A relatively small number of physical disorders are unique to women, are more prevalent or serious in women, or require special prevention or intervention strategies in women. Among the earliest of these to appear developmentally are precocious puber...

The relationship between diet and disease has become a key component of health promotion and disease prevention efforts to assist the public in improving their overall health status. The definition of nutrition is in the process of transformation; it...

Atherosclerosis and hypertension are, by far, the most common cardiovascular diseases affecting women, and both are influenced by diet. Atherosclerosis occurs more commonly in men than women; generally women are 10 to 15 years older than men when sym...

It is a regulatory fact that only 14 drugs are approved for use during pregnancy; none of them is specifically approved for use in nursing mothers. With the current emphasis on breast feeding, more data describing levels of drugs in fetal blood and d...

Women can help to control the outcome of various cancers to which they are susceptible through preventive measures and early detection. Low-fat, high-fiber diets will decrease the incidence of breast and colon cancer. Routine screening for cervical a...

This important topic, aging, is really a woman's issue as things now stand. Someday, it is to be hoped, it will be more a man's issue as well, but that is one of the research challenges.Few features of the human aging process have such enormous perso...

Midlife care should consider the whole woman, with preventive attention to osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. A new delivery system, using a skin patch, is available for replacement or additive hormonal therapy. Useful hormonal therapy may incl...

The American Medical Women's Association has chosen as one of its strategic goals for the next year, and probably for a lot longer, preventing young women from smoking. Smoking is of great concern to all as the death rate from lung cancer among women...

Normal cyclic menstruation involves a delicate concert of hormonal events, characterized by midcycle ovulation and, if no pregnancy is achieved, menstrual flow. Women's health--and especially their reproductive health and fertility--may be affected b...

There are a variety of reasons why women are believed to be more susceptible than men to the effects of alcohol. Physical factors, such as body water content and hereditary predisposition to alcoholism, differentiate women from men. Social factors in...

A collection of over 200 symptoms has been labeled premenstrual syndrome. Common belief is that most women experience a marked increase in symptoms premenses. Cyclic variations in the prevalence of commonly cited perimenstrual symptoms were estimated...

The prevalence of illicit drug use is higher among men than women, but new drug use occurs at twice the rate for females as for males. Recent data from emergency rooms and medical examiners support this pattern, but females were more likely than male...

The report of the Public Health Service Task Force on Women's Health Issues identifies five social factors which affect health and also apply to nutrition: cultural and social values, which are at the heart of issues of body size; economic status, wh...

In a prospective study, prenatal risk factors for mental retardation were identified in two large samples of white and black children followed from gestation to age 7 years in the Collaborative Perinatal Project. Important antecedents of severe and m...

These discussions will encompass important areas which relate to the pathophysiology of the menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, only a narrow window of the pathology that is associated with the menstrual cycle will be presented. For instance, areas not t...