GUIDELINES FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE: HEALTH PREPARATIONS
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | 10:45 pmWhen two people marry, they promise to live together in sickness and in health. To help them start off in good health, the two owe it to themselves and to their children-to-come to see their doctor. Not only will he perform a medical examination, but he will try to answer the couple’s questions about themselves and about the family they are planning to have after they are married.
Two important blood tests
A blood test, such as the Wassermann test, will detect syphilis, a disorder which must be cured before anyone has a right to marry.
You and your partner should also ask a physician to test your blood for blood-group compatibility. It is important to know whether the prospective mother and father have different Rh factors, because this difference could create a health problem for children.
The examination for gonorrhoea
Unlike syphilis, gonorrhoea cannot be discovered by a routine blood test. It starts as a local infection of the genital organs, and its detection requires inspection of these areas and perhaps a microscopic examination of their secretions. Though not transmitted to unborn offspring, it may infect a baby’s eyes during or after birth, and can cause blindness. Gonorrhoea, too, is entirely curable.
Tuberculosis may go undetected for a long period of time, while insidiously injuring the body and being passed on to others, especially those who have close contact with a tubercular person. Children are especially vulnerable to this disease. A chest X-ray often detects hidden tuberculosis. It reveals any suspicious areas that may make further tests necessary.
Do not neglect to have yourself checked for tuberculosis and the other diseases mentioned here before you get married.
Other health precautions
In addition to the blood tests and examinations for syphilis, gonorrhoea, and tuberculosis, you should have a thorough medical check-up to determine whether you are suffering from any ailment that should be corrected before the wedding, or whether you should change some of your plans for the sake of your health. Certain heart conditions, for example, make it foolhardy for a man to stay on some jobs, although he could safely do another kind of work. Some illnesses make it extremely dangerous for a woman to have a baby, although she could do so safely after the disease has been treated and brought under control.
A check-up also provides an opportunity for the prospective bride to discover whether she happens to need a very minor operation in order to prevent difficulty and pain in having sexual intercourse. In some—but by no means all—virgins, the hymen, the membrane at the opening of the vagina, does not rupture easily. This makes intercourse extremely painful or even impossible. In such cases it can be removed by a physician, a procedure so minor as hardly to be called an operation. The hymen can also be stretched, according to the doctor’s directions, prior to marriage.
It is a good idea, especially if you and your fiance are related, to give the physician all the information you possess concerning the physical and mental ailments from which members of your families have suffered. He will probably be able to set your mind at rest regarding the chances of having children who might inherit a defect.
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(posted in General health)
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