Teen-agers health guide (think of specialists)

Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health

2012-06-04T09:10:00.000+06:00

SEXUAL ACTIVITY

•Although only 13% of teens have had sex by age 15, most initiate sex in their later teen years. By their 19th birthday, seven in 10 female and male teens have had intercourse.[1]

•On average, young people have sex for the first time at about age 17,[2,3] but they do not marry until their mid-20s.[4] This means that young adults may be at increased risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs for nearly a decade or longer.

•Teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the recent past. In 2006–2008, some 11% of never-married females aged 15–19 and 14% of never-married males that age had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995.[1]

•However, after declining substantially between 1995 and 2002, the proportion of teens who had ever had sex did not change significantly from 2002 to 2006–2008.[1]

•In 2006–2010, the most common reason that sexually inexperienced teens gave for not having had sex was that it was “against religion or morals” (38% among females and 31% among males). The second and third most common reasons for females were “don’t want to get pregnant” and “haven’t found the right person yet.”[5]

•Among sexually experienced teens, 70% of females and 56% of males report that their first sexual experience was with a steady partner, while 16% of females and 28% of males report first having sex with someone they had just met or who was just a friend.[5]

•Seven percent of young women aged 18–24 who had had sex before age 20 report that their first sexual experience was nonvoluntary. Those whose first partner was three or more years their senior were more likely to report this than were other women in the same age-group.[1]

•Teens in the United States and Europe have similar levels of sexual activity. However, European teens are more likely than U.S. teens to use contraceptives generally and to use the most effective methods; they therefore have substantially lower pregnancy rates.[6]

•Three percent of males and 8% of females aged 18–19 in 2002 reported their sexual orientation as homosexual or bisexual; the proportions reporting same-sex behaviors were similar.[7]

•The use of contraceptives during first premarital sex has been increasing, rising from 56% among women whose first premarital sex occurred before 1985, to 76% among those who first had sex in 2000–2004, to 84% among those whose first sex occurred in 2005–2008.[9]

CONTRACEPTIVE USE

•A sexually active teen who does not use a contraceptive has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year.[8]

•The majority of sexually experienced teens (78% of females and 85% of males) used contraceptives the first time they had sex.[5]

•The condom is the most common contraceptive method used at first intercourse; 68% of females and 80% of males use it the first time they have sex. [5]

•In 2006–2010, some 96% of sexually experienced female teens had used a condom at least once, 57% had ever used withdrawal and 56% had used the pill. Smaller proportions had used other methods.[5]

•In the same period, one in five sexually active female teens (20%) and one-third of sexually active male teens (34%) reported having used both the condom and a hormonal method the last time they had sex.[5] Dual method use offers protection against both pregnancy and STIs.

•In 2006–2010, some 86% of female teens and 93% of male teens reported using contraceptives at last sex. These proportions represent a marked improvement since 1995, when only 71% of female teens and 82% of male teens had reported using a method at last sex. However, the proportions were unchanged between 2002 and 2006–2010.[5]

•Nearly one in five female teens at risk for unintended pregnancy (19%) were not using any contraceptive method at last intercourse.[9]

ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES

•No state explicitly requires parental consent or notification for contraceptive services. However, two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive services paid for with state funds.[10]

•Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow minors to obtain contraceptive services without a parent’s involvement. Another 25 states have affirmed that right for certain classes of minors, while four states have no law. In the absence of a specific law, courts have determined that minors’ privacy rights include the right to obtain contraceptive services.[10]

•In 2002, some 90% of publicly funded family planning clinics counseled clients younger than 18 about abstinence, the importance of communicating with parents about sex or both topics.[11]

•Nearly two million women younger than 20 were served by publicly supported family planning centers in 2005; these teens represented one-quarter of the centers’ contraceptive clients.[12]

•In 2006, only 5% of American high schools made condoms available to students.[12]

STIs

•Young people aged 13–24 made up about 17% of all people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the United States in 2008.[13]

•Although 15–24-year-olds represent only one-quarter of the sexually active population, they account for nearly half (9.1 million) of the 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year.[14]

•Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections account for about half of STIs diagnosed among 15–24-year-olds each year. HPV is extremely common, often asymptomatic and generally harmless. However, certain types, if left undetected and untreated, can lead to cervical cancer.[14]

•Two HPV vaccines—Gardasil and Cervarix are currently available, and both prevent the types of infections most likely to lead to cervical cancer. The Centers for Disease Control now recommends HPV vaccinations for both girls and boys, starting at age 11.

•In 2009, 44% of females aged 13–19 had received one or more doses of the vaccine against HPV; 27% had completed the recommended three doses.[17]

•All 50 states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow minors to consent to STI services without parental involvement, although 11 states require that a minor be of a certain age (generally 12 or 14) to do so. Thirty-one states explicitly include HIV testing and treatment in the package of STI services to which minors may consent.[18]

PREGNANCY

•Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women aged 15–19 become pregnant.[19] Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18–19-year-olds.[19]

•Overall, 68 pregnancies occurred per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2008. The 2008 rate was a record low and represented a 42% decline from the peak rate of 117 per 1,000, which occurred in 1990.[19]

•The majority of the decline in teen pregnancy rates in the United States (86%) is due to teens’ improved contraceptive use; the rest is due to increased proportions of teens choosing to delay sexual activity.[21]

•Despite having declined, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate continues to be one of the highest in the developed world. It is more than twice as high as rates in Canada (28 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2006) and Sweden (31 per 1,000).[22]

•In 2005, New Mexico had the highest teenage pregnancy rate (93 per 1,000); rates in Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Mississippi followed. The lowest rates were in New Hampshire (33 per 1,000), Vermont, Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota.[20]

•Eighty-two percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned; teens account for about one-fifth of all unintended pregnancies annually.[23]

•Fifty-nine percent of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds in 2008 ended in birth, and 26% in abortion.[19]

•Black and Hispanic women have the highest teen pregnancy rates (117 and 107 per 1,000 women aged 15–19, respectively); non-Hispanic whites have the lowest rate (43 per 1,000).[19]

•The pregnancy rate among black teens decreased 48% between 1990 and 2008, more than the overall U.S. teen pregnancy rate declined during the same period (42%).[19]

•Most female teens report that they would be very upset (58%) or a little upset (29%) if they got pregnant, while the rest report that they would be a little or very pleased.[1]

CHILDBEARING

•Ten percent of all U.S. births are to girls aged 19 or younger.[24]

•Most births to teen mothers are first births. Eighteen percent are second or higher order births.[24]

•The share of births to teen mothers that are nonmarital rose from 79% in 2000 to 86% in 2009. Yet, over the last several decades, the share of all nonmarital births that are to teenagers has been declining, from 52% in 1975 to 21% in 2009.[24, 25]

•In 2009, some 39 births occurred per 1,000 women aged 15–19; this rate marks a 37% decline from the peak rate of 62 reached in 1991.[24]

