating frequent feelings of urgency to urinate, especially at night; bladder not emptying completely; burning or painful urination; bloody urine; tenderness over the bladder; and dull ache in the pelvis or back
Lung Cancer: Wheezing, persistent cough for months; blood-streaked sputum; persistent ache in chest; congestion in lungs; enlarged lymph nodes in the neck
Colon Cancer: The colon is the part of the digestive system where the waste material is stored. The rectum is the end of the colon adjacent to the anus.
The most common cause of cancer-related death is lung cancer.
In Women at the U.S., the Three MOST common cancers are:
Breast cancer: A lump or thickening of the breast; discharge from the nipple; change in the skin of the breast; a feeling of heat; or enlarged lymph nodes under the arm.
Colon Cancer: The colon is the part of the digestive system where the waste material is stored. The rectum is the end of the colon adjacent to the anus.
Lung Cancer: Wheezing, persistent cough for months; blood-streaked sputum; persistent ache in chest; congestion in lungs; enlarged lymph nodes in the neck.
Some Other types of cancers include: Brain Cancer, Cervical cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Kidney Cancer, Leukemia, Liver cancer, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Ovarian Cancer, Skin Cancer, Testicular cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Uterine Cancer
Some cancers may not have any symptoms at all. In certain cancers, such as gallbladder cancer, symptoms often do not start until the disease has reached an advanced stage.
A cancer diagnosis is complicated to cope with. It is important, however, that you discuss the type, size, and position of the cancer with your doctor when you are diagnosed. You also will want to ask about treatment options, along with their benefits and risks.
Some important points help for cancers:
Fish Oil May Improve Effectiveness Of Lung Cancer Chemotherapy
Preventing Colorectal Cancer Through Diet And Exercise
Lack Of Sleep Increases Breast Cancer Risk By Inhibiting Melatonin Production
Red Wine May Reduce Lung Cancer Risk In Smokers
Dairy Products Linked To Increased Risk Of Prostate Cancer
Diets High In Fat, Low In Fruit & Vegetables Linked To Bladder Cancer
Vitamin E-Supplementation Decreases Risk Of Prostate Cancer
Abdominal Fat May Be Linked To Pancreatic Cancer
Regular Exercise May Cut Cancer Risk In Men
Eating Fish May Reduce Cancer Risk
Eight Drinks A Day Raises Total Cancer Risk By 90%
Fresh organic juiced vegetables can be part of a daily regime to kill cancer, or as prevention. The cancer diet should start here.
In dealing with a diagnosis of cancer, it is generally agreed that diet can be a major influence. Perhaps a simple rule is best, albeit difficult, to follow in a daily routine and that is the rule of consuming only whole foods.
Cancer is the term given to a large group of diseases that vary in type and location. . It is a disease caused by the loss of control over a cell’s reproduction capacity.
Even though the obesity rates in women have leveled off in the last ten years, at about 60%, overweight and obese women face increased health risks that are critical to address, and focusing on significant weight loss is the best way to quickly reduce risk. Weight loss is particularly important for women who tend to carry extra weight on their belly, in the typical “apple shape,” because those are the women at the highest level of risk because of the way their bodies store fat encourage a disproportionate release of hormones that contribute to bad health.
Women who are overweight are at an increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Recent studies have determined that the excess fat stored on a woman’s body also triggers hormonal imbalances that can lead to infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, irregular menstrual cycles, migraines, and exacerbated PMS and PMDD. Using hCG is a very effective treatment for weight loss in women when standard protocols, including a very low calorie diet and regular stretching exercise of 15 minutes per day or less, are combined with the injections.
Weight loss is the number one way to reduce the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes and hCG weight loss is a safe and fast way to regain control of your health. Often, patients who lose weight are able to stop taking high blood pressure and diabetes medicines and can reduce blood pressure to a health level. As well, hCG protects your lean muscle mass while encouraging your body to release fat stores, making it possible to actually increase lean muscle through weight lifting and aerobic exercise after losing fat, resulting in a significant and rapid transformation of the body. As lean muscle mass increases, the resting metabolic rate also improves, making it possible for your body to burn more calories while at rest.
Because the hCG injections control your body’s response to the lower calories, you do not feel as hungry or weak when significantly reducing your intake of food. And because of the release of such a significant amount of stored fat, your body typically adjusts very quickly to less calories because there are so many released stores of calories your body has available. When you have finished the protocol, your hypothalamus is able to reset and will continue to promote less fat storage, making it possible for you to maintain your weight loss with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Women who are overweight and want to lose weight as quickly as possible without enduring the risks associated with invasive surgeries should consider hCG weight loss as an alternative. The injections are done with a fine needle and cause virtually no pain, and the results can achieve with hCG weight loss are significant and dramatic. Most women report losses of at least up to one pound per day without feeling tired or hungry, and as the weight loss continues, it becomes easier and easier to stretch more, eat less, and make significant changes to your lifestyle that promote continued health.
