A Hormonal Epidemic In Kashmir's Classrooms And Colleges

By Amaar Mir

You hear it in whispers during bus rides, in clinic waiting rooms, in college corridors. Girls skipping periods for months. Women in their 20s growing facial hair. Teenagers breaking down over sudden weight gain and cystic acne.

A silent crisis is gripping women in Kashmir, and it has a name: PCOD.

“I hadn't seen my period in five months,” says 19-year-old Iqra from Anantnag.“I was scared, but the doctor just wrote it off as stress.”

When she finally got an ultrasound, the image showed what doctors call a“string of pearls”: rows of tiny, undeveloped follicles lining her ovaries. It confirmed what she had feared: Polycystic Ovarian Disease, or PCOD.

And she's not alone.

A recent estimate suggests that more than 37% of women and girls in Kashmir may be affected by PCOD. That's more than one in three. Many doctors say it's not an issue that medicine alone can fix.

“We're seeing it in girls as young as 13,” says Dr. Iffat Wani, a gynecologist based in Srinagar.“And we can't just hand them pills and send them off. The root problem is deeper-lifestyle, food, stress, and too much sitting.”

PCOD isn't just about irregular periods. It can mean hair growing where it shouldn't, acne that refuses to heal, sudden weight gain, and infertility.

Most of this is linked to hormonal confusion inside the body, especially when insulin and male hormones (called androgens) take over.

“People think PCOD is about cysts. But it's really a hormonal imbalance,” says Dr. Wani.“The ovaries don't release eggs regularly. That throws everything off.”

Inside the body, things get complicated fast. Hormones that are supposed to work in harmony begin to clash. The brain tells the ovaries to prepare for ovulation, but the signal gets scrambled. Instead of one egg maturing, multiple follicles start to grow and then stall halfway. These immature follicles appear on an ultrasound as cysts, though they're not the dangerous kind, they still mess with the cycle.

What triggers this chaos? Doctors say one word: insulin.

Insulin is the hormone that manages sugar in the blood. But when the body stops responding to it properly-a condition called insulin resistance-the pancreas pumps out more.

This extra insulin pushes the ovaries to produce more androgens. That, in turn, causes acne, unwanted facial hair, and irregular cycles.

Even more worryingly, this isn't just happening in women who are overweight.

“We've seen PCOD in thin girls too,” says Dr. Nusrat, a clinical nutritionist in Pulwama.“Weight isn't always the cause. It's about how the body handles sugar.”

Still, excess belly fat adds fuel to the fire. Fat releases chemicals that mess with insulin and increase inflammation, making things worse.

Combine that with hours of sitting, a diet filled with processed foods and sugary drinks, and little to no exercise, and you have a perfect recipe for hormonal meltdown.

Iqra blames her habits too.“During the pandemic, I stopped going out. I gained 12 kilos, and my sleep was all over the place. I used to eat instant noodles every day. That's when my periods stopped.”

Doctors across Kashmir echo the same concern: too much junk food, sugary beverages, late-night screens, and not enough movement.

“Our girls are drinking soda, skipping meals, eating cheese-loaded snacks, and then not moving an inch,” says Dr. Nusrat.“It's a ticking time bomb.”

There's also another problem: social silence.

Many girls feel too embarrassed to talk about irregular periods or facial hair. Mothers often dismiss it. Teachers don't talk about it in schools.“We need more awareness,” says Dr. Iffat.“Girls must know what's happening in their bodies.”

Medical treatment does exist. Pills containing Myo-Inositol or insulin-sensitizers like metformin are commonly prescribed. But most doctors now push for a different kind of medicine: lifestyle change.

“Even losing 5% of body weight can make periods return,” says Dr. Nusrat.“That's two to four kilos for many girls. And you don't need a gym. Just walking briskly, avoiding processed sugar, eating home-cooked food, drinking enough water-it all helps.”

Stress is another silent culprit. The body responds to mental tension by releasing cortisol, another hormone that can trigger insulin resistance.

Add erratic sleep patterns, social media doomscrolling, exam pressure, and it's a storm.

Sleep matters too.“Girls are staying up till 2am, eating chips at midnight,” says Dr. Iffat.“The body's natural rhythm is disrupted. Hormones go out of sync.”

So what works? Not pills. Not surgery. Just a return to the basics: move more, eat real food, sleep on time, and unplug.

Some girls are turning their lives around. Iqra started walking every morning. She stopped drinking fizzy drinks, switched to homemade meals, and began journaling to manage stress.

“My periods came back after three months,” she says, smiling.“I didn't even take medicines.”

The problem is real. The numbers are scary. But the solution isn't out of reach.

The real challenge is not just medical, it's cultural. Can families talk openly about menstruation? Can schools educate girls early? Can society stop treating hormonal health as a private shame?

As PCOD creeps silently into the lives of young Kashmiri women, it's not just their bodies that are hurting, it's their confidence, their fertility, and their future.

But it doesn't have to be this way. The healing can begin with small, consistent steps: on the plate, on the track, and in the mind.

Amaar Mir is a research scholar at the University of Kashmir. He can be reached at: [email protected]

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