•Six percent of teen mothers aged 15–19 received late or no prenatal care. Babies born to teens are more likely to be low birth-weight than are those born to women in their 20s and 30s.[26]

•Teen childbearing is associated with reduced educational attainment. Teen mothers are substantially less likely than women who delay childbearing to complete high school or obtain a GED by age 22 (66% vs. 94%).[27] Fewer than 2% of teens who have a baby before age 18 attain a college degree by age 30.[28]

FATHERHOOD

•Most teen males report that they would be very upset (46%) or a little upset (34%) if they got someone pregnant, while the remaining 20% report that they would be pleased or a little pleased.[5]

•Teen fatherhood rates vary considerably by race. In 2006, the rate among black males aged 15–19 who became fathers (34 per 1,000) was more than twice that among whites (15 per 1,000).[29]

•The rate of teen fatherhood declined 25% between 1990 and 2006, from 24 to 18 per 1,000 males aged 15–19. This decline was far more substantial among blacks than among whites (38% vs. 18%).[29]

ABORTION

•Women aged 15–19 had 192,090 abortions in 2008.[19]

•The reasons teens most frequently give for having an abortion are that they are concerned about how having a baby would change their lives, cannot afford a baby now and do not feel mature enough to raise a child.[30]

•As of October 2011, laws in 36 states required that a minor seeking an abortion involve her parents in the decision.[31]

References

1. Abma JC et al., Teenagers in the United States: sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, National Survey of Family Growth 2006–2008, Vital and Health Statistics, 2010, Series 23, No. 30.

2. Chandra A et al., Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of U.S. women: data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, Vital and Health Statistics, 2005, Series 23, No. 25

3. Martinez GM et al., Fertility, contraception, and fatherhood: data on men and women from Cycle 6 (2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth, Vital and Health Statistics, 2006, Series 23, No. 26.

4. U.S. Bureau of the Census, America’s Families and Living Arrangements, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009.

5. Martinez G et al., Teenagers in the United States: sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, Vital and Health Statistics, 2011, Series 23, No. 31.

6. Santelli J, Sandfort T and Orr M, Transnational comparisons of adolescent contraceptive use: what can we learn from these comparisons? Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2008, 162(1):92–94.

7. Mosher WD et al., Sexual behavior and selected health measures: men and women 15–44 years of age, United States, 2002, Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, 2005, No. 362.

8. Harlap S, Kost K and Forrest JD, Preventing Pregnancy, Protecting Health: A New Look at Birth Control Choices in the United States, New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1991.

9. Mosher WD and Jones J, Use of contraception in the United States: 1982–2008, Vital and Health Statistics, 2010, Series 23, No. 29.

10. Guttmacher Institute, Minors’ access to contraceptive services, State Policies in Brief (as of October 2011), 2011, <http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_MACS.pdf>, accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

11. Lindberg LD et al., Provision of contraceptive and related services by publicly funded family planning clinics, 2003, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2006, 38(3):139–147.

12. Jones RK et al., Adolescents’ reports of parental knowledge of adolescents’ use of sexual health services and their reactions to mandated parental notification for prescription contraception, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2005, 293(3):340–348.

13. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV Surveillance Report, 2008, Vol. 20, 2010, <http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports>, accessed Oct. 26, 2010.

14. Weinstock H et al., Sexually transmitted diseases among American youth: incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2004, 36(1):6–10.

15. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA licenses new vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by human papillomavirus: rapid approval marks major advancement in public health, 2006, <http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2006/ucm108666.htm>, accessed Nov.19, 2010.

16. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA approves new vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer, 2009, >http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm187048.htm>, accessed Nov. 19, 2010.

17. CDC, National, state, and local area vaccination coverage among adolescents aged 13–17 years — United States, 2009, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2010, 59(32):1018–1023.

18. Guttmacher Institute, Minors’ access to STI services, State Policies in Brief, (as of October 2011), 2011, , accessed Oct.19, 2011.

19. Kost K, Henshaw S and Carlin L, U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, 2010, >http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf<, accessed Jan. 26, 2010.

20. Kost K and Henshaw S, U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2008: National Trends by Race and Ethnicity, 2012, <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends08.pdf>, accessed February 6, 2012.

21. Santelli JS et al., Explaining recent declines in adolescent pregnancy in the United States: the contribution of abstinence and improved contraceptive use, American Journal of Public Health, 2007, 97(1):150–156.

22. McKay A et al., Trends in teen pregnancy rates from 1996–2006: a comparison of Canada, Sweden, USA and England/Wales, Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 19(1–2):43–52.

23. Finer LB and Zolna MR, Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and disparities, 2006, Contraception, 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2011.07.013

24. Martin JA et al., Births: final data for 2009, National Vital Statistics Reports, 2011, Vol. 60, No.1.

25. Martin JA et al., Births: final data for 2000, National Vital Statistics Reports, 2002, Vol. 50, No. 5.

26. Martin JA et al., Births: final data for 2003, National Vital Statistics Reports, 2005, Vol. 54, No 2.

27. Perper K, Peterson K and Manlove J, Diploma attachment among teen mothers, Fact Sheet, Washington, DC: Child Trends, 2010,<http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2010_01_22_FS_DiplomaAttainment.pdf>, accessed Mar.1, 2010.

28. Hoffman SD, By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Adolescent Childbearing, Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2006.

29. Martin JA et al., Births: final data for 2006, National Vital Statistics Reports, 2009, Vol. 57, No. 7.

30. Dauphinee LA, Guttmacher Institute, New York, personal communication, Mar. 23, 2006.

31. Guttmacher Institute, Parental involvement in minors’ abortions, State Policies in Brief (as of October 2011), 2011 <http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_PIMA.pdf>, accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

sweet cat

2012-05-14T13:22:00.002+06:00

Brain-training games stop depression before it starts

2012-05-14T13:20:00.000+06:00

It may be possible to stave off depression before it even appears using brain-training software so simplistic in its design that even the psychologist testing it once bet it wouldn't work.

Ian Gotlib's group at Stanford University, California, studies girls aged 10 to 14 years whose mothers suffer from depression. Such girls are thought to be at higher-than-normal risk of developing the condition themselves, in part because they may inherit their mothers' tendency to "amplify" unpleasant information. Although none of the girls has yet experienced a depressive episode, Gotlib has found that their brains already overreact to negative emotional stimuli – a pattern they share with their mothers and other depressed people.

Gotlib is studying whether these young subjects can use interactive software and brain-imaging hardware to "rewire" their brains by unlearning this negative bias. In a pilot experiment, eight girls used a neural feedback display to learn how to control activity in a network of interrelated brain regions that have been linked to depression – these include the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

The level of activity in this network was measured using an functional MRI scan and displayed to the girls in the form of a thermometer on a computer screen. The girls were shown sad or negative pictures that might ordinarily raise their "temperature", and tried to lower that "temperature" by adopting more sanguine mental states. They were then advised to try to recreate that mindset in their daily lives.

