Your turn
Raksha Joshi
Guest Column
Women urged to take charge of own health

The latest census numbers tell us women now comprise more than half of the U.S. population. More than 72 million women — nearly a quarter of the total population — are in the reproductive age group of 15-49. Because women play such an important role in this nation — as evidenced by their numbers alone — everyone should consider women’s health an issue of immense importance.

Without question, women are an integral part of America’s work force, as well as its families. Countless women throughout the country are single heads of households, and many more in two-parent households are the ones who make their family’s health care decisions. Women are the caretakers. For their own sakes, for their family’s well-being and for the good of the nation, women must keep themselves healthy.

American females face a variety of health challenges — from childhood through adolescence — during the reproductive years and then menopause and even beyond. Those challenges often are the same ones men face, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

However, there are health concerns unique to women by virtue of their gender. Menstruation disorders, for example, are the reason one in four women see a gynecologist. Numerous medical methods are now available to diagnose and treat such disorders without the risks associated with major surgery. This is a big advance, considering that up until a few years ago, hysterectomy was the only method available to combat such problems.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, trichomoniasis, syphilis and HIV/AIDS are an unpleasant daily reality for many women. STIs are a huge problem among teens — nearly 25 percent of all STIs occur in teens. Every year four million teenagers — about one in four of them who have sex — contract an STI.

Few young women realize how devastating an untreated STI can be for them, especially later when they want to start a family. The complications of undiagnosed and untreated STIs are devastating and can include infertility due to fallopian tube damage, and ectopic pregnancy, where the woman’s fertilized egg takes hold in a fallopian tube rather than the uterus.

Ectopic pregnancy could cause the woman’s death from bleeding if the tube ruptures, and in fact, is the second-leading cause of maternal death after pulmonary embolism (a blood clot that lodges in the blood vessels of the lungs). In addition, pelvic inflammatory disease could cause persistent problems and lowered quality of life from chronic pelvic pain, as well as menstruation disorders from scarring around the fallopian tubes and ovaries.

One-half of all pregnancies that occur in the United States are unplanned. Half of all these unplanned pregnancies end in voluntary abortion. Undergoing an abortion brings physical, emotional and psychological stresses to the woman. Complications such as bleeding, infection and damage to the uterus can cause infertility or even death. Prevention of an un­wanted/unplanned pregnancy through contraception use assumes an impor­tant place in a woman’s health. There are many contracep­tion choices avail­able, such as the pill, patches, injec­tions, implants, intrauterine devices, vaginal rings and for permanent contraception, tubal sterilization. With so many con­traceptive choices avail­able to them, American women — after consulta­tion with their physicians — can se­lect the methods best suited for their individual needs.

Cancer of the cervix is a sexual practices-related disease that is pre­ventable if detected in its early stages. Having regular Pap tests done — which screen for this cancer — is the best way to prevent the disease. Regu­lar Pap tests have helped re­duce deaths caused by cervical can­cer by almost 70 percent. Women are living one-third of their lives after menopause, so maintaining health after menopause is of utmost impor­tance. Issues such as osteoporosis and cancer prevention and treatment be­come issues of in­creasing importance as a woman grows older.

Knowledge is power and a woman has complete power to con­trol and maintain her health if she chooses to do so. So women, take con­trol of your health to live long, healthy and fulfill­ing lives — for yourselves and your families.

Raksha Joshi, M.D., is medical di­rector of the Monmouth Family Health Center