Why You Should Care About Women’s Health Issues
It’s Women’s Health Month, and we at GoodTube have already received several great videos that highlight women’s health organizations. But some of you may be wondering, “Why do we dedicate a month to focusing on women’s health?”
Here are 3 reasons why we need a month for women’s health:
1. Although men and women suffer from many of the same health issues, women’s bodies react to them differently.
2. Women experience some unique afflictions that men do not.
3. Either naturally or through conditioning, women in general are prone to neglect their own well-being in favor of their children and significant others. With many women working as well as caring for families, often as single mothers, their health takes a back seat to the demands of daily life.
And so many women suffer from painful, and sometimes deadly, afflictions. Even with fully preventable or treatable illnesses. Even in modernized, Western countries. Whether you are a woman yourself with intentions of living a long, healthy life, or a male who has a woman or women in his life whose well-being you care about, Women’s Health Month is an invitation to learn how to help women take care of themselves.
There are many women’s illnesses that we could discuss, but one that seems to be particularly prevalent lately is HPV, or human papillomavirus. HPV is a group of over 100 common sexually transmitted viruses that causes many cases of cervical cancer. Although a simple PAP test can reveal changes from HPV which may lead to cervical cancer, there were still an estimated 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer in 2007 in the U.S., according to cancer.gov. There are high and low risk HPV viruses, and repeated outbreaks of the high risk types are the highest risk factor for cervical cancer. This is particularly unfortunate because of the significant increase in possibility of survival when cervical cancer is detected early.
What’s a woman to do?
1. Take the first PAP test at age 21, or 3 years after beginning sexual activity, whichever happens sooner.
2. Schedule annual pelvic exams and PAP tests.
3. Women who are between the ages 9 and 26 and who are not sexually active have available a new vaccine called Gardasil. Gardasil can also be effective in sexually active women.
4. If possible, reduce risk factors associated with HPV. Risk factors for HPV include: having many sexual partners, having many children, smoking, and birth control pills.
Treatment for cervical cancer is much more effective when detected early. Yearly exams are very important, especially for women who have the associated risk factors.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/HPV
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.”
-Janis Joplin