A control group unknowingly watched someone else's scan output instead of their own, so they didn't actually learn how to control their brain activity.

Accentuate the positive

Another set of girls in the pilot experiment received their training through a simple computer game instead. In this game, a pair of faces appeared on a screen every few seconds: they would be either neutral and sad, or neutral and happy. Then a dot replaced one of the faces, and the "game" was to click on the dot. For the eight girls in the control group, the face replaced by the dot was selected at random, but for eight girls in the experimental group, the dot always replaced the more positive face in the pair. Over a week of playing this game daily, these girls were in effect being trained to avoid looking at the sad faces.

Gotlib himself originally found this concept, called attentional-bias training, so simplistic that he bet Colin MacLeod, a psychologist at the University of Western Australia in Perth who pioneered the technique, that it would not alter psychological symptoms. Gotlib lost his bet.

In his pilot study, both kinds of training significantly reduced stress-related responses – for example, increases in heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels – to negative stimuli. These stress responses are a key marker of depression, and they diminished one week after training. The girls in the experimental groups also developed fewer defensive responses to negative faces, such as startled blinking. Control groups showed no such improvement.

Jill Hooley, head of Harvard University's clinical psychology programme, was impressed by the findings despite the small sample size: "This is highly innovative work," she said. "Ian is breaking new ground here."

Gotlib is adding more subjects to the training programme and plans to compare their long-term mental health with a parallel cohort of 200 girls, half of whom have depressed mothers, who aren't participating in the study.

He presented his results at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology in Boston in September.

Let's give science a bad name in schools

2012-05-14T13:08:00.000+06:00

Today, the UK's Royal Society announced its intention to stimulate a "world-class, high-performing education system for science and mathematics". If that's really what it wants, its members will have to give up a 60-year pursuit of a squeaky-clean image for science and scientists.

One of the biggest problems is that, although the subject fascinates elementary-school children, most lose that fascination between the ages of 10 and 14.

This is when adolescents are forming their sense of self. As young people seek to turn themselves into adults, they experiment with risk-taking, rebellion, deception, corner-cutting, questioning morality, coping with failure and suppressing self-doubt. This has strong repercussions for their response to science lessons.

Behind the scenes

Studies have repeatedly shown that teenagers lack interest in school science. Louise Archer, who researches the sociology of education at King's College London, puts it like this: there is "a mismatch between popular representations of science… and the aspirations, ideals and developing identities of young adolescents".

The key phrase here is "popular representations". The science of popular account is essentially a carefully crafted and unrepresentative distortion; as Nobel laureate Peter Medawar put it, "the postures we choose to be seen in when the curtain goes up".

Behind the curtain, scientists are surprisingly colourful. The world-changing ones are, by definition, anti-authoritarian, risk-taking rebels. The history of science is littered with instances of fighting, disregard of authority, dogged determination in the face of scorn and even that staple of teenage rebellion, wilful intoxication. Such behaviour seems to be inseparable from the creative pursuit of a breakthrough.

The problem is, school students only ever hear about the breakthrough itself. The crooked path to success has been whitewashed out of sight. This is not an accident: it is the result of a long-running PR campaign carried out by organisations such as the Royal Society – the creation of Brand Science, if you will.

Bad rep

It started after the second world war, which made science look terrifying. The atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the V2 rockets that rained down on London, the experiments carried out in Nazi concentration camps and Japanese prisoner-of-war camps – and Allied mustard gas experiments on their own soldiers – enveloped science in a cloud of fear. That was why the geneticist Jacob Bronowski wrote in a 1956 issue of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: "People hate scientists. There is no use beating about the bush here."

Senior figures reacted by trying to put science in the best possible light wherever it might be on display. That is why UK organisations such as the Royal Society, the Royal Institution and the Wellcome Trust forged links with the national broadcaster, the BBC, in the late 1940s, controlling access to scientists and endorsing only those who would toe the line of Brand Science. Memos to the broadcaster, according to author Timothy Boon, forcefully suggested dropping the "perils and dilemmas angle" in its coverage of the subject, and concentrating on "the great solution wrought by the introduction of the experimental method".

Across the Atlantic, scientists were making similar public promises of the benefits that they would bring. For more than 60 years now, science has striven to be seen as trustworthy, morally upright, objective and dispassionate, and providing a well-defined path from hypothesis to experiment to deduction that will reliably deliver advances and improvements.

Introverts only

The unfortunate spin-off of this PR effort is that it made the subject look dull, inhuman and robotic. Perhaps that's why, when asked to pick out the scientists from a gallery of photographs, children chose the ones that weren't smiling – although in reality, all the photos were of scientists. Scientists are not perceived as smiley or fun, and the general population certainly does not think of them as creative or dynamic. That might explain why, as a Dutch study revealed in 2008, highly socialised, extrovert students tend to drop science subjects as soon as they can, orienting themselves instead towards more "human" areas of work, such as law, politics and economics.

Reintroducing into school curricula the humanity of science – with all its flaws, its tales of outrageous behaviour and even more outrageous characters – would give teens the opportunity to see scientists as role models. With pressing problems such as climate change and energy supply to confront, we must do whatever we can to capture the bold, adventurous, risk-taking minds of tomorrow, rather than settling for the timid ones – even if that means tarnishing the carefully nurtured public image of Brand Science.

Introduction: Teenagers

2012-05-14T13:04:00.000+06:00

The teenager is a uniquely human phenomenon.

Adolescents are known to be moody, insecure, argumentative, angst-ridden, impulsive, impressionable, reckless and rebellious. Teenagers are also characterised by odd sleeping patterns, awkward growth spurts, bullying, acne and slobbish behavior. So what could be the possible benefit of the teenage phase?

Most other animals - apes and human ancestors included - skip that stage altogether, developing rapidly from infancy to full adulthood. Humans, in contrast, have a very puzzling four-year gap between sexual maturity and prime reproductive age. Anthropologists disagree on when the teenage phase first evolved, but pinpointing that date could help define its purpose.

There are a variety of current explanations for the existence of teenagers. Some believe that we need longer for our large brains to develop. Other explanations suggest that a teenage phase allows kids to learn about complex social behaviour and other difficult skills, or that it is even required to develop coordinated bipedal bodies adapted to travelling long distances.

Raging hormones

Scientists once thought that the brain's internal structure was fixed at the end of childhood, and teenage behaviour was blamed on raging hormones and a lack of experience. Then researchers discovered that the brain undergoes significant changes during adolescence.

According to many recent studies, teen brains really are unique (see interactive graphic). Though many brain areas mature during childhood, others mature later - such as the frontal and parietal lobes, responsible for planning and self-control.

Other studies have shown that teens fail to see the consequences of their actions, and that sudden increases in nerve connectivity in teen brains may make it difficult for teenagers to read social situations and other people's emotions.

