Women’s Health Week: Small Steps Yield Healthy Results
This week (May 8-May 14) is National Women’s Health Week, which is a week-long health observance, designed to promote women’s health. National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. It also encourages them to take steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases.
Top 10 things women can do to keep themselves healthy:
1) Get regular physical activity. This means at least 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both, each week. For women of all ages, physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. It also helps women maintain healthy bones as they age. Regular physical activity also decreases symptoms of anxiety and depression, something women are more likely to experience.
2) Eat a nutritious diet. For women, a diet focused on eating whole, plant-based foods provides protection against heart disease, certain types of cancer and obesity. Try to find minimally-processed or locally-grown foods whenever possible and make these foods the mainstay of your diet. Especially important for women is a diet rich in calcium, since women are at a greater risk than men of developing osteoporosis. Plant-based sources of calcium like beans, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts and collard greens are a great way for women to get calcium. These types of food choices also ensure that women are getting enough iron in their diets. Foods like lean red meat, lentils, spinach and almonds are iron-rich choices, as well. It is also important for women to be aware of the amount of alcohol and caffeine they consume. Women who consume high levels of caffeine and alcohol are at increased risk of osteoporosis and other chronic diseases. Try to limit alcohol consumption to one glass a day and caffeine to one cup a day.
3) Get regular check-ups. Regular visits to a health care professional to receive regular checkups and all the recommended preventive screenings help women stay healthy. Regular checkups are vital to the early detection of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health illnesses, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other conditions. Regular mammograms, screening for high cholesterol and blood pressure screening are keys to maintaining good health. To figure out which preventive screenings you are in need of, visit http://www.womenshealth.gov/whw/health-resources/screening-tool/index.cfm.
4) Stop smoking. Smoking is the most preventable cause of early death in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking-related diseases cause the deaths of about 178,000 women in the United States each year. On average, these women died 14.5 years earlier because they smoked. Most smokers start when they are teenagers, so the easiest way to not smoke is to never start. If you have a child at home, quitting is especially important, since children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to start smoking.
5) Focus on your mental health. Women are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety disorders throughout their lives. Many women play multiple roles in their families and maintain exhaustive schedules, and while women are often the caretaker of the family, they are not always good at taking care of themselves. It is important for women to recognize when they are having difficulty coping, and when to seek help either from their support system or from a trained mental health professional.
6) Wear a seat belt. The benefits of the cheap, effective and accessible measure are clear. While over 40,000 people die in car accidents each year, the use of seat belts could prevent death in about half of these individuals. This measure is not only important for women’s health, but also the health of their children. Research shows that when a driver is unbuckled, 70 percent of the time children in that vehicle will not be buckled either.
7) Maintain healthy relationships. Healthy relationships, whether they are with friends, family, or significant others, are key to a woman’s health and well-being. Healthy relationships increase self-esteem, improve mental and emotional health, and help women have fuller lives. Good social support, from friends, family and community members can decrease a woman’s risk of depression and other health issues. Being in an abusive relationship has many deleterious effects on women, including an increased incidence of clinical depression, chemical dependency, and suicide. The New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women has resources to help those in need (http://www.njcbw.org/).
8) Get a good night’s sleep. A good night’s sleep has been shown to improve memory, decrease risk of death, improve quality of life, improve school performance, aid in maintaining a healthy weight and lower stress. It is recommended that school-aged children get an average of 10-11 hours of sleep per night; teens get 8-9 hours; and adults get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
9) Practice safe sex to prevent sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy. Safe sex is important to protect women from a range of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It also allows women to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
10) Put yourselves first. Women often serve as caregivers for their families, putting the needs of their spouses, children, and parents before their own. As a result, women’s health and well-being becomes secondary. It is important for women to understand that maintaining their own health is a priority, and that following these easy steps will allow them to reach their goal of good health.
Letter: Stop funding failed programs
Wendi C. Thomas uses her May 8 column to carp about those of us who would like to see Planned Parenthood defunded.
So how is it that after the millions of tax dollars Planned Parenthood has collected in the last 50 years, the millions of dollars it has spent in so-called health care services, the millions of women it has “served,” nothing ever gets better?
In Memphis, STDs are still out of control, unplanned pregnancy is epidemic and the infant mortality problem “bests those of many developing nations.” Planned Parenthood has obviously failed at what it says its purposes are. Its programs have failed miserably for those it “serves,” but its programs have certainly been successful in lining Planned Parenthood’s pockets.
Indeed, all their efforts have accomplished is a guarantee of their part of the 9,000-plus abortions that happen in Shelby County every year with the fees they represent and more millions to them at the taxpayers’ expense.
Yet every time they are in jeopardy of losing a cent of public money, Planned Parenthood screams that without them all hell will break loose. “Hundreds of women will be turned away.” STDs and HIV will spin out of control! Women will be forced to have 10 babies before they are 30 years old! Teenagers won’t be able to get “protection” so they won’t get pregnant! Really?
