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How female students can take care of their mental and physical health while studying
In the whirlwind of academia, where deadlines, exams, and assignments never seem to end, female students often find themselves caught in a relentless cycle of stress and neglect toward their mental and physical health.
It’s crucial to remember that achieving academic success should not come at the expense of one’s well-being. Here are practical, effective strategies for female students to maintain their mental and physical health amidst their studies.
Find Your Balance
Achieving a balance between studies, personal life, and rest is akin to walking a tightrope; it requires focus, effort, and, most importantly, practice. Time management is your ally here. Start by setting realistic goals for both your academic and personal life. Use tools like planners or digital apps to schedule your tasks, including study times, breaks, exercise, and leisure activities. Remember, it’s not about allocating every minute of your day but prioritising tasks and understanding that sometimes it’s okay to say no to certain commitments if they threaten your well-being. As an option, try research paper writing help when you feel overwhelmed. The professional writing team will assist with any academic task, urgent or not. Balancing doesn’t mean doing everything simultaneously; it means giving yourself the space to breathe and enjoy life while pursuing academic achievements.
Embrace Physical Health
Physical health is not just about avoiding illness; it’s about strengthening your body to handle the stress of studying. Regular exercise can work wonders for both your body and mind. Find an activity you enjoy, jogging, cycling, dancing, or even brisk walking, and make it a part of your routine. Exercise releases endorphins, which combat stress and promote happiness. Pay attention to nutrition; a balanced diet fuels your body and brain, enhancing your ability to focus and retain information. Hydration is equally important; drinking enough water profoundly affects your energy levels and cognitive function. Remember, taking care of your body is taking care of your mind.
Prioritise Mental Health
Mental health is paramount. In the face of relentless academic pressure, feeling overwhelmed is easy. Mindfulness and mental health practices can be a sanctuary. Meditation, deep-breathing exercises, or yoga can significantly reduce stress levels, improve concentration, and enhance overall well-being. Feel free to seek professional help if you’re struggling. Many educational institutions offer counselling services to their students. Remember, asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Creating a support network of friends, family, and mentors who understand and support your academic journey can also provide emotional stability and encouragement.
Quality Sleep is Non-Negotiable
Never underestimate the power of good sleep. Quality rest is essential for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and physical health. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Create a bedtime routine to signal your body to wind down. This could include reading, a warm bath, or light stretching. Avoid screens at least an hour before bedtime, as blue light can disrupt your natural sleep cycle. If you find yourself sacrificing sleep to study, reconsider your schedule. The negative impacts on your health and academic performance vastly outweigh the benefits of an all-nighter.
Foster Connections
Building and maintaining social connections are crucial for mental well-being. While studying is important, so is forming bonds with those around you. These relationships provide a support network to prevent bullying, offer relief from the stresses of academic life, and can even lead to new opportunities and insights. Participate in campus activities, join clubs or groups related to your interests, or volunteer. These activities enrich your college experience and contribute to a sense of belonging and community.
Conclusion
Taking care of your mental and physical health is not a diversion from your academic goals but a foundational element of achieving them. You’re surviving your academic journey and thriving by balancing, prioritising mental health, embracing physical health, ensuring quality sleep, and fostering connections. Remember, the path to academic success is essential, but so is the journey you take, including the care you give to yourself along the way.
Transdermal HRT best protects bone density in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, a condition that stops periods, a review of trials has found.
The meta-analysis pooled randomised clinical trials involving 692 participants and found transdermal hormone replacement therapy and teriparatide increased bone mineral density by between 2 and 13 per cent.
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea can follow anorexia or intense exercise. Bone mineral density measures bone strength and the amount of mineral in bone.
Around half of women with the condition have low bone mineral density, compared with about 1 per cent of healthy women, and their fracture risk is up to seven times higher.
The research was conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Professor Alexander Comninos, senior author of the study and consultant endocrinologist at the trust, said: “Bone density is lost very rapidly in FHA and so addressing bone health early is very important to reduce the lifelong risk of fractures.
“Our study provides much needed comparisons of all the available treatments from all available studies.
“Clearly the best treatment is to restore normal menstrual cycles and therefore oestrogen levels through various psychological, nutritional or exercise interventions – but that is not always possible.
“The foundation for bone health is good calcium and vitamin D intake (through diet and/or supplements) but we have additional treatments that are more effective.”