Risky behaviour

One study in 2004 showed that teens have less brain activity in areas responsible for motivation and risk assessment, perhaps explaining why they are more likely to take part in risky activities such as abusing drugs and alcohol, develop a hard-to-kick smoking habit or indulge in under-age sex.

Teenage pregnancies and rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases among teens are big problems - especially because today's teen generation is the biggest the world has seen: a 2003 UN report revealed that 1 in 5 people were between 10 and 19, a total of 1.2 billion people.

But not everyone agrees on the best way to tackle the problem. Some believe that comprehensive sex education is the key, while others argue for abstinence only education courses.

5 Tips for Surviving Shots

2012-05-06T13:03:00.001+06:00

Do shots make you nervous? You're not alone. Lots of people dread them because they have a very real fear of needles. So next time your doc asks you to roll up your sleeve, try these tips:

Distract yourself while you're waiting. Bring along a game, book, music, or movie player — something you'll get completely caught up in so you're not sitting in the waiting room thinking about the shot. Some doctors' offices schedule "shot clinics" where they do nothing but give shots so the wait time is shorter.
Concentrate on taking slow, deep breaths. Breathe all the way down into your belly. Deep breathing can help people relax — and concentrating on something other than the shot can take your mind off it.
Focus intently on something in the room. Find a picture, poster, or a sign on the wall. Concentrate on the details: If you're looking at a painting, for example, try counting the number of flowers in the garden, cows in the field, or other images. Or create as many new words as you can using the lettering on a sign. Think about how the message on a health awareness poster might affect you. Whatever it takes, keep focusing on something other than the shot until it's over.
Cough. Research shows that coughing as the needle goes in can help some people feel less pain.
Relax your arm. If you're tense — especially if you tense up the area where you're getting the shot — it can make a shot hurt more.

Sometimes people feel lightheaded or faint after getting a shot. If you feel funny, sit down and rest for 15 minutes.
Don't hesitate to tell the doctor or nurse that you're nervous before getting the shot. Medical professionals are used to people who fear shots and they'll be able to help you relax.
Reviewed by: Kate M. Cronan, MD
Date reviewed: January 2010
http://www.kothay.com/blog/post/amin/2012/05/12/88-1336805740-84/

Taking your parents or other adults

2012-05-06T13:02:00.000+06:00

You probably talk to friends way more than you talk to your parents. That's natural. Even if you and your parents have a great relationship, you want to find your own path and make your own choices.
Still, most of us want a parent's help, advice, and support at times. But talking to the adults in your life can seem difficult or intimidating — especially when it comes to certain subjects. Here are some tips to make it easier.

Talk About Everyday Stuff — and Do It Every Day

The more you do something, the easier it gets. Talking to the adults in your life about everyday stuff builds a bond that can smooth the way for when you need to discuss something more serious.
Find something trivial to chat about each day. Talk about how your team did at the track meet. Share something one of your teachers said. Even small talk about what's for dinner can keep your relationship strong and comfortable.
It's never too late to start. If you feel your relationship with your parents is strained, try easing into conversations. Mention that cute thing the dog did. Talk about how well your little sister is doing in math. Chatting with parents every day not only keeps an existing relationship strong, it also can help a frayed relationship get stronger.
When parents feel connected to your daily life, they can be there for you if something really important comes up.

Raising Difficult Topics

Maybe you need to break bad news to a parent, like getting a speeding ticket or failing an exam. Perhaps you're feeling scared or stressed about something. Or maybe you just really, really want to tell your parents about your new boyfriend or girlfriend, but you don't know how they'll react, how it will feel to tell them, or how to find the words.
Here are 3 steps to help you prepare for that talk.

Step 1: Know What You Want From the Conversation

It takes maturity to figure out what you want to get out of a conversation. (Most adults aren't so good at this!)
What you hope to achieve can vary. Most often you'll probably want the adults in your life to do one or more of these things:

simply listen and understand what you're going through without offering advice or commentary
give permission or support for something
offer you advice or help
guide you back on track if you're in trouble — in a way that's fair and without harsh criticism or put-downs

Why think about this before you begin talking? So you can say why you want to talk in a way that communicates what you need. For example:

"Mom, I need to tell you about a problem I'm having, but I need you to just listen, OK? Don't give me advice — I just want you to know what's bothering me."
"Dad, I need to get your permission to go on a class trip next week. Can I tell you about it?"
"Grandad, I need your advice about something. Can we talk?"
Difficult Topics (Continued)
Step 2: Identify Your Feelings
Things like personal feelings or sex are awkward to discuss with anyone, let alone a parent. It's natural to be nervous when talking about sensitive topics.
Recognize how you're feeling — for example, maybe you're worried that telling parents about a problem will make them disappointed or upset. But instead of letting those feelings stop you from talking, put them into words as part of the conversation. For example:
"Mom, I need to talk to you — but I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."
"Dad, I need to talk to you about something — but it's kind of embarrassing."

What if you think a parent may be unsupportive, harsh, or critical? It can help to defuse things by beginning with a statement like, "Mom, I have something to tell you. I'm not proud of what I've done, and you might be mad. But I know I need to tell you. Can you hear me out?"

Step 3: Pick a Good Time to Talk

Approach your parent when he or she isn't busy with something else. Ask, "Can we talk? Is now a good time?" Driving in the car or going for a walk can be great opportunities to talk. If it's hard to find a good time, say, "I need to talk to you. When is a good time?"
Difficult conversations benefit from good planning. Think ahead about what you want to say or ask. Write down the most important ideas if you need to.

How to Talk So Parents Will Listen

As most of us know, talking and listening don't go smoothly every time. Emotions and past experiences can get in the way.
Will parents take you seriously, believe what you say, listen to and respect your opinions, and hear you out without interrupting? A lot depends on your parent. Some parents are easy to talk to, some are great listeners, and some are harder to approach.
But some of what happens depends on you, too. Since communication is a two-way street, the way you talk can influence how well a parent listens and understands you.
So here are some guidelines to consider when talking to parents:

Be clear and direct. Be as clear as you can about what you think, feel, and want. Give details that can help parents understand your situation. They can listen better or be more helpful if they understand what you mean and what's really going on.
Be honest. If you're always honest, a parent will be likely to believe what you say. If you sometimes hide the truth or add too much drama, parents will have a harder time believing what you tell them. If you lie, they'll find it hard to trust you.
Try to understand their point of view. If you have a disagreement, can you see your parents' side? If you can, say so. Telling parents you understand their views and feelings helps them be willing to see yours, too.
Try not to argue or whine. Using a tone that's friendly and respectful makes it more likely parents will listen and take what you say seriously. It also makes it more likely that they'll talk to you in the same way. Of course, this is hard for any of us (adults included) when we're feeling heated about something. If you think your emotions might get the better of you, do something to blow off steam before talking: Go for a run. Cry. Hit your pillow. Do whatever it takes to sound calm when you need to.
What If Talking to Parents Doesn't Work?
Your parents won't always see things your way and they won't always say yes to what you ask. They might listen respectfully, understand your point of view, and do everything you need except say yes. It can be hard to take no for an answer. But gracefully accepting a no can help you get more yeses in the future.
What if it's more than just saying no to something, though? What if you really need your parents to be there for you but they can't? Some parents have troubles of their own. Others just can't be available in the ways their kids need and deserve. Others have a hard time being flexible.
If you can't talk to your parent, seek out other adults you can trust. Find a relative, a teacher, or a counselor who will listen, understand, encourage, believe in you, and care. Then follow all the tips above to get the most from your conversation with that person.
Acting respectfully demonstrates maturity. Parents are more likely to think of their children as grown up (and, as a result, capable of making more important decisions) when they see them acting maturely. Give these tips a try and you'll come across that way — maybe even more mature than your parents!
Reviewed by: D'Arcy Lyness, PhD
Date reviewed: August 2009

Why Are Some Relationships So Difficult? ..i am in healthy relationship...

