Screenings Can Save Women's Lives

Women excel at caregiving—nurturing children, caring for their partners and friends and attending to elderly parents. But when it comes to their own health, women often let hectic lifestyles or concerns about money get in the way.

Physicians advise that women follow their personal health care provider’s recommendations for timing of health screenings and tests to help their bodies stay healthy. Women have unique health needs during their life span and have higher risks for chronic health conditions like diabetes, as well as heart disease and stroke.

According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Americans use preventive services about half the rate they should. It is believed that the combination of women’s lower incomes and higher out-of-pocket health costs mean that women are more likely to delay or not receive needed preventive services, such as annual well-woman visits.

Dr. Marya Porter of Magnolia Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinic in Hammond and Walker agrees.

“It’s very important that women pay attention to their bodies from pre-pregnancy through menopause,” she notes. “There are so many different female issues that can be going on in every different stage.”

For the first time, and as part of the Affordable Care Act, HHS is adopting a set of guidelines for women’s preventive services that builds on and fills the gaps in existing preventive services recommendations for women’s health. The goal of the guidelines is to help women stay healthy at every stage of life.

To learn more about the screenings you need, download Tests for Women(PDF).