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Women’s Health Concerns
Recomended screenings for women:
Screening Tests |
Ages 18 - 39 |
General Health: |
Discuss with your doctor or nurse. |
Thyroid test (TSH) |
Start at age 35, then every 5 years |
Heart Health:
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At least every 2 years Discuss with your doctor or nurse |
Cholesterol test |
Start at age 20, discuss with your doctor or nurse. |
Diabetes:
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Discuss with your doctor or nurse |
Reproductive Health: |
Every 1-3 years if you have been sexually active or are older than 21
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Chlamydia test |
Yearly until age 25 if sexually active. Older than age 25, get this test if you have new or multiple partners. All pregnant women should have this test.
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Sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests |
Both partners should get tested for STDs, including HIV, before initiating sexual intercourse. |
Mental Health Screening |
Discuss with your doctor or nurse. |
Skin Health: |
Monthly mole self-exam; by a doctor every 3 years, starting at age 20.
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Oral Health: |
One to two times every year |
Immunizations: |
Discuss with your doctor or nurse. |
Pneumococcal vaccine |
One time only |
Tetanus-diphtheria booster vaccine |
Every 10 years |
Human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) |
Discuss with your doctor or nurse. |
Meningococcal vaccine |
Discuss with your doctor or nurse if attending college |
Weight Control:
Eating right, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight is an important part of staying healthy. However, weight loss attempts can be dangerous and may lead to eating disorders. Stay away from weight loss techniques that:
Rely on pills or substances
Do not include a variety of foods
Are very low calorie
Require more than 60 min of exercise per day
Extreme diets have many consequences including light-headedness, exercise injury, anemia, brittle hair and nails, kidney damage, heart damage, and even death.
Heart Disease is the number 1 killer of women.
Increased risk factors include smoking, being overweight, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol , and family history of heart disease.
Start taking care of your heart now by eating heart healthy foods, exercising, keeping a healthy weight, and not smoking.
Get your cholesterol checked beginning at age 20.
Sexual Health
Women are at risk for many sexual health problems including breast cancer, menstrual problems, vaginal infections, and infertility.
See a doctor for any of the following symptoms:
Burning or itching around the vagina or anus
Sores around the vagina
Unusual discharge
Pain in lower abdominal
Irregular menstrual cycles
Unusually heavy or painful menstruation
Lumps in the breast
Reduce your risk by:
Getting an annual Pap smear
Doing self breast exams
Getting tested for STI’’s if at risk
Using a condom
Not using douches, strong soaps, or sprays in the vaginal area
Being aware of any changes
UTI
Prevention:
Wash the genital area daily with mild soap, rinse well and dry thoroughly.
Drink plenty of water – a minimum of eight, 8 ounce glasses per day, or more if you’re physically active.
Avoid excessive alcohol, caffeine and spicy foods, which can irritate the urinary tract in some people.
Urinate frequently and empty your bladder completely. This helps eliminate bacteria before infections can develop.
Wipe from front to back after a bowel movement. This reduces the chance of bacteria being transported to the urethra from the anus. Using unscented bathroom tissue can help.
Don’t use douches, strong soaps, deodorants or sprays on the genital area.
Urinate before and after intercourse. This may help eliminate bacteria that might have been introduced to the urethra during intercourse.
Shower instead of taking a bath.
Drinking a small glass of cranberry juice every day may help prevent infection by making urine less hospitable to bacteria. But be aware that cranberry juice may cause bladder irritation in some people.
Signs and Symptoms
Common symptoms of UTI in the bladder (cystitis):
Pain or burning when urinating
Feeling a sudden, urgent need to urinate
Urinating more often than usual
Urinating only small amounts even though the bladder feels full
Blood in the urine
Cloudy or foul smelling urine
Pain in the lower abdomen especially when urinating
Common symptoms of urethritis:
Same as bladder infection, but without lower abdominal pain
Common symptoms of kidney infection
Symptoms of bladder infection (sometimes)
Back pain, usually on one side, located at about the level of the lower ribs
Fever
Nausea (sometimes)
Abdominal pain (sometimes)
Treatment
Drink plenty of water to help flush out the urinary tract. This won’t cure the infection, but may help relieve symptoms.
Don’t have sex until you are checked by your health care provider.
Get plenty of rest to help your body fight the infection.
Limit foods that may cause urinary burning, such as coffee tea, alcohol, spicy food and carbonated drinks.
See a Health Care Provider if:
You have UTI symptoms
You experience frequent UTI even through you use prevention measures.
You were treated for UTI but the symptoms didn’t go away
Rape
Rape is any type of forced or pressured sexual intercoarse including oral, anal, and vaginal. Even if you are unconcious or too impaired to refuse, or too scared to argue, it is still considered rape if you do consent. It can be done by an aquaintence, a friend or someone you know casualy; a date, or a stranger. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone.
Don't be a victim- ways to protect yourself:
Drink wisely, don't let yourself become too impaired to make clear desicions.
Always go out, espeacially to the bars or clubs, with friends and stay together.
Never leave a drink unattended and don't accept a drink from a stranger unless you open it yourself. This puts you at risk for date rape drugs which are ouderless and tasteless.
If you are going somewhere and won't be out until dark, park your car in a place that will be well lit.
Lock your doors, even while home.
Take elevators instead of staiwells alone.
For more information on protecting yourself vistit:
http://www.womentraveltips.com/tips5.shtml