2012-05-06T12:59:00.000+06:00

It Feels Like Love - But Is It?

Sometimes it feels impossible to find someone who's right for you — and who thinks you're right for him or her! So when it happens, you're usually so psyched that you don't even mind when your little brother finishes all the ice cream or your English teacher chooses the one day when you didn't do your reading to give you a pop quiz.
It's totally normal to look at the world through rose-colored glasses in the early stages of a relationship. But for some people, those rose-colored glasses turn into blinders that keep them from seeing that a relationship isn't as healthy as it should be.

What Makes a Healthy Relationship?

Hopefully, you and your significant other are treating each other well. Not sure if that's the case? Take a step back from the dizzying sensation of being swept off your feet and think about whether your relationship has these seven qualities:

Mutual respect. Does he or she get how cool you are and why? (Watch out if the answer to the first part is yes but only because you're acting like someone you're not!) The key is that your BF or GF is into you for who you are — for your great sense of humor, your love of reality TV, etc. Does your partner listen when you say you're not comfortable doing something and then back off right away? Respect in a relationship means that each person values who the other is and understands — and would never challenge — the other person's boundaries.
Trust. You're talking with a guy from French class and your boyfriend walks by. Does he completely lose his cool or keep walking because he knows you'd never cheat on him? It's OK to get a little jealous sometimes — jealousy is a natural emotion. But how a person reacts when feeling jealous is what matters. There's no way you can have a healthy relationship if you don't trust each other.
Honesty. This one goes hand-in-hand with trust because it's tough to trust someone when one of you isn't being honest. Have you ever caught your girlfriend in a major lie? Like she told you that she had to work on Friday night but it turned out she was at the movies with her friends? The next time she says she has to work, you'll have a lot more trouble believing her and the trust will be on shaky ground.
Support. It's not just in bad times that your partner should support you. Some people are great when your whole world is falling apart but can't take being there when things are going right (and vice versa). In a healthy relationship, your significant other is there with a shoulder to cry on when you find out your parents are getting divorced and to celebrate with you when you get the lead in a play.
Fairness/equality. You need to have give-and-take in your relationship, too. Do you take turns choosing which new movie to see? As a couple, do you hang out with your partner's friends as often as you hang out with yours? It's not like you have to keep a running count and make sure things are exactly even, of course. But you'll know if it isn't a pretty fair balance. Things get bad really fast when a relationship turns into a power struggle, with one person fighting to get his or her way all the time.
Separate identities. In a healthy relationship, everyone needs to make compromises. But that doesn't mean you should feel like you're losing out on being yourself. When you started going out, you both had your own lives (families, friends, interests, hobbies, etc.) and that shouldn't change. Neither of you should have to pretend to like something you don't, or give up seeing your friends, or drop out of activities you love. And you also should feel free to keep developing new talents or interests, making new friends, and moving forward.
Good communication. You've probably heard lots of stuff about how men and women don't seem to speak the same language. We all know how many different meanings the little phrase "no, nothing's wrong" can have, depending on who's saying it! But what's important is to ask if you're not sure what he or she means, and speak honestly and openly so that the miscommunication is avoided in the first place. Never keep a feeling bottled up because you're afraid it's not what your BF or GF wants to hear or because you worry about sounding silly. And if you need some time to think something through before you're ready to talk about it, the right person will give you some space to do that if you ask for it.
What's an Unhealthy Relationship?
A relationship is unhealthy when it involves mean, disrespectful, controlling, or abusive behavior. Some people live in homes with parents who fight a lot or abuse each other — emotionally, verbally, or physically. For some people who have grown up around this kind of behavior it can almost seem normal or OK. It's not! Many of us learn from watching and imitating the people close to us. So someone who has lived around violent or disrespectful behavior may not have learned how to treat others with kindness and respect or how to expect the same treatment.
Qualities like kindness and respect are absolute requirements for a healthy relationship. Someone who doesn't yet have this part down may need to work on it with a trained therapist before he or she is ready for a relationship. Meanwhile, even though you might feel bad or feel for someone who's been mistreated, you need to take care of yourself — it's not healthy to stay in a relationship that involves abusive behavior of any kind.
Warning Signs
When a boyfriend or girlfriend uses verbal insults, mean language, nasty putdowns, gets physical by hitting or slapping, or forces someone into sexual activity, it's an important warning sign of verbal, emotional, or physical abuse.
Ask yourself, does my boyfriend or girlfriend:
get angry when I don't drop everything for him or her?
criticize the way I look or dress, and say I'll never be able to find anyone else who would date me?
keep me from seeing friends or from talking to any other guys or girls?
want me to quit an activity, even though I love it?
ever raise a hand when angry, like he or she is about to hit me?
try to force me to go further sexually than I want to?

These aren't the only questions you can ask yourself. If you can think of any way in which your boyfriend or girlfriend is trying to control you, make you feel bad about yourself, isolate you from the rest of your world, or — this is a big one — harm you physically or sexually, then it's time to get out, fast. Let a trusted friend or family member know what's going on and make sure you're safe.
It can be tempting to make excuses or misinterpret violence, possessiveness, or anger as an expression of love. But even if you know that the person hurting you loves you, it is not healthy. No one deserves to be hit, shoved, or forced into anything he or she doesn't want to do.

Why Are Some Relationships So Difficult?