When FHA is diagnosed, clinicians first try to restore periods through lifestyle measures, including psychological and dietary support, but these can fail. Guidelines then recommend giving oestrogen, though the best form was unclear.
The team reviewed all prior randomised trials comparing therapies, including oral and transdermal oestrogen, and also assessed teriparatide, a prescription bone-building drug used for severe osteoporosis.
They found no significant benefit for oral contraceptive pills or oral hormone therapy.
A recent UK audit reported that about a quarter of women with anorexia-related FHA are prescribed the oral contraceptive pill for bone loss; the study suggests using transdermal therapy instead.
Comninos said: “Our goal is simple: to help women receive the right treatment sooner and to protect their bone health in the long-term.
“We hope this study provides clinicians with better evidence to choose transdermal oestrogen when prescribing oestrogen and so inform future practice guidelines.
“Right now, millions of women with FHA may not be receiving the best treatments for their bone health.”
An AI tool cut interval breast cancers by 12 per cent in a Swedish screening trial of more than 105,000 women.
The study also found 27 per cent fewer aggressive breast cancers detected at screening when AI was used.
Interval cancers are cancers found between routine screening appointments because they were missed at the original scan. They are often more dangerous and linked to higher death rates than cancers found at screening.
The MASAI trial is described as the first large randomised study to test whether AI can improve mammography screening, which uses low-dose X-rays to examine breast tissue for signs of cancer.
The AI tool, called Transpara Detection and developed by ScreenPoint Medical, supported radiologists in analysing mammography images.
Earlier results from the same trial showed that Transpara Detection increased cancers found by 29 per cent and reduced radiologist workload by 44 per cent compared with standard double-reading, where two radiologists independently review each scan.
The latest findings indicate higher accuracy with AI support. Sensitivity, the ability to detect cancer, was 6.7 percentage points higher in the AI group while specificity, the ability to rule out healthy cases, was maintained. Results were similar across age groups and breast density levels.
Women screened with AI had 16 per cent fewer invasive interval cancers and 21 per cent fewer large interval cancers than those in the standard screening group.
The system also helps doctors assess risk more precisely by subdividing suspicious findings into BI-RADS 4 categories A, B and C. BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) is a standardised scale that guides whether a patient needs closer monitoring, further tests or treatment.
Ageing anxiety may accelerate biological ageing in women, with fears about worsening health linked to faster epigenetic ageing, according to new research.
The study found that greater anxiety about growing old was associated with accelerated epigenetic ageing, as measured by the DunedinPACE clock, based on biological markers in blood samples.
Epigenetic changes are shifts in how genes are switched on or off without altering DNA itself, which can influence how the body ages and functions.
“Our research suggests that subjective experiences may be driving objective measures of ageing,” said Mariana Rodrigues, a PhD student and the first author of the study.
“Ageing-related anxiety is not merely a psychological concern, but may leave a mark on the body with real health consequences.”
Researchers analysed data from 726 women in the Midlife in the US study.
Participants were asked how much they worried about becoming less attractive with age, having more health issues and being too old to have children.
Blood samples were used to assess ageing with two epigenetic clocks: DunedinPACE, which estimates the pace of biological ageing, and GrimAge2, which estimates cumulative biological damage.
The study was conducted by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health.
Worrying about declining health showed the strongest links with epigenetic ageing, while anxiety about attractiveness and fertility was not significantly associated with biological markers.
The authors suggest health worries are more common and persist over time, whereas concerns about appearance and reproduction may fade with age.
“Women in midlife may also be multiple in roles, including caring for their ageing parents,” Rodrigues said.
“As they see older family members grow older and become sick, they may worry about whether the same thing will happen to them.”
The authors caution that the study offers a snapshot in time and other factors may influence these biological changes.
When analyses were adjusted for health behaviours such as smoking and alcohol use, the link between ageing anxiety and epigenetic ageing decreased and was no longer significant.
“Our research identifies ageing anxiety as a measurable and modifiable psychological determinant that seems to be shaping ageing biology,” said Adolfo Cuevas, associate professor of social and behavioural sciences and the study’s senior author.
They call for more research to clarify how this anxiety influences ageing over time, to guide support for those experiencing ageing anxiety.
“Ageing is a universal experience.” Rodrigues said.
“We need to start a discourse about how we as a society, through our norms, structural factors and interpersonal relationships, address the challenges of ageing.”
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