We can do without Planned Parenthood entirely. Many local Christian-based health care providers offer STD testing and treatment, help in preventing unplanned pregnancy, and give prenatal care to prevent infant mortality, along with many other women’s health care services. They do it at no cost to the patient and without expecting taxpayers who don’t agree with them to pay up anyway. They do everything Planned Parenthood does except abortions.
No matter what Thomas says, that is really what it is all about. Protecting abortion.
Planned Parenthood’s failure is all around us. Enough already.
Women’s Health Day encourages females to boost health
Price was no obstacle Monday afternoon when several hundred women were able to take advantage of free health screenings.
The third annual Women’s Health Day at the Sue Mayborn Women’s Center comes at the start of National Women’s Health Week, an observance put together by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health.
The week is coordinated to encourage women to improve their health and lower risks of certain diseases.
“For the screenings, it’s a preventive measure,” said Michelle Demarais, community relations wellness coordinator. “A lot of people who come here are under-insured. I just talked to one woman who hasn’t been to the doctor in five years.”
The event included 15 vendors in the lobby of the women’s center at Metroplex Hospital. Additional rooms were filled with visitors taking advantage of available screenings. Speakers also spread information about diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
“It seemed to me to encompass everything I wanted to have checked at one time at one place,” attendee Ofelia Gonzalez said. “This is the first time I’ve been to an event like this. It’s very nice. I didn’t expect so many different stations and so much information, just about everything you’d want to know.”
The screenings included bone scans for osteoporosis and tests of blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, height, weight and body mass index.
“It’ll have a very positive impact on the community because someone is willing to do all this for free. And that’s always a good thing for a lot of people and for a lot of places,” Gonzalez said.
Florida bills burden women’s health
In medical school, we learn that the patient comes first. Our Legislature is trying to gut this principle. The House passed six bills meant to separate women from medical care they need; the Senate approved four. I appeal to Gov. Rick Scott: Veto all four bills. They are meant to hurt, not help, Florida’s patients and their families. • All of this legislation targets abortion and abortion only. I am an obstetrician/gynecologist who specializes in medically complex abortions. I treat women who would be harmed if one or more of these bills became law.
I think of Karen: a 37-year-old married woman with a 6-year-old daughter. Karen and her husband wanted another child, and their daughter was excited about a little brother or sister.
Because of her age, Karen had an amniocentesis. The test showed that her baby had trisomy 18: a lethal condition. The baby was going to die in the uterus, during labor or shortly after birth.
Devastated, Karen and her husband visited specialists for second opinions, but the prognosis was the same. They decided, painfully, on abortion.
When she came to me, Karen had had multiple ultrasounds from nearly a month of testing. I didn’t need to do another ultrasound. Karen understood very well what was happening and had thought long and hard about her decision. After discussing her options for how to proceed, she underwent an uncomplicated surgical abortion procedure. She was relieved and finally able to grieve.
One of the bills on the governor’s desk would mandate ultrasounds before abortions. If that bill had been in effect when Karen was pregnant, I would have been required to perform yet another ultrasound. I would have had to offer Karen the opportunity to hear me describe and explain her baby’s appearance during the ultrasound, as well as a chance to see the ultrasound images.
I’m sure Karen would have said no to both; her baby’s deformities were all too familiar. To top it off, Karen would have had to sign a form from the state indicating that she had declined “of her own free will” — as if she didn’t know her own heart and mind.
Nothing in these requirements would change my patients’ minds about abortion. We don’t yet have conclusive evidence on the impact of ultrasound mandates, but some other states have passed similar bills. My colleagues there say that so far, their patients haven’t changed course after viewing or hearing about their ultrasounds.
If Karen’s story has a bright side, it is that her health insurance covered her prenatal care, testing, the specialists and her abortion. Karen and her husband could choose abortion without worrying about how to pay for it — a procedure for a pregnancy like Karen’s can cost thousands of dollars.
But our Legislature has determined that Floridians don’t deserve abortion coverage. The House and Senate passed a bill to prohibit any insurance plan available on the coming state health insurance exchange from covering abortion.
I had a patient, Marie, who carried a doomed pregnancy to term because she didn’t have abortion coverage and couldn’t afford the procedure. Marie’s trauma was exacerbated every day when strangers saw her pregnant belly and made cheerful inquiries about her baby.
The state of Florida must allow women to obtain abortion care when they need it. Like everything I studied in medical school and residency, abortion is safe, legal, rigorously researched, and vital to human health. The governor must not punish the women who need this procedure. I urge him to veto the exchange ban, the mandatory ultrasound requirements and the other pointless burdens on women’s ability to stay healthy.
Christopher Estes is an obstetrician/ gynecologist and a member of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. He is an assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and practices at University of Miami Hospital.