September is Women's Health Month and with that in mind, we wanted to know what women can do to take care of themselves.
Experts tell us the best thing women - or men - can do to prevent serious illness is to get screened.
"There are important tests to screen for certain types of cancer such as colon cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer. Some of those are annual tests, some not quite as frequently as that," said Dr. Kimberly Lund of Castle Medical Center.
Women should also consider screenings for cardiovascular disease risk factors and younger women should be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. But what if you feel just fine, no health complaints whatever.
"That is exactly the target population. We want to find out if something is going on so that we can intervene early before you develop symptoms. If you go on to develop symptoms, it may be more advanced and more difficult to treat you," Lund says.
Dr. Lund says there is no particular age when women should begin paying attention to their health. But there are certain ages when a specific test might be in order.
"Important things to screen for in younger women ages 16 to 25 are sexually transmitted infections. And then from ages 21 to 65 or 70, it's important to look at cervical cancer screening with PAP smears. Ages 40 and above it would be important to look at breast cancer screening with mammograms," she says.
Dr. Lund says at the age of fifty and older, women should be screened for colon cancer and also have their bone mineral density checked. A bone density deficiency can lead to early onset osteoporosis. Are there preventive measures that can help a woman toward better health?
"Basically, if you adopt a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, low in saturated fats and trans fats, high in fiber and with plenty of calcium and vitamin D, those are the things to kind of look for to do well in all tests," she says.