Hair loss natural remedies for women are easier and can be done with the ingredients available at home. Women hair loss can be caused due to the lack of vitamins and minerals such as (vitamin B1, iron, lysine), the scalp skin condition, stress and improper hair care.
Although there have been certain medicine that claims to stop hair loss and also re-growth hairs, Hair loss natural remedies can yield some of the best benefits for healthy hair as per experts.
Apple Cider Vinegar for healthy scalp
Hair grow is possible when the scalp is healthy. Improper diet and care can lead to hair follicle clogged that causes flakes and Bacteria buildup. The solution to this problem could be found at your home which is Apple Cider Vinegar.
What it does?
Apple cider vinegar helps to remove dead skin cells and prohibits there growth as they clog hair follicles and keep the scalp healthier. Scalp’s PH levels also get balanced with its use.
How to use it?
So, what you need to do is just Mix and stir 1.5 cup of water with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. First: wash your hair. Second: massage the scalp for 5 minutes with apple cider vinegar water gently. Third: Use warm water to rinse and then you may condition as you usually do. This will clean dead skin cells and keep your scalp healthy for good hair.
Keep Vitamins and Minerals in check
Vitamin and mineral are very important for healthy hair as it is directly related to hair loss. Inadequate vitamins and minerals cause hair loss. Important vitamins essential for hair growth and preservation are Vitamin A, B and E. Sebum production get regulated for hydrated hair by Vitamin A. All Vitamin B are very critical for hair growth, Vitamin E helps to repair damaged hair follicles.
Minerals such as calcium, iodine, iron, zinc and silica are needed for healthy hair growth.
A fundamental principle in hair loss natural remedies for women is food for good health is the food for good hair. Foods that are low in carbohydrates, high in protein and less fat content can help in preventing hair loss and maintaining healthier hair.
Hair growth can be encouraged by added these vitamins and minerals in your daily diet.
Scalp Stimulation for Circulation and Blood Flow
The scalp does not get much blood flow and circulation as compared to rest of the body. Being at the top of the body, most of the time the blood flows in one direction.
Stimulating hair follicles helps circulation and blood flow for better hair health.
How to do it?
Lay back for 5 minutes on a slant bench, it will reverse the blood flow. Alternatively you can hang your head over the side of the couch or bed. Follow this every day for batter flow of blood and circulation.
Scalp Massage
Massaging your scalp is extremely helpful. The proper way to do this is in circular motions using fingertips at least for 5 minutes a day. This will stimulate Hair follicles and encourage new hair growth.
Hair loss natural remedies are always reliable, safe and cost effective. It can be done from the comfort of your home. Encourage hair growth or prevent hair loss with few tweaks in your daily routine with natural remedies.
When reading about female health issues, invariably the subject of vitamins for women will come up. With so many options, choosing the right vitamins can be a web of confusion. Please keep in mind that many authors now use the word vitamins interchangeably to refer to not only vitamins, but also minerals, phytonutrients, amino acids, enzymes, herbs and other nutrient forms found nutritional supplements.
Women’s Nutritional Needs
Because of their unique nutritional needs at various times in their life cycle, women require gender specific nutrients when it comes to vitamins for women. To maintain a healthy diet, the average female requires five to eight daily servings of fruits and vegetables. This is no simple task given the typical diet of women today and the stressful lifestyles most lead. It has been reported that nearly half do not eat any fruit and 80 percent only eat leafy green veggies, which contain protein, fiber and antioxidants, once every four days.
Furthermore, consider the fact that numerous vegetables have lost much of their nutritional composition in the last 60 years. A good example is spinach. 100g of spinach has lost 137mg of its vitamin C content since 1950.
When your body doesn’t get the nutrients it eventually develops marginal deficiencies which can produce a whole host of problems which many people do not recognize as health problems at all. Some of the more common include:
Mood swings
Fatigue
Nervousness
Headaches
Confusion
Muscle weakness
And, with sustained nutrient deficiencies, the average person puts themselves at risk for serious diseases, such as cancer, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
So, if the average diet is unable to supply the all nutrients needed in sufficient daily amounts, what can a woman do to make sure her body is protected? The answer is really quite simple – sensible supplementation.