Ever heard about how it's hard for someone to love you when you don't love yourself? It's a big relationship roadblock when one or both people struggle with self-esteem problems. Your girlfriend or boyfriend isn't there to make you feel good about yourself if you can't do that on your own. Focus on being happy with yourself, and don't take on the responsibility of worrying about someone else's happiness.
What if you feel that your girlfriend or boyfriend needs too much from you? If the relationship feels like a burden or a drag instead of a joy, it might be time to think about whether it's a healthy match for you. Someone who's not happy or secure may have trouble being a healthy relationship partner.
Also, intense relationships can be hard for some teenagers. Some are so focused on their own developing feelings and responsibilities that they don't have the emotional energy it takes to respond to someone else's feelings and needs in a close relationship. Don't worry if you're just not ready yet. You will be, and you can take all the time you need.
Ever notice that some teen relationships don't last very long? It's no wonder — you're still growing and changing every day, and it can be tough to put two people together whose identities are both still in the process of forming. You two might seem perfect for each other at first, but that can change. If you try to hold on to the relationship anyway, there's a good chance it will turn sour. Better to part as friends than to stay in something that you've outgrown or that no longer feels right for one or both of you. And before you go looking for amour from that hottie from French class, respect your current beau by breaking things off before you make your move.
Relationships can be one of the best — and most challenging — parts of your world. They can be full of fun, romance, excitement, intense feelings, and occasional heartache, too. Whether you're single or in a relationship, remember that it's good to be choosy about who you get close to. If you're still waiting, take your time and get to know plenty of people.
Think about the qualities you value in a friendship and see how they match up with the ingredients of a healthy relationship. Work on developing those good qualities in yourself — they make you a lot more attractive to others. And if you're already part of a pair, make sure the relationship you're in brings out the best in both of you.

von Willebrand Disease

2012-05-06T12:56:00.000+06:00

Everyone has to deal with bruises and bloody noses from time to time. But excessive or prolonged bleeding can be a sign of a disorder known as von Willebrand disease.
For many people, the symptoms are so mild that they never even know they have the disorder. For those with more severe forms of the disease, though, getting the proper diagnosis and treatment usually makes them less likely to have problems.

What Is von Willebrand Disease?

Von Willebrand disease, or vWD, is an inherited disorder — meaning it's passed from parent to child through genes — that affects the blood's ability to clot properly. It takes its name from Dr. Erik von Willebrand, who first described the condition in 1926.
As a group, bleeding disorders (including one you might have heard about — hemophilia) are rare. Von Willebrand disease is the most common inherited bleeding disorder, affecting about 1% to 2% of people. Unlike hemophilia, which usually affects only guys, vWD affects both guys and girls.
Normally, bleeding usually occurs when a blood vessel is cut or torn. Platelets (small cells that float in the blood) plug the hole in the blood vessel to stop blood from leaking out. With the help of calcium, vitamin K, and a protein called fibrinogen, the platelets create a mesh to hold the plug in place and close the wound. As this mesh dries, it hardens and forms a scab to protect the wound as it heals.
A substance in the blood known as von Willebrand factor helps platelets stick to damaged blood vessels. Special proteins known as clotting factors are also needed to help blood clot. Von Willebrand factor carries one of these clotting factors, called factor VIII, in the blood.
People with von Willebrand disease have bleeding problems because the levels or function of these blood components needed for clotting are abnormal.

The Types of von Willebrand Disease

As with many conditions, there are various forms of vWD:

In type 1, a person has less von Willebrand factor in the blood than normal. Although the condition can be made worse by taking aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (these drugs can block blood from clotting), the symptoms might be so mild that the person isn't ever diagnosed. People with type 1 vWD usually don't bleed spontaneously, but they can have significant bleeding with injuries, surgery, or when they have a tooth pulled. Type 1 is the most common and the mildest form of vWD.
In type 2, the person's body makes von Willebrand factor that is abnormal, leading to bleeding problems.
Type 3 patients have severe bleeding problems. The person has no measurable von Willebrand factor and very low factor VIII levels.
In pseudo, or platelet-type, von Willebrand disease, the person's platelets are abnormal, making them stick to von Willebrand factor too well. This causes clotting problems due to low numbers of platelets and levels of von Willebrand factor.

What Causes It?

Like hemophilia, vWD is a genetic disorder that is passed from parent to child. The child of a man or a woman with vWD has a 50% chance of getting the gene for the condition. In types 1 and 2, a child has inherited the gene from one parent. In type 3, the child has inherited genes for the disease from both parents.

Signs and Symptoms

The symptoms of von Willebrand disease may include:

bruising easily
unusually heavy periods or other abnormal menstrual bleeding in girls
bleeding from the gums, nose, and lining of the intestines
prolonged oozing of blood from cuts or bleeding too much or for too long after a tooth is pulled or tonsils are removed
Diagnosis and Treatment
Because its symptoms can be mild, vWD can be difficult to diagnose. In addition to doing a physical examination, the doctor will ask you about any concerns and symptoms you have, your past health, your family's health, any medications you're taking, any allergies you may have, and other issues, such as bleeding problems in other family members. This is called the medical history.
A number of lab tests may be done to diagnose the condition and to determine the specific type of von Willebrand disease the person has. These will include of von Willebrand factor antigen, von Willebrand activity (ristocetin cofactor), and factor VIII. Measuring von Willebrand multimers help to determine the type of von Willebrand disease. Sometimes tests need to be done more than once because a person's levels may change over time.
For many teens with vWD, the condition doesn't require big lifestyle changes. Teens with more severe vWD should avoid unnecessary trauma, including contact sports like football and hockey, but other sports and activities are usually OK.
If bleeding does occur, applying pressure to the area may be all that's needed. Someone who gets a nosebleed should put pressure on the bridge of the nose to help stop the bleeding.
Girls with vWD who have started their periods might want to carry extra pads or even a change of clothes in case of accidents. Sometimes, the doctor may prescribe birth control pills to help control heavy menstrual bleeding.
If these measures aren't enough to prevent or control bleeding problems, additional types of treatment may be needed. The most common treatment used for type 1 von Willebrand disease is the drug desmopressin, which causes a temporary increase in the von Willebrand factor level in the blood. It can be given by injection or intranasally (into the nose). Desmopressin may or may not be helpful for treating people with some forms of type 2 von Willebrand disease.
People with type 3 (and some with type 2) disease require treatment with a medication, called Humate P, that contains both factor VIII and von Willebrand factor. This medication is given intravenously (injected into a vein). Patients with type 1 also might need Humate P in certain situations, such as after major trauma or major surgery, although they can generally be treated with desmopressin.
Other treatments can include the use of a medication like Amicar to inhibit the breakdown of a clot.
Reviewed by: Gregory C. Griffin, MD
Date reviewed: May 2010

smoking for teen agers

2012-03-30T17:52:00.001+06:00

Emma's friend Megan lights up a cigarette every chance she gets — while she's cruising around with their friends on Friday nights, during breaks at the pizza place, before soccer scrimmages, even as she babysits her brother. Emma's worried — both for her friend's health and for her own. She's not sure Megan realizes how her habit could be affecting the health of the people she smokes around.
Everyone knows smoking is a bad idea. And by now you've probably heard that breathing in someone else's secondhand smoke is also hazardous to your health.

What Is Secondhand Smoke?

