From the National Women's Health Information Center

Should women be concerned about lung disease?

Yes. The number of women diagnosed with lung disease in the United States is on the rise. The percentage of women dying from lung disease in this country is also increasing.

Here are some other reasons why lung disease is an important health concern for women:

• Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women in the United States. It kills more women than breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer combined.
• Deaths from lung cancer among women have risen 150% in the last 20 years while deaths among men are decreasing.
• Studies show that women are 1.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than men.
• About 64,000 women in the United States die every year from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• 65% of people who die from asthma are women.
• More than twice as many women are diagnosed with chronic bronchitis than men every year.

How many women are obese?

Over 60% of U.S. adult women are overweight, according to 2007 estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over one-third of overweight adult women are obese.

What's the best way to lose weight?

The best way to lose weight is to use more calories than you take in. You can do this by following a healthy eating plan and being more active. Before you start a weight-loss program, talk to your doctor.

Safe weight-loss programs that work well:

• Set a goal of slow and steady weight loss — 1 to 2 pounds per week
• Offer low-calorie eating plans with a wide range of healthy foods
• Encourage you to be more physically active
• Teach you about healthy eating and physical activity
• adapt to your likes and dislikes and cultural background
• Help you keep weight off after you lose it

How can physical activity help me lose weight?

An active lifestyle helps all women. You don't have to be as fit as an athlete to benefit from physical activity. In fact, 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week can greatly improve your health. Moderate activities include:

• Walking
• Biking at a leisure pace
• Working in your yard
• Playing with your children

Doing more vigorous activities or being active for a longer time can improve your health even more. Vigorous activities include:

• Jogging or running
• Biking fast or uphill
• Swimming laps
• Skiing or skating

To prevent weight gain, aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity on most days and make sure you don't take in too many calories. You don't have to be active for 60 minutes at a time. You can be active for shorter periods during the day. Before you engage in vigorous activity, talk with your doctor if you:

• Are age 50 or older
• Have any ongoing health problems
• Are at risk for health problems

Your regular activities should include moderate or vigorous activity, stretching to make you more flexible and resistance exercises to make you stronger.

Being active also:

• Lowers your high blood pressure
• Helps keep your bones, muscles, and joints healthy
• Reduces anxiety and depression and improves your mood
• Helps you handle stress
• Helps control your weight
• Protects against falling and bone fractures in older adults
• May help protect against breast cancer
• Helps control joint swelling and pain from arthritis
• Gives you more energy
• Helps you sleep better

What steps can I take to have a healthier diet?

Follow these tips on healthy eating.

• Focus on fruits. Eat a variety of fruits, whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried, rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will need 2 cups of fruit each day — 1 small banana, 1 large orange, and 1/4 cup of dried apricots or peaches.
• Vary your veggies. Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and other dark leafy greens; orange veggies, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, split peas, and lentils.
• Get your calcium-rich foods. Get 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk or an equivalent amount of low-fat yogurt and/or low-fat cheese (11/2 ounces of cheese equals 1 cup of milk) every day. If you don't or can't consume milk, choose lactose-free milk products and/or calcium-fortified foods and drinks.
• Make half your grains whole. Eat at least 3 ounces of whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. One ounce is about 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of breakfast cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta. Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as "whole" in the list of ingredients.
• Go lean with protein. Choose lean meats and poultry. Bake it, broil it or grill it. Vary your protein choices with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds.
• Limit saturated fats. Get less than 10% of calories from saturated fatty acids. Most fats should come from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low-fat or fat-free.
• Limit salt. Get less than 2,300 mg of sodium (approximately 1 teaspoon of salt) each day.

What is pre-diabetes?

Pre-diabetes means your blood sugar is higher than normal but lower than the diabetes range. It also means you are at risk of getting type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The good news is: You can reduce the risk of getting diabetes and even return to normal blood sugar levels with modest weight loss and moderate physical activity. If you are told you have pre-diabetes, have your blood glucose (sugar) checked again in 1 to 2 years.

Am I at risk for diabetes?

Risk factors for diabetes include:

• Age – being older than 45
• Overweight or obesity
• Family history – having a mother, father, brother, or sister with diabetes
• Race/ethnicity – your family background is African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic American/Latino, Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian
• Having a baby with a birth weight more than 9 pounds
• Having diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
• High blood pressure – 140/90 mm HG or higher. Both numbers are important. If one or both numbers are usually high, you have high blood pressure.
• High cholesterol – total cholesterol over 240 mg/dL
• Inactivity – exercising less than 3 times a week Abnormal results in a prior diabetes test
• Having other health conditions that are linked to problems using insulin, like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
• Having a history of heart disease or stroke

What are the most important things for a woman to know about STDs?