By taking quality, science-based supplements with the correct balance of vitamins for women, along with a wide range of all types of micro-nutrients, a female will be able to keep her body in balance, maintain higher energy levels and greatly reduce the risk of developing the serious degenerative diseases mentioned above.
High Vitamin Doses Are NOT Required!
Before you rush out to purchase a multi vitamin and mineral formulation, it is important to remember that if you already maintain a reasonable diet, you don’t need supplements with high doses of vitamins and minerals.
Most vitamin supplements available in the market contain way over the top dose amounts of vitamins and minerals. These are the cheapest ingredients in supplements! While they are important, they are only required in small amounts to top up marginal deficiencies which are common in many western diets.
Far more important are the total number, dose amounts and potencies of key phytonutrients and herbal extracts contained in a supplement – these play a much greater part in determining the efficacy and value for money of a supplement. Consumers must learn what to look for and how to compare these ingredients.
Derived from plant extracts, phytonutrients are powerful, antioxidant disease fighters. While there are many vitamins for women type products containing some phytonutrients and standardized herbal extracts, virtually all supplements are manufactured to a price and can’t afford to include enough nor in sufficient potencies to be of much benefit.
Clinical studies have shown certain phytonutrients, amino acids and herbal extracts to be particularly powerful and effective and in treating numerous health conditions and for preventative health measures. These are highly efficious ingredients that should be in your multi ingredient health supplement. (All of them are included in the supplement I use).
L-Glutathione
L-Carnosine
Bilberry
Resveratrol (high potency)
Turmeric (high potency)
Zeaxanthin
Tocotrienols
L-Glutathione – A Key Ingredient!
L-Gluthathione is the most abundant antioxidant enzyme in your body, and crucial for cell health and organ survival. As a person ages, their production of this vital substance decreases. However, because of its exorbitant cost (around $800 / kilo, wholesale) most supplements do not include it in their list of ingredients.
Supplements containing L-Glutathione must contain it in the reduced form so that it can penetrate the intestinal cell walls. Supplement manufacturers often cut costs by including the much cheaper ‘regular’ form which offers extremely low absorption levels. L-Glutathione is one of the key ingredients in supplements which is highly susceptible to destruction by stomach acid. Any supplement containing it must have a professional delivery system in the form of enteric coating. Consumers must be sure to check on this to avoid wasting money on ingredients with low levels of bioavailability.
To see a list of other ingredients effected by stomach acid please follow this link: bioavailability of nutritional supplements
Hormonal Pre-Cursor Herbs
In addition to phytonutrients, herbal extracts are key ingredients in vitamins for women products. Certain herbs help to maintain and/or re-balance hormone levels during menstruation and menopause and help ease discomfort and associated symptoms. The five most clinical established hormonal precursors are:
Black Cohosh
Red Clover
Dong Quai
Wild Yam
Isoflavones
These are key ingredients to look for in vitamins for women supplements!
Amino Acids – Powerful Proteins
Known as the building blocks of proteins, amino acids play a key role in increased energy, healthy immune, nervous and musculoskeletal systems, balancing hormones and blood sugar and overall brain health. Essential amino acids and derivatives include:
L-Taurine
L-Arginine HCL (conditionally essential)
L-Methionine
L-Threonine
L-Tyrosine
L-Carnosine
L-Glutathione
L-Proline
L-Lysine
N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine
Carnitine / Acetyl-L-Carnitine
What To Look For In The Best Supplements
In order to identify professional grade supplements offering the strongest and safest health and lifestyle benefits, a few simple criteria should be followed. These should be clearly spelled out on a supplement company’s website. If they are not, ask yourself why.
1. Make sure that all herbal extracts and active enzymes are standardized. This guarantees the potency and amount of the disease fighting active ingredients.
2. Safety, purity, and potency, are all guaranteed when a supplement manufacturer sources all raw materials from GMP registered and audited facilities.
3. All ingredients MUST have a Certificate of Analysis (COA) to confirm potency. Reputable and transparent supplement companies should make copies available to customers and potential customers on request. I know mine does as I requested to see several of their COA’s in the past.
4. Look for supplement companies who self manufacture. There are not many out there (you can count them on one hand) but those that do have invested a huge financial commitment and are more quality focused – they’re not just out to make a quick buck like many companies who contract out their manufacturing.
The absolute highest standard possible is self manufacture to pharmaceutical level GMP (Good manufacturing practices). This is the level that the company whose flagship supplement I use achieves.
By taking the time to study labels and know what to look for when it comes to vitamins for women you will end up with a safe, high quality supplement that does what it promises to and is true to its label. These types of products are few and far between in the supplement industry.
