Dr. Prashanthi

Most of us today live a hectic life be it pressing deadlines or tiring social engagements, but in all this hustle and bustle we tend to often neglect our health. Do we know that today for all of us there is a great need for preventive care, especially in today's world where the threats are magnified. This also includes being able to get the proper guidance to imbibe a healthier lifestyle with regular tests and health checkups that will help us in knowing our present state of health and will help is in identifying risks and threats well in advance.

Did you know, that almost seven out of ten fatalities or deaths are caused due to chronic disease and that half these cases do not recognise the early symptoms and risks with proper screening and regular
check ups. Sounds familiar, are you also one of those who have never cared for preventive healthcare check ups?

These preventive health checkups are actually life saving, as they update you on how fit and healthy you are. Preventive health care basically deals with the prevention of diseases and conditions that may be caused due to environmental factors, genetic predisposition of the patient, lifestyle choices as well as disease agents. In this field, constant check ups and preventive action equips people to deal with and ward off these causes so as to prevent the onset of a number of disease and ailments. Here is everything you need to know about preventive healthcare.

In today's time it is very simple to get a preventive health check up done, all it takes is a simple blood and urine test at a lab and you will be able to know all you need to know about your health. Further, if there has been an outbreak of an epidemic where you live, then preventive health care will help in getting the right tests done at the right time so as to ensure that you get the proper vaccinations. With preventive healthcare, you can also get genetic testing done on a regular basis so as to learn more about preventing diseases like asthma, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and many others that one might inherit genetically.

Book a full body check up today and live a healthy and stress free life.

Genophobia or coitophobia is the irrational psychological fear of intercourse. It is a type of a phobia and people suffering from it fill all or most of the criteria of specific phobia according to the ICD (The International Statistical Classification of Diseases). Genophobic people may be terrified of sexual intercourse or all acts involving sex. It is different from erotophobia in the sense erotophobia is the irrational fear of sexuality and not the act in itself.

Causes:

1. The causes of genophobia may be attributed to different experiences and origins according to different psychological perspectives. According to the psychoanalytic perspective, genophobia may be caused by the rigid or extremely religious upbringing, which affected the development of ego, making the individual fear all acts that are sexual because it causes moral anxiety and a severe clash of the superego (ethical portion of one's personality)and i'd (primitive component of one's personality).
2. According to the learning perspective, genophobia may develop due to an unpleasant sexual experience such as rape or molestation. Rape Trauma Syndrome leads the survivor to relive the trauma several times and develop apprehension. They may begin to fear sex eventually by relating it to the unpleasant experience, eventually leading to genophobia. It may also be caused if the individual observes sexual acts that are traumatizing in nature, in media or otherwise.
3. It may also result from severe performance anxiety, especially for those who lack sexual experience and have abstained from sex for a prolonged period of time. There is also a chance that other phobias, such as the fear of diseases, especially STDs, may lead to a fear of sexual acts. Some people might relate sexual intercourse with acquiring diseases, thus leading to the development of genophobia.

Symptoms: Symptoms of genophobia include the fear of sexual intercourse and all acts within, breathlessness, nausea, dizziness, feeling sick and fear of losing control. All these symptoms take place in the context of sexual acts.

Treatment: Genophobia is treated like all other phobias. Therapeutic technique such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (a conversation centric therapy that focuses on how thoughts and beliefs can affect one's actions) is widely used in the treatment of genophobia along with medications. The therapeutic technique varies from patient to patient. For instance, the therapeutic technique used for a rape survivor would be completely different from that which is used for an individual with a fear of STDs. With proper treatment, genophobia is curable, eventually allowing the individual to have a particularly healthy sex life. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Sexologist.