Know Your Risks—And Ease Your Mind
Understanding The Six Greatest Health Risks for Women
This Mother’s Day (May 11) kicks off National Women’s Health Week. It’s the perfect time for women to become more knowledgeable about their health risks. Only when you know your health risks can you take steps to reduce them, and that can only help to ease your mind.
#1—Heart Disease
Most women are surprised to learn that heart disease is their top health risk. Heart disease causes the death of approximately 350,000 American women each year, more than all forms of cancer combined.
#2—Cancer
No surprise here, but what you may not know is that the leading cause of cancer death among women is lung cancer. That’s not to say that breast cancer is not a major concern. For example, one in eight women will be affected by breast cancer, and more than 11,000 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed last year. Colon cancer is another special concern for women, with more than 57,000 new cases reported in women every year. Fortunately, you can take action to avoid these cancers. The best way to prevent lung cancer is to stop smoking. For breast, cervical and colon cancers, there are specific tests that can detect the disease in its early stages. So talk to your physician about having a mammogram, Pap test and checking for colon cancer.
#3—Stroke
Two-thirds of the people who die of stroke in the United States are women. That’s over 100,000 women each year. Stroke risk doubles for a woman if someone in her immediate family has had a stroke.
#4—Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD refers to a group of diseases, such as bronchitis and emphysema, that cause breathing problems and air-flow blockage. Smoking is the primary cause of COPD. Any current and former smoker over the age of 45 or anyone having difficulty breathing should ask her doctor to conduct a simple test to measure their pulmonary function.
#5—Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s is a progressive degenerative disease that destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Because women have a longer life expectancy than men, they are more at risk. Indeed, women are twice as likely to die from the disease as men.
#6—Diabetes
Over nine million American women over the age of 20 have diabetes, and 1/3 of them have not been diagnosed. Untreated, diabetes can lead to blindness and kidney failure. It also dramatically increases the risk of heart disease. Ask your doctor to conduct a simple blood test to determine if you have diabetes.
Word count = 419 words