Many supplements lack product integrity and are poorly put together by marketers and doctors rather than by highly qualified bio-scientists who work with the latest cutting edge science.
Product Description
Raw Food Dietary Supplement
Raw Vegan Whole Food
60 Day Supply + 15 Free!
Raw One Benefits for Women:
Breast health: Vitamin D3, Vitamin E
Healthy Skin: Vitamins A, C, Copper
Optimal Digestion: Live p… More >>
Safety and security is one of the most important things in life. We will feel comfortable if we live in such secure and peaceful condition. But, the reality is different. It is a fact that the number of crimes has increased nowadays and the victims are usually women. They are an easy target to crime event today. So, a woman will face higher risk as a victim of crime. Being a woman, we should need extra protection in order to keep us safe form crime event. We need a practical tool that can be used to defense our self when the crime event happens.
This site offers you extra protection to defense yourself. It provides you with a tool called pepper spray. This is the innovation in self defense tool. You can use this kind of tool to protect yourself and attack you attacker. It is practical and easy to use. You can choose the designs of your own interest. Besides this portable while we are on the way. Kind of item, this site offers you with many items such as steel toe boots, stun gun, safety girls first aid kid, etc.
If you want to feel secure and protect yourself you can buy those items in this site. For further information you can visit Safetygirl.com. It’s time for women to breakthrough!
Product Description
FertilAid for Women is the doctor-approved and Ob/Gyn-recommended fertility supplement designed to enhance fertility and improve reproductive health. FertilAid for Women was formulated on the basis of established scienti… More >>
Beliefs and Practices in Women Health
• Ramaiah Bheenaveni *
Rural women’s health is an infinitely broad topic. Many Indian women have come from circumstances in which women have limited access to healthcare. Traditionally, there has been discrimination towards women in decision-making; access to resources such as food, education and health care; job opportunities; and in child-rearing and parenting. However, women’s health in rural areas affects everything in their environment from their families to their economies and vice versa. A woman’s health, especially among the poor and illiterate, is often neglected not just by her family but by the woman herself. She is taught not to complain and if she does then she is directed either to use condiments in the kitchen or try faith healing.
Man is unique in that he has a distinct cultural environment of his own. This includes all the conditions in which men are born, brought up, live, work, procreate and perish. Culture as an environment is deeply related to the health of humans. It includes patterns of social organizations designed to regulate a particular society; one can understand the behaviour of people belonging to various sections and predict how an individual of a particular section will react in a given situation. With our knowledge of health, the treatment of diseases among ignorant peoples appears to be strange since they frequently follow practices of praying, wearing of amulets or consulting an exorcist who recites certain verbal formula. Hence, we can say that beliefs and cultural practices are predominately playing significant roles in the human health more peculiarly in the health of women.
Many rural people did not know about the services set up for them at sub-centres and PHC by the government because they did not see any evidence of these services being provided for them. As a part of the awareness programmes, the health workers (ANM) have been organizing to several exposure trips at the villages. It was there that the women were informed about the specifics of various services supposed to be made available to them. This encouraged some of them to ask questions and report on the situation in their PHC. They explained that though a nurse did visit their village it was not a daily visit, nor did she go beyond a certain point in the village, and certainly did not take a round of the village. They made a show of doing their duty by providing nominal services.
A variety of factors, including an older population, a limited supply of health care providers, and further distances from health care resources may contribute to special health concerns for people in non-metropolitan areas. Access to health care and social services are critical issues for rural women.
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual is convinced of the truth of a proposition. Like the related concepts truth, knowledge, and wisdom, there is no precise definition of belief on which scholars agree, but rather numerous theories and continued debate about the nature of belief 1.
The cultural phenomenon of social organization, according to Giger and Davidhizar (2004), includes groups in the social environment that influence cultural development and identification. The family, an important aspect of the social organization phenomenon, strongly influences cultural behavior through a process of socialization or enculturation of children and group members (Giger & Davidhizar; Niska, 1999). These learned cultural behaviors guide individuals through life situations, events and health practices. Understanding family from a cultural perspective is a significant element in providing nursing care to Mexican-Americans since Giger and Davidhizar identify the family as being most values in this culture.
