Q: My daughter is 16 years old, she is 5' 8" and weighs 75 kg. Three years back she had a problem of menorrhagia for 2 months because of the doctor's mistake of a wrong diagnosis and we went to a gynaecologist. Before the problem her weight was 65 kg and then it increased. She still had irregular periods but then it got ok. Now she gets spots, the colour of white discharge with red shade for 15 days. At present she is not taking any medicine other than ayurvedic medicine M2-tone. Now, she is even more afraid of to see a doctor since she had suffered such a severe problem 3 years back. Is this a serious problem? Does she need any treatment? She had done her sonography and all other tests 3yrs back.

A:Your daughter is overweight. The combination of overweight and irregular periods may be explained by a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). There are certain physical characteristics that can go along with the syndrome. There are also some blood tests that can be done to confirm it. If it turns out that she has it, there are some good Allopathic medicines available to treat it. I have no knowledge of any Ayurvedic medicines, so can not advise you on what she is taking or what the side effects of the medicine are. You may want to go back to the Ayurvedic physician and ask him /her about the spotting and the discharge. I would suggest going back to the gynaecologist and getting the vaginal discharge tested for any treatable infections. In the meantime I would advise you to have your daughter start exercising, eat low fat low carbohydrate meals, cut back on the portion size, and lose some weight. Has she been tested for insulin resistance or hypothyroidism? All the best!