In this research, we hope to understand the effect of anemia on the various menstrual parameters and disorders and on the academic performance of adolescent girls attending secondary schools of rural Wardha.

Questionnaires were prepared and distributed to the female students who came to attend the adolescent clinic in Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital, Sawangi, India, for health checkup. Their hemoglobin was estimated and recorded in their respective questionnaires. Questionnaires were designed to understand in the best way possible the effects of anemia on the menstrual health and academic life of the adolescent girls.

The results revealed a remarkable correlation between the grades of anemia and poor menstrual health; a similar result was seen in case of academic performance as well. It also threw light on the prevalence of anemia, which was recorded as 80% in this study, though most students had only mild grade anemia.

The results of the study revealed that there was a significant relation between anemia and the menstrual parameters and academic performance of the adolescent girls. This study could prove helpful for future researches which aim to provide better quality of life for adolescent girls in terms of general and menstrual health.

Binoy R, Acharya N. Impact of Anemia on Menstruation and Academic Performance of Adolescent Girls attending Secondary Schools of Rural Wardha District. World J Anemia 2017;1(1):1-4.

Thalassemia, also known as Mediterranean anemia, can be considered as the most common monogenetic disease prevailing all across the world. This disorder involves production of abnormal amounts of hemoglobin in the body, which poses a significant burden on the health and economic status of the patients as well as their families. Generally, patients with the thalassemia trait have a normal life expectancy, but individuals with beta thalassemia major mostly die from cardiac complications due to iron overload by the time they reach 30 years of age. Each year, nearly 70,000 babies are born with thalassemia worldwide. Conventional treatment procedures available (e.g., lifelong red blood cell transfusion, iron chelation therapy, and splenectomy) have levied high expenses on the health-care systems. Thalassemia during pregnancy could be associated with significant complications to the mother as well as her fetus. Therefore, universal antenatal screening for thalassemia carriers should be implemented in populations having a high prevalence of this condition. In order to improve survival among children born with thalassemia, there is a requirement for combined treatment and prevention program during pregnancy. Preconception genetic counseling is strongly advised for all patients with thalassemia. Among the high-risk parents, the most important method for diagnosis of thalassemia is invasive prenatal diagnosis. Following a standard management plan and close monitoring of the maternal and fetal condition during pregnancy helps in considerably reducing the mortality and morbidity associated with this condition. Novel treatment approaches are recently being developed to correct the resulting α/β globin chain imbalance, in an effort to move beyond the palliative management of this disease and tackle the exact genetic defect involved in its pathogenesis. Three methods for medical treatment of thalassemia have been envisioned: fetal globin gene renaissance by pharmacological compounds being injected into patients, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and gene therapy. These medical strategies can be considered as the best options prevailing now and are currently under research and clinical studies.

Bindra V. Anemia in Adolescence. World J Anemia 2017;1(1):18-19.

Gautham KSK. Intravenous Iron Sucrose. World J Anemia 2017;1(1):20-22.

Nanjundan P. Comparison of Various Treatment Modalities of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Pregnancy. World J Anemia 2017;1(1):23-26.

Indersen A. Fetal Intrauterine Transfusion. World J Anemia 2017;1(1):27-29.