The theme for the week is "It's you time: Get inspired. Get Healthy." Jennifer Niebyl, MD, professor and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UI Hospitals and Clinics, talks about ways women can take preventive measures to stay healthy:
Women's health is a complex topic for a short radio interview. In an effort to cover as much as possible in a little time, I'd like to list health events in any woman's life and have you briefly tell us why each is important in their overall health:
- Routine checkups including pap smears (why? when?)
Having regular pap smears can help prevent cervical cancer and basocervical cancers, by detecting the disease at a very early stage and preventing it from being serious. We recommend that start at age 21 or three years after the onset of sexual activity, and then yearly until 30. It's interesting that if a patient has always had negative pap smears up to age 30, she can cut back to every two to three years after that age. And a woman who has always had negative pap smears does not have to keep having them past age 65.
- Obesity (what risks does obesity carry for a woman)
Well, it carries an increased risk of getting diabetes, as well as heart disease in later life, so we want to prevent obesity, especially prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy, or between pregnancies for that matter.
- Exercise (how important is exercise throughout her life)
Exercise is important, in weight control as we just mentioned, but also in prevention of heart disease.
- Mental health (events like childbirth, loss of a child/parent, stress)
We see patients throughout their lifespan and patients may have depression or other mental illnesses. We have a particular interest in postpartum depression. It is pretty common, after a woman has a child, to get an episode of depression. We are doing a study looking at cognitive therapy compared to medications for women with postpartum depression. We have psychiatrists and psychologists working in our Women's Health Center, in our clinic with the OB-Gyn doctors
- Colonoscopy (when should she have her first – how often)
If there's no family history to justify an earlier one, it should start at age 50. And if you have the full colonoscopy and it's normal, that's good for 10 years.
- Mammography (when start, when no longer necessary)
They are very important in prevention of breast cancer. We start at age 40. There are different recommendations between age 40 and age 50 from different organizations. Some people say every year; some people say every two years. The OB-Gyn Organization says it's fine to do it every two years between 40 and 50; but it's very clear that after 50, that yearly mammograms are indicated because early detection is a key to treatment.
Is any one more important than the others for a woman?
They're really all important. I think the hardest one to get women to do is the colonoscopy. We spend a lot of time recommending that. Now it's getting to be a problem to prevent obesity. I think we have to be alert when people start to gain weight to try to prevent that from escalating.
Is UI Women's Center a place any woman can go and receive all her health care from adolescent to senior care?
Yes, a woman can receive all of her primary care at our center. We have a new adolescent clinic and we also provide care to women throughout their lifespan. We also collaborate with the specialists in all the other departments at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for specialty care.
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