WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER

What You Should Know About Women’s Health

When it comes to women’s health, myths pervade. Women worry more about breast cancer, for example, than heart disease, even though the latter will kill seven times as many women this year. Other conditions, like dementia and osteoporosis, which have an outsized impact on women, are often preventable with changes in exercise, diet and other lifestyle factors.

Myth 1: Breast cancer is the biggest issue in women’s health.

Fact: Lung cancer and heart disease in women is more deadly than breast cancer. While breast cancer is important, most cases of heart disease are preventable. 

Heart disease can also be more deadly for women than men – women often think of heart disease as a man’s disease and fail to recognize symptoms and risk factors. Studies have also shown that physicians can miss obvious symptoms and fail to treat women as aggressively for heart disease as men. Women are less likely to be prescribed certain heart medications (aspirin, statins and blood pressure meds) than men, according to a 2020 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Nowhere is this discrepancy bigger than with a heart attack. Women often present with the same chest pain symptoms as men, but they also can present with pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, arms or between the shoulder blades. Patients and doctors are quick to dismiss both as something other than heart attack 50 percent of the time, according to one study from 2018. They dismiss it as heartburn or stress and anxiety-related.

Still, an estimated 80 percent of heart disease is preventable. Learn what you can do to reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Myth 2: There’s nothing I can do to lower my cancer risk. 
Fact: While it’s true that certain genetic factors play a big role in cancer risk — especially the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes for breast and ovarian cancer — you can lower your risk of most cancers through changes in lifestyle – and that includes breast cancer.

If you don’t smoke, limit alcohol consumption, adopt a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight, you can lower your risk substantially. Smoking remains the number one risk factor for lung cancer, for example, and lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer.

Talk to your primary care doctor about your cancer risk and develop a plan to lower it. Here are some other things you can do to lower your chances of getting cancer.

Myth 3: Osteoporosis is just a normal part of aging.

Fact: Osteoporosis and the fractures and debilitating broken bones that come with it are not a normal part of anything. And it’s largely preventable.

Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones have become so weak and brittle, they’re vulnerable to fractures. Bones of the spine, hip and wrist have the higher risk of breaking. And breaking a hip in your senior years can be life-threatening, as the bedrest required to heal a broken hip raises the risk for pneumonia and blood clots.

Osteoporosis affects more women than men — and affects mostly older women. Prevention starts when you’re young, but no matter how old you are, you can take steps to build bone mass and prevent loss. Here’s how.

Myth 4: Pap smears screen for more than just cervical cancer.

Fact: Pap smears only screen for cervical cancer. Ovarian and endometrial cancers are usually detected by biopsy once symptoms develop. The good news is that testing for cervical cancer has caused the number of deaths to decrease significantly. There’s also a vaccine for cervical cancer, which is caused by a strain of HPV. 

But other gynecological cancers defy easy detection. That’s why it’s important to see your doctor regularly and share with them any unusual symptoms, including:

• Abdominal bloating or swelling
• Unexplained weight loss
• Feeling full when eating
• Discomfort in your pelvis area
• Changes in bowel habits, like constipation
• Frequent need to urinate
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
• Vaginal discharge
• Painful urination

Learn more about common screening tests for women and when you should get one.

Myth 5: Skipping or delaying my primary care appointment is okay.
Fact: Modern primary care can be a pain. Long waits for short appointments are the norm, unfortunately. But your primary care doctor is still important. And skipping annual screenings or wellness visits can allow little problems to become big ones. 

In our Women’s Health Survey, more than half of women said they waited longer than they’d like to get a doctor’s appointment; 55 percent put off seeing the doctor until their symptoms became urgent; 44 percent have skipped the doctor or delayed seeing him or her due to busy schedules; and 60 percent ended up seeing a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner instead of their doctor.

While longer waits at the doctor are frustrating inconveniences, even worse are women who told us they wished their doctor spent more time on issues relevant to them (36 percent), said their concerns weren’t taken seriously by their doctor (31 percent) and said they couldn’t’ ask all their questions in an appointment (31%). 

Modern primary care doctors are busy and often have only a short amount of time to meet with you. They can also be distracted by technology, electronic charting and other patients. Here are three tips you should follow to be heard by your doctor:

• Prepare for your appointment. Have a list of symptoms and questions ready for your doctor.
• Speak up if you disagree. If you describe your problem to your doctor and you feel it’s dismissed, speak up.
• Review the appointment. After you are finished, think about the appointment. If you felt your concerns weren’t addressed, get a second opinion from another doctor or switch doctors altogether.

Finally, consider switching to a different kind of primary care altogether. MDVIP-affiliated physicians see fewer patients and offer longer appointments. They have more time to work with you on specific challenges and more time to listen to you and answer your questions. 

Plus, you’ll take part annually in the MDVIP Wellness Program, which includes advanced screenings and tests not usually covered by insurance or Medicare. You’ll also enjoy same- or next-day appointments that start on time and last as long as needed. Fill out the form below and find a primary care doctor near you who has time to help you.