Secondhand smoke comes from both the smoke that smokers exhale (called mainstream smoke) and the smoke floating from the end of the cigarette, cigar, or pipe (called sidestream smoke).
It may seem pretty harmless, but secondhand smoke actually contains thousands of chemicals — from arsenic and ammonia to hydrogen cyanide — many of which have been proven to be toxic or to cause cancer (called carcinogens). High concentrations of many of these chemicals are found in secondhand smoke. In fact, secondhand smoke significantly increases a person's risk for:

respiratory infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia)
asthma (secondhand smoke is a risk factor for the development of asthma and can trigger attacks in those who already have it)
coughing, sore throats, sniffling, and sneezing
cancer
heart disease

So secondhand smoke doesn't just impact a person in the future. It can cause problems right now, like affecting someone's sports performance or ability to be physically active.

What Can You Do?

Chances are, you know someone who smokes. Maybe it's your Grandma or the guy you hang out with at your job at the mall. Whether you smoke or you're regularly around someone who does, it's never healthy to breathe in tobacco smoke. Even occasional or short-term exposure can take a toll on the body.
If you smoke, try to quit. Quitting isn't easy because smoking is highly addictive. But plenty of programs and people can help you make the brave effort to becoming smoke free. And just consider the benefits: You'll look, feel, and smell better, not to mention you'll have more money saved to go out and show off the newer, healthier you! Who knows — maybe knowing that you're protecting the people you love by quitting will help give you even more willpower to kick the habit.
If you don't smoke, ask the smokers you know to observe these two practical habits:

Take all their smoke breaks outside — away from other people, especially kids and anyone who's pregnant. Smoke lingers in the air hours after cigarettes are put out. That means if a smoker is puffing away anywhere inside, other people are inhaling that smoke, too. Because smoke sticks to people and their clothing, when smokers come back inside, they should wash their hands and change their clothing, especially before holding or hugging children.
Never smoke in a car with other people. Even exhaling out the window does little, if anything, to reduce smoke exposure.

It's been scientifically proven that secondhand smoke is dangerous. So, hopefully the smokers in your life will be willing to take these simple steps.
Just as a person who smokes chooses to light up, nonsmokers have a choice, too — to walk away from other people's smoke at home, school, work, restaurants, even friends' and family members' houses. New laws are making it easier all the time for nonsmokers to lead smoke-free lives.
Taking a stand on secondhand smoke will keep you much healthier and possibly even help someone you love think twice about their own unhealthy habit, too.
Date reviewed: November 2011

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How to get in touch with the parents and others

2011-12-30T20:23:00.000+06:00

Being a responsible sitter means being prepared. It's very unlikely that you'll face an emergency. But knowing you're capable of handling problems allows you to relax and focus on the kids.

So before the parents leave, be sure you know these three things:

1. How to get in touch with the parents

Check that you have the right phone numbers and contact information at the start of every job. You may have been babysitting the same kids for ages, but what if a parent got a new mobile number and forgot to tell you?

It also helps to get a backup number, like the number of a restaurant the parents will be at, just in case their cell phone battery dies or there's no signal.

2. Where to find medical information and supplies (and how to use them)

Ask parents to put together a file with information like health issues, allergies, prescription medications, etc. Or create a form of your own and fill in the blanks when you meet with the family. Ideally, you'll want to get this information in advance so you have time to go over it and know what to expect.

It's a good idea for parents of small kids to keep a first aid kit so items like alcohol wipes, Band-aids, and antibacterial cream are in the same place. Know where the first aid kit is, what's in there, and how to use it. If you use items from the kit, let the parents know so they can restock them.

You'll need to know which items from the first aid kit you can use on kids and which you can't. For example, even if a first aid kit is stocked with pain medications, it doesn't mean you should use them for kids. Always ask a parent what medicines you can give their child (different parents have different rules). And never give aspirin to a child.

If parents want you to give a child medicine, ask them to show you how. Always check the expiration date of the medicine before you give it. Some kids have allergies to foods and other things that can lead to reactions severe enough to require injectable epinephrine. Know where the family keeps the auto-injector and how to use it (it's really easy once you know how!).

3. How to keep kids safe

Kids love to explore, and they can get into trouble fast. In fact, accidents are one of the leading reasons children end up in a doctor's office or emergency room. That's why supervision is key.Never leave young kids unattended, especially around water, heaters, appliances, and other hazards. And keep the medications mentioned above well out of the reach of kids.

When you're babysitting, avoid distractions like going online, text messaging, etc. Kids need your full attention.

If parents want you to handle a task you haven't done before (like drive the kids someplace) ask them to go over all the steps. For example, when driving kids, you'll want to know which car seats they use and how to buckle them in properly. Ask the parents to do a demonstration of how to use their car seats correctly.

Know where the family keeps safety and emergency equipment, like fire extinguishers, flashlights, and batteries.Emergencies are about more than having the right equipment, though: You need to know what to do, including when and how to use things like fire extinguishers.

Check with your local hospital or community center to see if they offer CPR or other emergency training, or take a babysitting course. It can give you the confidence to handle all sorts of situations, from a power outage to an emergency.

PMS and Pimples

2011-12-30T20:19:00.000+06:00

Some girls and women find that they feel sad or easily irritated during the few days or week before their periods. Others may get angry more quickly than normal or cry more than usual. Some girls crave certain foods. These types of emotional changes may be the result of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

PMS is related to changes in the body's hormones. As hormone levels rise and fall during a woman's menstrual cycle, they can affect the way she feels, both emotionally and physically. Some girls, in addition to feeling more intense emotions than they usually do, notice physical changes along with their periods — some feel bloated or puffy because of water retention, others notice swollen and sore breasts, and some get headaches.

PMS usually goes away soon after a period begins, but it can come back month after month. Eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising may help relieve some of the symptoms of PMS. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about your premenstrual symptoms.

It's also not uncommon for girls to have an acne flare-up during certain times of their cycle; again, this is due to hormones. Fortunately, the pimples associated with periods tend to become less of a problem as girls get older.

Pads, Tampons, and Liners

Once you begin menstruating, you'll need to use something to absorb the blood. Most girls use a pad or a tampon. But some use menstrual cups, which a girl inserts into her vagina to catch and hold the blood (instead of absorbing it, like a tampon).

There are so many products out there that it may take some experimenting before you find the one that works best for you. Some girls use only pads (particularly when they first start menstruating), some use only tampons, and some switch around — tampons during the day and pads at night, for example.

Girls who worry about leakage from a tampon often use a pantiliner, too, and some girls use liners alone on very light days of their periods.

Periods shouldn't get in the way of exercising, having fun, and enjoying life. Girls who are very active, particularly those who enjoy swimming, often find that tampons are the best option during sports.

If you have questions about pads, tampons, or coping with periods, ask a parent, health teacher, school nurse, or older sister.

Cramps

2011-12-30T20:18:00.000+06:00

How Long and How Much?

The amount of time that a girl has her period also can vary. Some girls have periods that last just 2 or 3 days. Other girls may have periods that last 7 days. The menstrual flow — meaning how much blood comes out of the vagina — can vary widely from girl to girl, too.

