As a general health problem in current society studying and identify the conditions and diseases which can cause primary amenorhhea ,and identifying the similarity between primary amenorrhea and “shandi yoni vyapat”, can be useful in prevention of the diseases.
Amenorrhea is absence of menstruation and a normal feature in pre pubertal, pregnant, and postmenopausal females. Amenorrhea can be caused by any change in the organs, glands, and hormones involved in menstruation. Stress due to internal or situational concerns can cause secondary amenorrhea, because stress interferes with the brain's control (through hormones) of the ovaries.
The term is derived from Greek: a = negative, men = month, rhoia = flow. Derived adjectives are amenorrhoeal and amenorrheic. The opposite is the normal menstrual period (eumenorrhea).
In preindustrial societies, menarche typically occurred later than in current industrial societies. After menarche, menstruation was suppressed during much of a woman's reproductive life by either pregnancy or nursing. Reductions in age of menarche and lower fertility rates mean that modern women menstruate far more often.
Amenorrhea may be classified as physiological and pathological amenorrhea.
Physiological amenorrhoea (lack of periods) is normal during certain times in a woman's life such as Before Puberty, During Adolescence, During Pregnancy, While Breastfeeding, and During Menopause.
Pathological Amenorrhea or loss of periods is amenorrhea that occurs as a symptom of an underlying disease. It is not a disease process in itself. There are two types of pathological amenorrhea as primary and secondary amenorrhea.
Primary amenorrhea is defined as the
1. No menses by 14 years of age and absence of secondary sex characteristics
2. No menses by age 16 years of age with presence of secondary sex characteristics
Clinical approach to primary amenorrhea is described as
1. breast are absent but uterus is present
2. breast are present but uterus is absent
3. breast are present and uterus is absent
Secondary amenorrhoea is often caused by hormonal disturbances from the hypothalamus and the pitutary gland or from premature menapause , or intrauterine scar formation. It is defined as the absence of menses for three months in a woman with previously normal menstruation or nine months for women with a history of oligomenorrhea .
In Ayurveda, the diseases which affect the female organ of reproduction (yoni) have been classified into twenty different kinds as “yoni vyapat” .
In thirty eighth chapter in uththarasthana of susruta samhita,chapter thirty in chikithsa sthana of charakasamhita,chapter thirty three in uththarasthana of astangahradaya samhita mentioned about the twenty different kind of diseases which affect the female genital organs describes under “yoni vyapat”.
Among them there are few that results in amonorrhea such as vandya,shandi,karninee and Shandi yoni vyapat causes primary amenorrhea.
But so far, none has established a clear relationship between shandi and congenital errors that may give rise to primary amennorea. People are not aware about these condition and why it occurs and Lack of understanding about the condition leads it to be over seen by doctors.
As not a curable disease once it occurred we should pay so much attention to this condition because women who suffer from shandi cannot reproduce,and they may cause various kinds of social problems .
Because Sexual reproduction allows mixing of genes which will result in more desirable traits that will result in individuals who can better adapt to the environment, a fact that ensures the continued existence of a given species and people with ambiguous sexual pictures are not a natural phenomenon, it is a mutation.
according to ayurveda, shandi yoni vyapat can be prevented to some extent(leaving out the "athma karma dosha")
Taking whatever measure to prevent the condition from occurring is important because these patients are a social liability because they cannot reproduce and they may cause various kinds of social problems
If we can identify what diseases fall under shandi, we can come to the conclusion that whatever preventable measures mentioned in ayurveda for shandy are also applicable for the diseases mentioned in western medicine under the primary amenorrhea.
There by awareness can be raised in people as to what we can do to minimize the possibilities of these kinds of congenital errors being occurring.
