Diseases can strike when you least expect, but there are certain medical conditions that are more common than others. Women are particularly vulnerable to three health concerns, including heart disease, breast cancer, and depression. This article discusses the risk factors associated with each disease so more women can prevent these types of ailments:
Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women alike. However, death itself is not the main worry for women; disability and premature death are more concerning to women. More men actually die because of heart conditions compared to women, but this condition often goes undiagnosed in women.
Women tend to think of symptoms as chest pain. What they don’t know is that heart disease can manifest itself in different ways, including jaw pain, nausea, shortness of breath, shoulder ache, and vomiting. Risk factors include diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, smoking, and heredity.
Breast Cancer
This is the most common type of cancer among women. Some experts believe that breast cancer is exaggerated to the public so women fear diagnosis even when they experience some symptoms. You should remember, though, that stopping this disease through early detection should be your paramount concern. Risks factors of breast cancer include genetics, personal history of this condition, race, increasing age, previous breast radiation, abnormal breast biopsy, medication use, alcohols, and obesity.
Depression
More women suffer from depression than men. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 12 million women suffer from depression as opposed to 6 million men. Depression can be triggered by a variety of factors, including a previous depressive episode, heart problems, family history of depression, chronic illness, stressful life event, substance abuse, recent surgery, or childhood history of physical abuse.
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