Reproductive HealthClass 12 Biology NCERT Solutions
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Q1EXERCISES
What do you think is the significance of reproductive health in a society?
Solution
Reproductive health is highly significant in a society as it pertains to the total well-being in all aspects of reproduction, including physical, emotional, behavioural, and social aspects. A society with reproductively healthy individuals leads to:
- Healthy Families and Society: It forms the basis of healthy families, which in turn build a healthy society. It ensures that people have physically and functionally normal reproductive organs.
- Population Control: Awareness of reproductive health helps in controlling population growth by promoting smaller family norms and the use of contraceptives.
- Prevention of STIs: It helps in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like AIDS, syphilis, etc., by creating awareness about safe sexual practices.
- Reduced Mortality Rates: It leads to a decrease in maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) through proper care during pregnancy, medically assisted deliveries, and post-natal care.
- Prevention of Social Evils: It helps in preventing sex-related crimes and social evils by educating people and promoting responsible sexual behaviour.
Q2EXERCISES
Suggest the aspects of reproductive health which need to be given special attention in the present scenario.
Solution
In the present scenario, the following aspects of reproductive health need to be given special attention:
- Sex Education: Introduction of sex education in schools to provide adolescents with accurate information about reproductive organs, adolescence, safe sexual practices, and STIs. This helps to dispel myths and misconceptions.
- Awareness and Facilities for Contraception: Creating awareness about available contraceptive methods and providing easy access to them to prevent unwanted pregnancies and control population growth.
- Maternal and Child Healthcare: Strengthening Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes to ensure better care for pregnant mothers, safe deliveries, and post-natal care for both mother and child.
- Prevention and Management of STIs: Educating people about the modes of transmission and prevention of STIs. Providing facilities for early detection and proper treatment of these infections.
- Tackling Infertility: Making advanced medical techniques like Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) more accessible and affordable for infertile couples.
- Curbing Social Evils: Creating awareness to stop social evils like sex abuse, female foeticide, and gender inequality.
Q3EXERCISES
Is sex education necessary in schools? Why?
Solution
Yes, sex education is necessary in schools. The reasons are as follows:
- Provides Accurate Information: It provides scientifically accurate information to young people about the human reproductive system, puberty, and related physical and emotional changes. This prevents them from acquiring wrong information from unreliable sources.
- Dispels Myths and Misconceptions: It helps to discourage children from believing in myths and having misconceptions about sex-related aspects, which can lead to unhealthy practices.
- Promotes Healthy Practices: It provides proper information about safe and hygienic sexual practices, which is crucial for leading a reproductively healthy life.
- Awareness about STIs: It educates adolescents about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS, their modes of transmission, and methods of prevention.
- Empowers Responsible Decision-Making: By providing knowledge, it empowers adolescents to make responsible and informed decisions regarding their sexual health and behaviour, thus preventing unwanted pregnancies and STIs.
Q4EXERCISES
Do you think that reproductive health in our country has improved in the past 50 years? If yes, mention some such areas of improvement.
Solution
Yes, reproductive health in our country has significantly improved in the past 50 years. Some areas of improvement are:
- Reduced Mortality Rates: There has been a significant decline in the maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) due to better healthcare facilities.
- Increased Medically Assisted Deliveries: A higher number of deliveries are now conducted by trained medical professionals in hospitals, which has increased the safety for both mother and child.
- Improved Post-Natal Care: Better post-natal care has led to healthier outcomes for mothers and infants.
- Family Planning: There is an increased acceptance of smaller family norms, with more couples using contraceptives to plan their families.
- Better Management of STIs: Early detection and better cure of STIs are now possible due to increased awareness and advanced medical facilities.
- Assistance for Infertility: Increased availability of medical facilities and techniques to help infertile couples conceive.
- National Health Programmes: The implementation of programmes like the 'Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes' has played a crucial role in these improvements.
Q5EXERCISES
What are the suggested reasons for population explosion?
Solution
The primary reasons suggested for the population explosion, particularly in the last century, are:
- Rapid Decline in Death Rate: Due to all-round development, improved public health measures, and better medical facilities, the overall death rate has declined sharply.
- Decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR): Improved pre-natal and post-natal care has significantly reduced the number of mothers dying during childbirth.
- Decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Better healthcare, nutrition, and mass immunisation programs have led to a sharp fall in the death rate of infants.
- Increase in the Number of People in Reproducible Age: The combination of lower death rates and high birth rates in the past has resulted in a large population of young people who are in their reproductive years, contributing to further population growth.
- Better Living Conditions: Overall improvement in the quality of life, including better food supply and living conditions, has contributed to increased longevity and population growth.
Q6EXERCISES
Is the use of contraceptives justified? Give reasons.
Solution
Yes, the use of contraceptives is justified for several important reasons:
- Population Control: The alarming growth rate of the human population can lead to an absolute scarcity of basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing. Contraceptives are the most important step in checking this uncontrolled population growth.
- Preventing Unwanted Pregnancies: Contraceptives help individuals and couples prevent unwanted pregnancies, which might otherwise lead to illegal or unsafe abortions, posing a risk to the mother's health.
- Family Planning: They empower couples to plan their families by deciding when to have children and how much gap to maintain between them. This helps in ensuring better health for the mother and child and improves the quality of family life.
- Protection from STIs: Certain contraceptives, like condoms, provide the additional benefit of protecting users from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including the fatal HIV/AIDS.
- Individual Freedom and Well-being: The use of contraceptives gives individuals, especially women, control over their reproductive lives, which is essential for their personal freedom, career, and overall well-being.
Q7EXERCISES
Removal of gonads cannot be considered as a contraceptive option. Why?
Solution
Removal of gonads (testes in males and ovaries in females), a process known as castration, cannot be considered a contraceptive option. The reasons are:
- Hormonal Function: Gonads are not only responsible for producing gametes (sperms and ova) but also for secreting essential sex hormones (testosterone in males, estrogen and progesterone in females). These hormones are vital for the development and maintenance of secondary sexual characteristics, sexual drive (libido), and regulation of various metabolic processes.
- Irreversible Health Consequences: Removal of gonads would lead to a complete and irreversible stoppage of hormone production, causing severe health problems, including osteoporosis, mood swings, loss of muscle mass, and loss of sexual characteristics. This is a drastic surgical procedure with permanent consequences for the individual's overall health.
- Purpose of Contraception: The purpose of a contraceptive is to prevent pregnancy, ideally in a temporary and reversible manner, without interfering with the normal physiological and hormonal functioning of the body. Sterilisation methods like vasectomy and tubectomy block gamete transport but do not remove the gonads, thus preserving hormonal function. Removal of gonads goes far beyond the scope and purpose of contraception.
Q8EXERCISES
Amniocentesis for sex determination is banned in our country. Is this ban necessary? Comment.
Solution
Yes, the ban on amniocentesis for sex determination is absolutely necessary and justified. Amniocentesis is a prenatal diagnostic technique where amniotic fluid is collected to analyze foetal cells for detecting genetic disorders like Down's syndrome, haemophilia, and sickle-cell anaemia. However, this procedure also reveals the sex of the foetus.
In India, there is a strong societal preference for male children. This led to the widespread misuse of amniocentesis for identifying the sex of the foetus, followed by the abortion of the foetus if it was found to be female. This practice is known as female foeticide.
This misuse resulted in a dangerously skewed sex ratio in many states, creating serious social imbalances. To prevent this large-scale killing of female foetuses and to counter this social evil, the Government of India imposed a statutory ban on the use of amniocentesis for sex determination. The ban is a crucial step towards protecting the girl child and ensuring a balanced sex ratio in society. The procedure is, however, still legally permitted for its intended purpose of detecting genetic abnormalities under strict regulation.
Q9EXERCISES
Suggest some methods to assist infertile couples to have children.
Solution
Infertile couples can be assisted to have children through various special techniques, collectively known as Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Some of these methods are:
- In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF): Popularly known as the 'test-tube baby' programme. In this method, ova from the wife/donor and sperms from the husband/donor are fertilised outside the body in a laboratory. The resulting embryo is then transferred into the female's reproductive tract.