Environmental control is defined by Giger and Davidhizar (2004) as the ability of persons within a particular cultural heritage to plan activities that control their environment as well as their perception of one’s ability to direct factors in the environment. Kuipers’ (1999) discussion of this model, in relation to Mexican-American culture, emphasized the construct of environmental control with a focus on locus-of-control, health beliefs, and folk medicine. Locus-of-control explains the way in which individuals, within their cultural environment, perceive their ability to control what happens to them and to their health. Health may be viewed as being dependent on outside forces or their own actions (Bundek et al., 1993). Beliefs about health and illness, which are components of environmental control, affect health practices, use of health resources, and a person’s response to experiences of both health and illness (Giger & Davidhizer, 2004; Northam, 1996). A third component of environmental control, folk medicine, includes alternative therapies such as using herbs and teas or visiting a cultural folk healer.
Objectives:
1. Exploration of women beliefs on health, risk and their relationship to lifestyles;
2. Elicitation of their views across a range of health-related behaviours and practices, especially puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and child rearing, and assessment of the potential for the positive promotion of women health in these and other areas of her sexual health.
3. Identification of the sources of information and influences on the development of health beliefs amongst women, particularly with respect to common elements in attitudes to risk-taking across a number of health beliefs and practices.
4. To focus on what women themselves know and want to know, including the salience of health, and the relevance of health-related knowledge in their lives
Hypothesis:
1. There is a positive relationship between social beliefs and cultural practices of a given society
2. Positive relationship may be observed among the social beliefs and cultural practices and various other factors such as caste, religion, social and traditional customs in society
3. The explanation for the persistence of belief systems is that people remain committed to them, but for this commitment to last long, the belief system must be validated
Research Design:
A quantitative and qualitative study, building on our previous work in this area, concerning the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of female children and young women to health, risk and lifestyles. A guiding methodological principle underpinning the study was the development of a sensitive research design for rather than on women: a study grounded not simply in what women know or need to know, but also in what they want to know and feel to be important in the context of their everyday lives. The methods enabling these principles to be taken forward are described below.
a) Area of the Study:
The Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh consists of ten districts namely Hyderabad, Ranagareddy, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, and Khammam. From this region, the village Ramchandrapur in Koheda Mandal of Karimnagar district has been randomly selected as an area of the study.
b) Universe & Sampling:
According to 2001 census, the village Ramchandrapur has an approximate population of 1840 who from nearly 550 families. This village has a primary health centre (PHC), but lacks a major hospital within a range of 35 kms. And this village has been selected as universe for this study.
So for this study, the researcher adopted stratified-proportionate random method of sampling based on caste composition of the villagers and selected the respondents from the families mentioned in the habitation list of Ramchandrapur. This village population data was collected from Supraja Seva Samithi, a voluntary organization, which is working in the region for the last 10 years in the fields of health, education and environmental protection. The list consists of various caste grouping and from which proportionate stratified samples were selected. Then a list of about 181 respondents was prepared for data collection. Therefore, it is obvious that an attempt has been made to present a general picture of community data and on the basis of which, views and attitudes of the respondents were taken into consideration.
C) Tools of Data Collection:
As the research is qualitative and quantitative, non-participant observation and interview schedule was adopted for the collection of primary data. The aspects that will cover in the interview schedule were defined under two parts, one is for socio-economic and cultural status of respondents such as name, sex, age, social status, education, religion, income, nature and type of the house, etc. and the other for socio-cultural beliefs and practice patterns in health and the related treatment of the villagers.
D) Analysis and interpretation of data:
After arranging the collected data through tabulation and classification, they were analyzed and interpreted in the socio-cultural context so as to give a scientific basis to the study. Although statistical methods like frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, t-test, chi-squire and ANOVA have been used in the study, they were applied in a relevant way.
Findings:
Socio-Economic Profile:
During the field work, observed that 22 castes were appeared and most of the respondent belongs to the BC castes like Yadava, Gouda, Munnuru Kapu, Vishwa Brahmin, Mudiraj and a insignificant number of people belongs to services caste like Mangali, Chakali, Mera and so on. A considerable amount of people belongs to SC community i.e. Mala and Madigas. Only a few respondents belong to ST (Erukala) community. Out of the 181 respondents, 55 percent are male and 45 percent female,. This research is carried out with almost all the equal four fold age groups of respondents. Thus, it is noted that age group is scattered in this study. More number of respondents i.e. 91% belongs to Hindu religion and 5% are Muslim. Nearly 4% of the respondents belong to Christianity. It is also proved that common phenomena of religion composition in India.
