CityView Magazine

health Healthi-Her T Health recommendations for women of all ages By Shari Dragovich hroughout history, no figure has been described, drawn, painted or chiseled more than the woman���s body. Poets fill pages with descriptions of voluptuous curves, painters spend lifetimes drawing female nudes. Even her saunter and the arch of her brow inspires. With such magnificence in design must inevitably come complication and mystery; particularly when it comes to women���s health. The tangled web of guidelines, recommendations, screenings and warnings is nearly too much to unravel, leaving women with the proverbial ���one more thing to do���. The same delicate masterpieces must decode the myriad health recommendations between unknotting children���s triple tied tennis shoes, attending to work demands and organizing a pile of mail that never seems to make it past the corner of the kitchen counter. Tempting as it may be, ignoring health recommendations cannot be an option. Women���s bodies are intricate and diseases creep in while life is happening. The statistics are eve- rywhere: one in eight women will battle breast cancer in her lifetime. Heart disease is her number one killer. Autoimmune diseases such as MS (multiple sclerosis), Sjoren���s syndrome and lupus are 75 percent higher in women than men. Osteoporosis is on the rise. Rheumatoid arthritis, gallstones, irritable bowel, urinary tract infections, kidney disease and high blood pressure also rank high among women���s enemies. With such formidable foes, women must arm themselves with education and prevention, beginning with the annual healthcare visit. The Annual Visit Caitlyn Rerucha, a second-year family practice medical resident at Womack Army Medical Center knows the uncertainty in women���s health recommendations well. ���We are in a time of great change in women���s healthcare,��� she said. With a wealth of new data to give deeper insight into the pathology of diseases and the passing of the Affordable Care Act, prevention has become the key driver in a woman���s medical care. Research results are also causing professional organizaCityViewNC.com | 37

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