Here is what you need to know about STDs:

• The United States has the highest rates of STDs in the industrialized world. In the United States alone, about 19 million new infections are estimated to occur each year. Women suffer more frequent and more serious complications from STDs than men.
• While each STD causes different health problems, overall, they can cause cervical cancer and other cancers, liver disease, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, pregnancy problems, and other complications. Some STDs increase your risk of getting HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS can cause a number of health problems and raise the risk of getting life-threatening diseases and certain forms of cancer.
• You can get and pass STDs through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Trichomoniasis can also picked up from contact with damp or moist objects such as towels, wet clothing, or a toilet seat, if the genital area gets in contact with these damp objects. Some STDs cause no symptoms. But STDs can still be passed from person to person even if there are no symptoms.
• Some STDs can be passed from a pregnant woman to the baby before and during the baby's birth. Some STDs, like syphilis, cross the placenta and infect the baby while it is in the uterus. Other STDs, like gonorrhea, chlamydia, hepatitis B, and genital herpes, can be passed from the mother to the baby during delivery as the baby passes through the birth canal. HIV can cross the placenta during pregnancy, and infect the baby during the birth process.
• Pregnant women should be tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, Hepatitis B and C, and HIV on their first prenatal visit. In addition, some experts recommend that women who have had a premature delivery in the past be screened and treated for bacterial vaginosis at the first prenatal visit. Even if a woman has been tested in the past, she should be tested again when she becomes pregnant. Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis (BV) can be treated and cured with antibiotics during pregnancy. There is no cure for viral STDs, such as genital herpes and HIV, but antiviral medication for herpes and HIV may reduce symptoms in the pregnant woman. For women who have active genital herpes lesions at the time of delivery, a cesarean delivery (C-section) may be performed to protect the newborn against infection. C-section is also an option for some HIV-infected women. Women who test negative for hepatitis B may receive the hepatitis B vaccine during pregnancy.

Can I get pregnant while in perimenopause?

Yes, you can get pregnant until you've gone 12 months in a row without a period. Talk to your doctor about your birth control options. Keep in mind that birth control pills, shots, implants, or diaphragms will not protect you from STDs or HIV. If you use one of these methods, be sure to also use a latex condom or dental dam (used for oral sex) correctly every time you have sexual contact. Be aware that condoms don't provide complete protection against STDs and HIV. The only sure protection is abstinence (not having sex of any kind). But making sure to always use — and correctly use — latex condoms and other barrier methods can help protect you from STDs.

What are my options for managing menopause symptoms?

Eating a healthy diet and exercising at menopause and beyond are important to feeling your best. Most women do not need any special treatment for menopause. But some women may have menopause symptoms that need treatment. Several treatments are available. It's a good idea to talk about the treatments with your doctor so you can choose what’s best for you. There is no one treatment that is good for all women. Sometimes menopause symptoms go away over time without treatment, but there's no way to know when.

Hormone therapy (HT) – If used properly, hormone therapy (once called hormone replacement therapy or HRT) is one way to deal with the more difficult symptoms of menopause. It's the only therapy that is approved by the government for treating more difficult hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Hormone therapy should NOT be used solely to prevent heart or bone disease, stroke, memory loss, or Alzheimer's disease. There are many kinds of hormone therapies, so your doctor can suggest what's best for you. As with all treatments, HT has both possible benefits and possible risks; it is important to talk about these issues with your doctor. If you decide to use HT, use the lowest dose that helps and for the shortest time needed. Check with your doctor every 6 months to see if you still need HT.

Who should NOT use HT?

HT is not recommended for women who:

• Think they are pregnant
• Have problems with vaginal bleeding
• Have had certain kinds of cancers (such as breast and uterine cancer)
• Have liver disease
• Have had a stroke or heart attack
• Have had blood clots
• Have heart disease

Some women decide to take herbal or other plant-based products to help relieve hot flashes. Some of the most common ones are:

• Soy. Soy contains phytoestrogens (chemicals that are like estrogen). But, there is no proof that soy — or other sources of phytoestrogens — really do make hot flashes better. And the risks of taking soy — mainly soy pills and powders — are not known. The best sources of soy are foods such as tofu, tempeh, soymilk, and soy nuts. These soy products are more likely to work on mild hot flashes.
• Other sources of phytoestrogens. These include herbs such as black cohosh, wild yam, dong quai, and valerian root. Again, there is no proof that these herbs (or pills or creams containing these herbs) help with hot flashes. Products that come from plants may sound like they are safe, but there is no proof they really are. There also is no proof that they are better at helping symptoms of menopause. Make sure to discuss these types of products with your doctor before taking them. You also should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, since some plant products can be harmful when combined with other drugs.

Bio-identical hormones are just the same as the hormones the body makes. There are several products with hormone like this that are on the market and are well-tested. But some people use this term to mean drugs that are custom-made from a doctor's order. There is no proof that these custom-made products are better or safer than hormone therapy that's on the market.

I'm having a hysterectomy soon. Will this cause me to reach menopause?

Sometimes, younger women need a hysterectomy to treat problems such as endometriosis or cancer. A hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman's uterus (womb). Often one or both ovaries (the female organs that produce eggs and hormones) are removed at the same time the hysterectomy is done. If you haven't reached menopause, a hysterectomy will stop your period. But, you will reach menopause only if both ovaries are removed. This is called surgical menopause. Because surgical menopause is instant menopause, it can cause more severe symptoms than natural menopause (menopause that occurs as part of the natural aging process). You should talk with your doctor about how to best manage these symptoms.

Women who have a hysterectomy but have their ovaries left in place will not reach menopause at the time of surgery because their ovaries will continue to make hormones. But, because the uterus is removed, they will no longer have their periods and they cannot become pregnant. Later on, they might reach natural menopause a year or two earlier than expected.

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