In this village, a majority of the respondents i.e. 82 (45%) are illiterates. The next more number of respondents have studied up to primary and secondary level i.e. 24 (13%). There are 21 (12%) of the respondents can read and write. A significant number of respondents i.e. 18 (10%) claimed to have studied up to college level while the small number of people who have studied up to professional level, technical level and others stands at 7 (4%), 3 (2%) and 2 (1%) respectively. The findings reveal that more number of the respondents i.e. 55 (30.4%) are labourers and one-fourths of the respondents i.e. 45 (24.9%) are engaging in the farming. On the whole 38(21%) are continuing their caste occupation while 20 (11%) and 17 (9.4%) respondents are doing other occupation and brought up into the service sector respectively. Only a few of the respondents i.e. 6 (3.3%) are carrying out business.
It is also noted that a majority of the respondents i.e. 84.21% are living under the tiled houses and a significant number of the respondents i.e. 15.79% posses R.C.C houses. A substantial number of the BC community respondents i.e. 75% owned the tiled house and rest of them i.e. 14.29% have R.C.C. houses and 8.04% own asbestos roofed houses. Most of the SC respondents i.e. 91.49% are residing under the tiled houses while only 8.51% consist R.C.C. houses. Among the ST respondents, 33.33% have R.C.C., tiled house and thatched house equally. Regarding the income, less than 24% of the respondents earn Rs. 1501 – 2000 per month. Almost equal number i.e. 22.7 and 21.5 % of the respondents earn below Rs. 500 and between Rs. 1001 and 1500 respectively. A significant number of respondents i.e. 20 % obtaining monthly income is in the range of Rs. 501 – 1000 while only 12.7% claimed their income was over Rs. 2000.
This village consist very good fertile lands, There is just below half of the respondents i.e. 84 (46.4%) have not possess any land on their own. There are 35 (19.3%) of the respondents possess land between 1- 2.19 acres. A significant number of respondents i.e. 28 (15.5%) and 20 (11.04%) are having land between 2.20 – 4.39 acres and 5 – 9.39 acres respectively. A considerable number of respondents i.e. 14 (7.7%) are owned land 10 and above acres.
Social Dogmatism on Menstruation
Patriarchal societies have tended to control women by first announcing menarche (the onset of menstrual cycle in a young girl) to the world in an apparently celebratory fashion while thereafter attempting to control the implied fertility and sexual power by monthly rites of pollution, restriction and isolation of the menstruating woman.
The various names for menstruation or ‘periods’ point to its polluting quality. For instance in Telugu, it is called samurta or peddamanshi meaning attaining maturity. Menstrual blood is believed to be polluting. There are varying restrictions put on a girl due to this belief such as not touching people or hanging washed clothes out to dry; not touching certain flowering plants lest they die or not fruit; sleeping on a jute bag or woollen blanket away from others. A woman cannot touch her child during menstruation. If she has to, the child must first be unclothed completely or made to wear silken clothes. Visiting or touching images of gods, temples, religious scriptures is also prohibited. A fear is inculcated in the adolescent that she will sin if she breaks these taboos. Restrictions are also placed on diet. These pollution taboos result in many women getting an enforced rest for at least these three days of the month since they are barred from carrying out their normal activities.
Not only is menstrual blood supposed to be dirty, but evil too. A menstruating girl should not let her shadow fall on a child with measles lest the child turn blind. The used menstrual cloth also possesses an evil quality. If men see the cloth, dry or otherwise, they could go blind. If a cow were to swallow the cloth she would curse the girl with infertility. In villages in A.P., women do not throw their menstrual cloth-they either burn it or bury it.
There seem to be some similarities between Hindus and Muslims regarding the practice of some of these rituals. Among Muslims, the menstruating woman should not touch holy books lest they become impure. Converted Christians follow, although to a lesser degree, the rituals of their original castes. The taboos and rituals clearly devalue. Women’s reproductive powers. The notion of women being polluted and unclean can be ascribed to patriarchal control of women’s reproductive powers. While the woman fulfils a vital social role of giving birth to progeny through her biological reproductive capacity, she is, at the same time, isolated during menstruation.
Cultural Practices of Puberty
Most women do not know about the physiology of menstruation and therefore the first experience of menstruation is filled with fear, shame and disgust. In some areas such as in rural areas of A.P. the girl is sometimes told to dub three or four dots of menstrual blood or mustard oil on the wall and draw a line between the second and third or third and fourth; it is believed that she will finish her menstruation within two and a half or three and a half days in all subsequent periods.
Elaborate rituals are performed in south Indian states-as well as in many parts of north India-at the onset of menstruation. The onset of puberty is traditionally viewed in terms of the girl’s emergent sexuality and prospective motherhood. The pubescent girl is given an elaborate ritual bath, after a massage with turmeric and vermillion. The Mudiraj communities in A.P. isolate the pubescent girl for 21 days within the house, away from the male gaze. The room in which she is secluded is separated with an iron rod and a fire is kept constantly burning during this period. Fire signifies purity and also keeps away daiyyam or witches and evil spirits. The girl is polluted and hence prohibited from touching people and other people are not allowed to touch her. In case of default, a bath is essential for ritual purification.