Some girls may be concerned that they're losing too much blood. It can be a shock to see all that blood, but it's unlikely that a girl will lose too much, unless she has a medical condition like von Willebrand disease. Though it may look like a lot, the average amount of blood is only about 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) for an entire period. Most teens will change pads 3 to 6 times a day, with more frequent changes when their period is heaviest, usually at the start of the period.

Especially when menstrual periods are new, you may be worried about your blood flow or whether your period is normal in other ways. Talk to a doctor or nurse if:

your period lasts longer than a week
you have to change your pad very often (soaking more than one pad every 1-2 hours)
you go longer than 3 months between periods
you have bleeding in between periods
you have an unusual amount of pain before or during your period
your periods were regular then became irregular

Some girls may notice physical or emotional changes around the time of their periods. Menstrual cramps are pretty common — in fact, more than half of all women who menstruate say they have cramps during the first few days of their periods. Doctors think that cramps are caused by prostaglandin, a chemical that causes the muscles of the uterus to contract.

Depending on the girl, menstrual cramps can be dull and achy or sharp and intense, and they can sometimes be felt in the back as well as the abdomen. These cramps often become less uncomfortable and sometimes even disappear completely as a girl gets older.

Many girls and women find that over-the-counter pain medications (like acetaminophen or ibuprofen) can relieve cramps, as can taking a warm bath or applying a warm heating pad to the lower abdomen. Exercising regularly throughout the monthly cycle may help lessen cramps, too. If these things don't help, ask your doctor for advice.

How Often Does a Girl Get Her Period?

2011-12-30T20:17:00.000+06:00

Just as some girls begin puberty earlier or later than others, the same applies to periods. Some girls may start menstruating as early as age 10, but others may not get their first period until they are 15 years old.
The amount of time between a girl's periods is called her menstrual cycle (the cycle is counted from the start of one period to the start of the next). Some girls will find that their menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, whereas others might have a 24-day cycle, a 30-day cycle, or even longer. Following menarche, menstrual cycles last 21-45 days. After a couple of years, cycles shorten to an adult length of 21-34 days.
Irregular periods are common in girls who are just beginning to menstruate. It may take the body a while to sort out all the changes going on, so a girl may have a 28-day cycle for 2 months, then miss a month, for example. Usually, after a year or two, the menstrual cycle will become more regular. Some women continue to have irregular periods into adulthood, though.
As a girl gets older and her periods settle down — or she gets more used to her own unique cycle — she will probably find that she can predict when her period will come. In the meantime, it's a good idea to keep track of your menstrual cycle with a calendar.

The Female Reproductive System

2011-12-30T20:16:00.000+06:00

Baby girls are born with ovaries, fallopian tubes, and a uterus. The two ovaries are oval-shaped and sit on either side of the uterus (womb) in the lowest part of the abdomen called the pelvis. They contain thousands of eggs, or ova. The two fallopian tubes are long and thin. Each fallopian tube stretches from an ovary to the uterus, a pear-shaped organ that sits in the middle of the pelvis. The muscles in a female's uterus are powerful and are able to expand to allow the uterus to accommodate a growing fetus and then help push the baby out during labor.

As a girl matures and enters puberty, the pituitary gland releases hormones that stimulate the ovaries to produce other hormones called estrogen and progesterone. These hormones have many effects on a girl's body, including physical maturation, growth, and emotions.

About once a month, a tiny egg leaves one of the ovaries — a process called ovulation — and travels down one of the fallopian tubes toward the uterus. In the days before ovulation, the hormone estrogen stimulates the uterus to build up its lining with extra blood and tissue, making the walls of the uterus thick and cushioned. This happens to prepare the uterus for pregnancy: If the egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, it travels to the uterus and attaches to the cushiony wall of the uterus, where it slowly develops into a baby.

If the egg isn't fertilized, though — which is the case during most of a woman's monthly cycles — it doesn't attach to the wall of the uterus. When this happens, the uterus sheds the extra tissue lining. The blood, tissue, and unfertilized egg leave the uterus, going through the vagina on the way out of the body. This is a menstrual period.

This cycle happens almost every month for several more decades (except, of course, when a female is pregnant) until a woman reaches menopause and no longer releases eggs from her ovaries.

Puberty and Periods

2011-12-30T20:14:00.000+06:00

Puberty and Periods

Menstruation (a period) is a major stage of puberty in girls; it's one of the many physical signs that a girl is turning into a woman.

And like a lot of the other changes associated with puberty, menstruation can be confusing. Some girls can't wait to start their periods, whereas others may feel afraid or anxious. Many girls (and guys!) don't have a complete understanding of a woman's reproductive system or what actually happens during the menstrual cycle, making the process seem even more mysterious.

When girls begin to go through puberty (usually starting between the ages of 8 and 13), their bodies and minds change in many ways. The hormones in their bodies stimulate new physical development, such as growth and breast development. About 2 to 2½ years after a girl's breasts begin to develop, she usually gets her first menstrual period.

About 6 months or so before getting her first period, a girl might notice an increased amount of clear vaginal discharge. This discharge is common. There's no need for a girl to worry about discharge unless it has a strong odor or causes itchiness.

The start of periods is known as menarche. Menarche doesn't happen until all the parts of a girl's reproductive system have matured and are working together.

Teen-agers health guide (think of specialists)

Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health

SEXUAL ACTIVITY

CONTRACEPTIVE USE

ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES

STIs

PREGNANCY

CHILDBEARING

FATHERHOOD

ABORTION

References

sweet cat

Brain-training games stop depression before it starts

Accentuate the positive

Let's give science a bad name in schools

Behind the scenes

Bad rep

Introverts only

Introduction: Teenagers

Raging hormones

Risky behaviour

5 Tips for Surviving Shots

Taking your parents or other adults

Talk About Everyday Stuff — and Do It Every Day

Raising Difficult Topics

Step 1: Know What You Want From the Conversation

Difficult Topics (Continued)

Step 2: Identify Your Feelings

Step 3: Pick a Good Time to Talk

How to Talk So Parents Will Listen

What If Talking to Parents Doesn't Work?

Why Are Some Relationships So Difficult? ..i am in healthy relationship...

It Feels Like Love - But Is It?

What Makes a Healthy Relationship?

What's an Unhealthy Relationship?

Warning Signs

Why Are Some Relationships So Difficult?

von Willebrand Disease

What Is von Willebrand Disease?

The Types of von Willebrand Disease

What Causes It?

Signs and Symptoms

Diagnosis and Treatment

smoking for teen agers

What Is Secondhand Smoke?

What Can You Do?

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How to get in touch with the parents and others

1. How to get in touch with the parents

2. Where to find medical information and supplies (and how to use them)

3. How to keep kids safe

PMS and Pimples

Pads, Tampons, and Liners

Cramps

How Long and How Much?

How Often Does a Girl Get Her Period?

The Female Reproductive System

Puberty and Periods

Puberty and Periods