Women need to take care of themselves to be able to live a full and active life. Whether you are a professional working in an office or a full time mom taking care of the kids, or someone who does both, staying healthy and taking care of your body is important.
Women aren’t the same as men when it comes to health risks they face. To be able to take care of yourself better, it is important that you understand the common health risks faced by women. We are going to discuss the 5 most common health issues for women and how to deal with them in this article.
Heart Disease
Heart disease is more common in men than in women, but it is still considered the number one health risk we face today. Heart disease kills more women than cancer, so it is easy to see how this health risk is something that needs to be taken seriously.
Heart disease isn’t something you can cure. Once you have it, treatment options are very limited. You can get surgical treatments to improve the condition of your heart and enhance its functions, but you still have to be very careful in taking care of your body.
The best way to deal with heart disease is by preventing it altogether. A change in lifestyle and remaining physically active are some of the ways you can reduce the risk of heart disease by a substantial margin.
Breast Cancer
Another serious health risk to understand is breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women. Even worse, there is a growing fear of breast cancer and it often prevents women from seeing a doctor and getting the illness diagnosed early.
Today, there is a lot of treatment that can help you fight breast cancer. Even when you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to treating the illness.
What you need to focus on is getting breast cancer diagnosed as early as possible. Self-diagnosis is very easy in the case of breast cancer. When you see signs of breast cancer through self-diagnosis, go to see a doctor immediately and get it properly checked out.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is another health issue that is more common in women than men. Osteoporosis attacks your bone and is the cause of hunched backs, chronic back pain, joint pains, and other health issues. Osteoporosis is more common in older women, but don’t think that you can’t suffer from it at a younger age.
The body builds up bone mass until you hit 30. After that, the body maintains the existing bone mass rather than continuing with production. Your lifestyle choices around this period in your life are important, because it will affect the overall health of your bone as you get older. Exercise regularly and maintain your calcium intake to avoid osteoporosis.
Gynecology Related Health Issues
We can’t talk about common health issues in women without talking about gynecology. Gynecology related health issues are affecting women in different ways. Issues like infections of the vagina or cervix require an immediate visit to a women’s urgent care facility. Milder issues, including persistent morning sickness, are easier to deal with.
There are two things you need to understand about dealing with gynecology related issues. First of all, you need to learn how to spot common symptoms of various gynecological issues and the right steps to take upon seeing those symptoms. It is also important to understand that gynecology related issues require quick handling; don’t be ashamed to see a gynecologist under any circumstance.
Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases, including diseases like Type 1 diabetes and lupus, are also more commonly found in women than in men. What’s worrying is the fact that most autoimmune diseases aren’t easy to diagnose. You may need to go through several checks and see different doctors before an actual health issue can be diagnosed correctly.
The causes of autoimmune diseases are not always obvious either. You have factors like the environment you are in, genetic factors, and even changes in hormones that can cause autoimmune diseases.
The best way to deal with autoimmune diseases is by getting it diagnosed correctly in the first place. It is a tedious process that requires a lot of patience, but it is a process worth completing for the sake of your health. Similar to the previous health issues we talked about, the sooner you get the issue diagnosed, the sooner you can apply the correct treatments and regain your health.
It’s typically a woman’s nature to put others needs ahead of her own, especially family. Thank you for the reminder and encouragement to take care of myself as well! This is something I have been working on lately.