The Impact of the Food Habits on Women Health:
Although women are more or less marginalized and neglected in relation to the quality and quantity of food, certain occasions in a woman’s life are celebrated with the offering of a variety of nutritious foods specially prepared for her. Almost every community has the practice of feeding a girl on her first menstruation with delicious and nutritive foods, with the time of seclusion for the period ranging between nine to 21 days. In parts of A.P., sweets made of jaggery, groundnuts, sesame, fenugreek, wheat flour and sorgum are given to the girl. Menstruation for the first time in the house of one’s in-laws is also considered very auspicious in all regions of A.P. and is celebrated with gaiety.. The idea seems to be to give the girl ‘rich’, that is, strength-giving foods as well as both ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ foods.
Certain ‘hot’ foods (like jaggery) and ‘cold’ foods (like tamarind and lemons) are taboo as it is believed that the girl will suffer from menstrual pain. ‘Hot’ foods may cause heavy bleeding and ‘cold’ foods may cause severe menstrual pain. Special foods are understood to compensate for the loss of blood, regularise the menstrual cycle and flow, strengthen her reproductive organs and generally contribute to her fertility.
Work Prohibition of Pregnant Women:
It is also observed during the fieldwork that almost all the respondents have revealed that prohibition of work is compulsory while a women pregnancy but this notion is varies to one community to another. The higher social status communities are not allowed to perform the works even domestic works also from the early months to after late months of maternity. Whereas weaker section women perform the daily domestic actives some of them perform field activates but it is only in the early months. They should also take rest in the late months of pregnancy and early months of maternity.
Encourage and Disencourage Food Items During the Pregnancy of Women:
During pregnancy and lactation, many traditional communities across the country restrict a woman’s food intake. It is believed that if a pregnant woman eats too much, the foetus will not have room to move. The abdomen is supposed to contain both the food and the foetus and the latter’s space needs should be given greater priority. Another reason for controlling a pregnant woman’s food consumption is perhaps that excess weight would reduce the productivity of her work in the fields and around the house. A widely prevalent practice all over India is shrimanta. In the seventh month of pregnancy special rituals are performed and different types of sweets are prepared and given to the parents-to-be. The purpose is to give moral support and encouragement to the pregnant woman and celebrate her achievement of having reached near full-term. The sweets are generally made of wheat flour, jaggery, ghee, fenugreek and dry fruits. In the final stages of pregnancy, the pregnant woman is supposed to cat these foods custom every day. This is a good custom because it provides the calories and protein needed for the rapidly growing foetus in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Food Items Encourage % Disencourage %
1.Milk 173 95.5 8 4.4
2.Green leafs 148 81.7 33 18.2
3.Toddy 80 44.1 101 55.8
4.Non-Veg 132 72.9 49 27
5.Papaya — — 181 100
6.Potato 49 27 132 72.9
7.Brinjal 50 27.6 131 72.3
The above table explains the villager’s perceptions on encourage and disencourage food items during the pregnancy of women. The data shows that there are 173 (95.5%) of the respondents have stated that they are encouraging milk and its related food items and only insignificant number of respondents i.e.8 (4.4%) are not encouraging the food items of milk. As many as 148 (81.7%) of them revealed that they are encouraging green leafs and rest of the significant number of respondents i.e. 33 (18.2%) are not interested to give the green leafs to the pregnants. Interestingly the data depicts that more than half of the respondents i.e. 101 (55.8%) have said that they are encouraging toddy and 80 (44.1%) of them are not giving taking toddy. A substantial number of the respondents i.e. 132 (72.9%) have expressed that they are encouraging the consummation of non-vegetarian foods like mutton, chicken and egg. The total number of respondents is practicing the prohibition of papaya consummation during the pregnancy. All most all equal number of respondents i.e. 49 (27%) and 50 (27.6%) have revealed that Potato and Brinjal are encouraged food items and as similar 132 (72.9%) and 131 (72.3%) of them are not encouraging the food items of Potato and Brinjal.
