Womens Health

Women are living longer but women can have numerous diseases that are potential killers here we will look at common women's health problems, living longer and avoiding illness and disease.

Women live an average of 7 years longer than men and their life expectancy is expected to continue to increase.

Because women tend to live longer, their health has a greater impact on themselves and everyone around them, including their children, parents, and anyone else for whom they provide care.

In addition, despite recent gains in equality in politics and the workplace, women are still typically the primary caregivers when family members become ill.

In order for women to continue in this vital care giving role, they must maintain their own level of health and wellness.

To do so, they need accurate and timely health information, access to resources, and support from health professionals so they can understand the significance of health in their own lives and take important steps towards living healthier and longer.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that the population is getting older as life expectancy nearly doubles.

In the 21st century, over 20% of the world population is over age 65, compared with 1% 100 years ago. UNESCO projects that by 2030, 1 in 4 women in the United States will be over age 65. In addition, 1 in 5 women will be Hispanic, 1 in 11 will be Asian, and the number of Black and Native American women will grow even more steadily.

By 2050, White women will make up about half of the adult female population in America . Thus, it's clear that our nation and the world face the challenge of meeting the health needs of an increasingly older, more diverse, more female population.

Successful treatment of existing illness is by no means a guarantee and, in some cases, is nonexistent.

The diseases that cause the most deaths in women are heart disease and cancers - particularly lung, breast, and colorectal cancers.

The prevalence of these highly preventable diseases in women stresses the need for health promotion, illness prevention and life-style changes as the essential focus of women's health.

Also, with the advancement of medical research and technology, we know that chronic diseases, including osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and other autoimmune disorders, can be prevented or at least delayed.

Health care professionals caring for women play an important role not only in informing them about disease prevention, health promotion, and lifestyle changes, but also in reinforcing the massage that they must change their health for the better.

Symptoms as Clues

Physical discomforts are your body's way of telling you something.

Unfortunately, the body's language is often quite vague and symptoms can mean many things. Pelvic pain can be a troublesome but harmless part of ovulation or a sign of serious infection.

Breast lumps could mean cancer, but many are benign.

The best way to learn what's wrong is to consult your doctor who can use other clues to decode the body's messages and diagnose the underlying problem.

Even if you think the problem is small and will go away, you should call your doctor. Many illnesses, both major and minor, are easier to handle if caught early. And a diagnosis gives you the comfort of being certain what's wrong.

For many women, something out of the ordinary about their sexual organs, reproductive system, or urinary tract has the added complication of being embarrassing and difficult to discuss.

Furthermore, the possible explanations for gynecologic symptoms may be more upsetting than the cause of, say, muscle pain.

A monogamous woman who thinks the changes in her vaginal mucus are caused by a sexually transmitted disease (STD) may fear that her partner has been seeing other women.

The possibility of pregnancy or cancer may be frightening enough to keep a woman out of a doctor's office where she might hear bad news.

Like everything else in life, however, it's better to face a potential problem than to deny it. You may prefer to ignore an annoying symptom.

But an illness that requires treatment will only worsen without care. And most doctors want to find out what's wrong and help you, not judge you.

Most women experience problems at some point in their lives with menstruation, their vulva or vagina, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, breasts, or urinary tract.

Gynecologic and urinary symptoms are common -- your doctor has almost certainly seen women with similar problems many times before.

It will not be nearly as alarming to a doctor as it may be to you.

This series of articles is designed to allay unfounded or exaggerated worries by identifying common gynecologic and urinary tract symptoms and explaining possible causes. It also briefly discusses what to expect at the doctor's office.

Keep in mind that your doctor's evaluation may differ from what you read here based on your description of your symptoms, medical tests and your personal history.

The areas to be covered are:

. Excessive or abnormal vaginal bleeding

. Abnormal vaginal mucus or discharge

. Pain during menstruation

. Menstruation stopping (or never starting at puberty)

. Pain during intercourse

. Pelvic pain

. Discharge from the breast (other than postpartum)

. Breast lumps

. Painful urination

. Blood in the urine

. More frequent urination

Look out for the other articles in this series that cover all the above:

What the symptoms mean what the implications are, possible illnesses and how to treat them.