- Zygote Intra Fallopian Transfer (ZIFT): The zygote or early embryo (with up to 8 blastomeres) formed by IVF is transferred into the fallopian tube of the female.
- Intra Uterine Transfer (IUT): The embryo with more than 8 blastomeres is transferred directly into the uterus to complete its development.
- Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT): An ovum is collected from a donor and transferred into the fallopian tube of a recipient female who cannot produce her own ova but can provide a suitable environment for fertilisation and further development.
- Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): A single sperm is directly injected into the cytoplasm of an ovum in the laboratory to ensure fertilisation.
- Artificial Insemination (AI): In this technique, semen collected from the husband or a healthy donor is artificially introduced into the vagina or the uterus (IUI - Intra-Uterine Insemination) of the female. This is useful in cases where the male partner has a low sperm count or is unable to inseminate.
- Adoption: Legal adoption is one of the best methods for couples looking for parenthood, providing a home to an orphaned or destitute child.
Q10EXERCISES
What are the measures one has to take to prevent from contracting STDs?
Solution
One could be free from contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), also known as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), by following these simple principles:
- Avoid Sex with Unknown/Multiple Partners: Limiting the number of sexual partners and avoiding sexual contact with individuals whose sexual history is unknown significantly reduces the risk of exposure to STIs.
- Always Use Condoms: Using condoms correctly and consistently during coitus acts as a barrier, preventing the transmission of infectious agents from one partner to another.
- Seek Early Medical Help: In case of any doubt, or if symptoms like itching, fluid discharge, pain, or swelling in the genital region appear, one should immediately consult a qualified doctor for early detection and get complete treatment if diagnosed with an infection. Timely treatment can cure many STIs and prevent further complications and spread.
Q11EXERCISES
State True/False with explanation
(a)
Abortions could happen spontaneously too. (True/False)
(b)
Infertility is defined as the inability to produce a viable offspring and is always due to abnormalities/defects in the female partner. (True/False)
(c)
Complete lactation could help as a natural method of contraception. (True/False)
(d)
Creating awareness about sex related aspects is an effective method to improve reproductive health of the people. (True/False)
Solution
(a) True. Spontaneous abortion, also known as a miscarriage, is the natural loss of a pregnancy before the foetus is viable. It can occur due to various reasons such as genetic abnormalities in the foetus or hormonal problems in the mother. This is different from induced abortion or Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP), which is a voluntary procedure.
(b) False. Infertility is the inability to conceive or produce children despite unprotected sexual cohabitation. The problem does not always lie with the female partner; more often than not, the problem can be with the male partner, or sometimes with both.
(c) True. Complete and intense lactation following childbirth can act as a natural method of contraception. This is called lactational amenorrhea. During this period, ovulation and the menstrual cycle do not occur. However, it is effective only for a maximum period of about six months and relies on the mother breastfeeding the child fully and frequently.
(d) True. Creating awareness about sex-related aspects is a primary step towards improving reproductive health. Proper information about reproductive organs, hygiene, STIs, and contraception helps people make informed choices, adopt healthy behaviours, and seek timely medical help, thereby improving the overall reproductive health of the society.
Q12EXERCISES
Correct the following statements :
(a)
Surgical methods of contraception prevent gamete formation.
(b)
All sexually transmitted diseases are completely curable.
(c)
Oral pills are very popular contraceptives among the rural women.
(d)
In E. T. techniques, embryos are always transferred into the uterus.
Solution
(a) Correct statement: Surgical methods of contraception block gamete transport and thereby prevent conception. (Gamete formation continues in the testes and ovaries).
(b) Correct statement: Not all sexually transmitted diseases are completely curable. Infections like genital herpes, hepatitis-B, and HIV are not completely curable, while others like syphilis and gonorrhoea can be cured if detected early and treated properly.
(c) Correct statement: Oral pills are very popular contraceptives among the urban, working women. (IUDs are one of the most widely accepted methods of contraception in India, especially in rural areas).
(d) Correct statement: In E. T. (Embryo Transfer) techniques, early embryos (with up to 8 blastomeres) are transferred into the fallopian tube (ZIFT), whereas embryos with more than 8 blastomeres are transferred into the uterus (IUT).