The data regarding Caring of Pregnant Women among the Villagers clarifies the pursuance of the opinion of several communities respondents such as Yadava 14 (7.7%), Gouda 3 (1.7%), Munurukapu 11 (6.1%), Oddera 6 (3.3%), Vishwa Brahmin 5 (2.8%), Mala 25 (13.8%), Madiga 21 (11.6%), Padmashali 7 (3.9%), each 3 (1.7%) of Mangali, Dudekula and Erukala, Kumari 2 (1.1%) and each 1 (0.6%) of Pusala, Mera, Chindi and Dakkali have stated that family and their kins are taking care of their pregnant women. In this category the total numbers of SC and ST communities are appeared because of less financial status and peer group pressure. A majority number of working caste like Yadava, Munnurukapu, Oddera, Padmashali, Dudekula and Kummari are appeared. However, these communities’ people are visiting either government or private hospital for check up their health conditions during early pregnant hood as well as before delivery. One more interesting thing that the caste Mangali itself is traditional birth attendant community in this village so we may consider them in response to this query that they are taking care about pregnant as a traditional birth attendant and as a family. On the whole 3 (1.7 %) of Yadava, 2 (1.1 %) Gouda, 1 (0.6 %) of Munnurukapu and Kummari, 8 (4.4 %) of Chakali, 5 (2.7%) of Dudekula and the total number of Mudiraj 7 (4%) community respondent have expressed that traditional birth attendant are taking care about pregnant of their communities. It is important to note that previous these caste people took care about pregnant but at presently they are seeking the help of traditional birth attendant by reason of saving of time. These kind of villagers always busy in their routine work if they involve in the caring process they should be lost more time in order to money also. The data also describes that all most all the respondents of Deshmukh 3 (1.6%), Vysya 4 (2.2%) and Vaisnava 5 (2.7%) communities have revealed that health workers or ANMs are looking after the pregnant women. It may due to the higher awareness regarding health and personal bias or prejudices of health workers or ANMs who are interested to associate with the higher social status communities.
On account of preferable birthplace; the responses of majority respondents i.e. 112 (62%) is that birth at the traditional birth attendant is more preferable. As many as number of respondent i.e. 36 (20%) have revealed that they prepared birthplace is Government Hospitals and the reaming respondents i.e. 32 (18%) have expressed their perception that Private Hospital are preferable to give the birth. The cluster analysis of data also provides the social status wise explanation that there are 7 (4%) of OC respondents, 19 (10.5%) of BCs and 10 (5.5%) of SCs are interested to go to the government hospitals. There are 10 (5.5%) of OCs and 23 (12.7%) of BCs were interested on Privates hospitals. Among the reaming of categories, the more number of BC respondents i.e. 70 (38.5%), 37 (20.5%) and the total number of ST community respondents i.e. 3 (1.7%) and only few {2(1.1%)} of OC respondent are still interested to give birth under the observation or treatment of traditional birth attendant.
Practices after Delivery:
Women underfed themselves during pregnancy and strove for a small baby to ensure easy delivery. Babies were not to be breast fed on first three days and baby-clothes were not used till a ceremony (purudu/Naming) on 9th day to 21st day. Mothers could not leave the delivery room till that day. To minimize the toilet needs, they severely restricted their intake of fluids and food during first week after delivery. Mothers did not wash hands properly; their clothes and linen were often dirty. Newborn babies, even if sick, were not moved out of home. The usual explanations for the sicknesses in neonates were ‘evil eye’, ‘witch craft’, or ill effects of foods eaten by mother.
The practice of breast-feeding female children for shorter periods of time reflects the strong desire for sons. If women are particularly anxious to have a male child, they may deliberately try to become pregnant again as soon as possible after a female is born. Conversely, women may consciously seek to avoid another pregnancy after the birth of a male child in order to give maximum attention to the new son
Summary and Conclusions:
Due to the orthodoxical and traditional dogma, majority numbers of respondent are not possess proper notion on Women’s health. In addition to supernatural beliefs about what brings on disease, women also have some beliefs about the non-physical causes of ill-health. The most commonly found syndrome was ‘weakness’ which consists of fatigue, body ache, ghabrahat (a generic term used for anxiety, fear, restlessness, trepidation, etc.), pallor, low backache and burning of palms and feet. Thus poverty, illiteracy and social backwardness complete the subordination of women. In reality, therefore, most women carry a tremendous degree of mental anguish and agony due to the improper beliefs and practices.
However, practices existed to over come or to tune with the problems, which may be physical, psychological, cultural and environmental. Subsequently practices are to be strengthen in order to persisting as the beliefs. Once, belief is to be got its own identity; the existence of practice should automatically come by the deeds of the victims or followers. Sometimes belief might be deteriorate due to the business, cost effective and the rationalism should also vanish the irrational beliefs so that we can eventually conclude beliefs exist by the practices which may takes place to over come the problems or to adjust with the nature.
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