Women’s Health: Detecting and Treating Breast Cancer

Women need to periodically visit an Obstetrician or a Gynecologist for pelvic scans or for taking a Pap test, especially if they are 21 years of age or older. Any study on women’s health would surely delve into the rise of cancer as a dangerous illness that may lead to death and is second only to heart diseases in terms of most occurring illnesses.

Knowing the Facts

Women’s health is directly impacted by cancer which is thought to have been diagnosed in more than a million people in the United States, though it is certain that cancer affliction can be drastically reduced by adopting healthier lifestyles, improving nutrition and avoiding being exposed to the sun. In addition, cancer screening, information regarding cancer as well as referral services would all help to significantly improve women’s health.

Women who have attained the age of 65 years or who are older are believed to make up half of the new breast cancer cases every year and the number for older women having breast cancer is expected to double by the year 2030 as the baby boomers age. The anomaly is that younger women who have breast cancer receive better care than their older counterparts, even though women want their physicians to look at the disease not their dates of birth.

Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer afflicting women’s health and is thought to have affected one out of every 11-12 women at some stage of their lives in the Western hemisphere, and in spite of significant efforts being made to achieve early detection and provide effectual treatment, supposedly about 20% of all women having breast cancer would die as a result of this disease.

To detect cases of breast cancer it is necessary to have screening performed which includes breast self-examination and mammography though only the latter has been found to lessen mortality from breast cancer. Women’s health needs aids such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect cancers that are not visible through mammography methods.

Besides cancer, another cause of worry regarding women’s health is diabetes, and to fight this disease the National Public Health Initiative on Diabetes and Women’s health have made a television video on diabetes and women’s health and this video highlights the tales regarding women which gives hope and encouragement to women as well as their families in coping with diabetes. Bottom line: for good health, it is important to educate oneself.