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Biomarkers 101
Read More: Biomarkers 101If youโve ever been diagnosed with a health condition, a biomarker is at play, even if youโve never heard the word. Biomarkers help healthcare providers identify, monitor and determine risk for disease โ including heart disease, the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. Biomarkers also play a big role in the development…
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My Sister, My Mom and I Were All Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Within 18 Months of Each Other
Read More: My Sister, My Mom and I Were All Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Within 18 Months of Each OtherAs told to Erica Rimlinger When my sister received a diagnosis of stage 2 breast cancer, she โ and all of our family members โ were shocked. She was healthy. She was young, in her early forties. There was no family history of breast cancer. But our initial shock would be followed by a series…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer policy, Breast health, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Science
โBRCA โTesting 101
Read More: โBRCA โTesting 101If you’ve heard people talking about “breast cancer genes,” they probably were referring to BRCA โ but they were only partly right. Everyone has BRCA (BReast CAncer) genes. And they protect you when they work correctly. “We all have two copies of the BRCA1 and 2 genes, and we want them to be functioning properly,”…
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Should You Get a Blood Test for Alzheimerโs?
Read More: Should You Get a Blood Test for Alzheimerโs?June is Alzheimerโs and Brain Awareness Month. Alzheimerโs disease is ruthless. It can rob you of your memory, personality and the ability to do simple things like swallow or speak. Even scarier: Almost 2 out of 3 people with Alzheimerโs are women or people assigned female at birth. But thereโs good news in the screening…
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Whatโs Your Number?
Read More: Whatโs Your Number?+ Infographic text Having high cholesterol can lead to heart disease or stroke. There are 3 kinds of cholesterolย Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or โbadโ cholesterol High-density lipoprotein (HDL) or โgoodโ cholesterol Triglycerides (type of fat in your blood) Together, they make up your total cholesterol.ย Formula for total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + 20%…
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A Guide to Medical Imaging for Women
Read More: A Guide to Medical Imaging for WomenMedically reviewed by Barry D. Pressman, M.D., Chair of the Department of Imaging at Cedars-Sinai Medical imaging is used by healthcare providers (HCPs) to view the body and gather information to diagnose and treat medical conditions. Understanding the different types of medical imaging can help you know what to expect. X-ray X-rays use radiation to…
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How Do Genes Affect Your Health?
Read More: How Do Genes Affect Your Health?It was a Facebook post that caught Angelaโs* attention. The 36-year-old had been thinking about genetic testing for years โ ever since her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation more than a decade earlier. Her sister had encouraged the family to get tested โ the BRCA1 and…
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You Canโt Choose Your Genes
Read More: You Canโt Choose Your GenesAs told to Erica Rimlinger I was 41 and had spent a lovely day visiting with my mother at her home in Victoria, Canada. As she said goodnight and closed the guest room door, she lobbed a bomb: โYour brother has cancer. Good night!โ Did she think I could just go to sleep after hearing…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer survivor, Breast health, cancer, Cancer survivor, COVID-19, Medical tests, Prevention, Real women real stories
I Thought My Swollen Lymph Nodes Were Side Effects From the Covid-19 Vaccine
Read More: I Thought My Swollen Lymph Nodes Were Side Effects From the Covid-19 VaccineAs told to Erica Rimlinger When I got my Covid-19 vaccine, I was told I might have side effects after the shot. Everyoneโs immune system is different, so the list of side effects was long. Iโd heard people say they were tired afterward or their arm hurt, but I guessed which side effects Iโd get:…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer policy, Breast health, Medical tests, Preventive care, Racial disparities, Racism
Biopsies Confirm a Breast Cancer Diagnosis After an Abnormal Mammogram โ but Structural Racism May Lead to Lengthy Delays
Read More: Biopsies Confirm a Breast Cancer Diagnosis After an Abnormal Mammogram โ but Structural Racism May Lead to Lengthy DelaysBy Marissa Lawson, University of Washington and Christoph Lee, University of Washington While mammograms are often the first step to detecting breast cancer, patients need additional tests after an abnormal screening result. Further imaging can determine if a finding is truly suspicious for cancer, and sometimes a biopsy is required to confirm a diagnosis. But…
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Chlamydia, Genital herpes, Gonorrhea, HIV, Medical tests, Sex, Sexually transmitted diseases, Sexually transmitted infections, Stds, Sti, Trichomoniasis
You Can Test Yourself for an STI at Home โ but Should You?
Read More: You Can Test Yourself for an STI at Home โ but Should You?At-home medical testing gives you information about your health, right at your fingertips, without the need to ever set foot into a doctorโs office. One of the latest developments in this trend is at-home testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which are bacterial, viral or parasitic infections that can be passed on through sexual contact.…
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Access, Access to health care, cancer, Gender, Health disparities, Lgbtq, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Racial disparities, Racism
Race, Gender and the Ways These Identities Intersect Matter in Cancer Outcomes
Read More: Race, Gender and the Ways These Identities Intersect Matter in Cancer OutcomesBy Timothy Pawlik, The Ohio State University; Elizabeth Palmer, The Ohio State University, and Samilia Obeng-Gyasi, The Ohio State University The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Belonging to one or more groups with long-standing social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnoses and death, according…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer survivor, Breast health, Health disparities, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Racial disparities
Why Do Women of Color Have Worse Breast Cancer Outcomes?
Read More: Why Do Women of Color Have Worse Breast Cancer Outcomes?In 2013, Katrece Nolen, a 47-year-old Black woman in Northern Virginia, noticed one of her breasts felt swollen. She called her doctor and was sent for a mammogram. The results did not confirm the presence of cancer, so Nolen was prescribed an antibiotic regimen for what was thought to be mastitis. Several weeks later, her…
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You Have Advanced Breast Cancer. Whatโs Next?
Read More: You Have Advanced Breast Cancer. Whatโs Next?I still remember that day so clearly. I was sitting across from my breast cancer surgeon when she held up an image. โIt looks like a bomb went off in your chest,โ she said. I thought this sounded a bit dramatic, but apparently the lump I discovered a few weeks earlier was just the tip…
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cancer, Cancer survivor, Colon cancer, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
My Symptoms Were Dismissed as Hemorrhoids, but I Had Colon Cancer
Read More: My Symptoms Were Dismissed as Hemorrhoids, but I Had Colon CancerAs told to Liz Sauchelli The day I got my colon cancer diagnosis, my husband and I bought a bottle of champagne. We were driving home from the hospital crying and I just said, โBabe, we need to stop and get a bottle of champagne because weโre going to toast to kicking cancerโs butt and…
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I Made a Promise to My Son
Read More: I Made a Promise to My SonAs told to Jaimie Seaton When our son Aidan was in pre-K, the teachers wanted to put him in a gifted school. But I felt like he was still a baby, and I wanted him to have a normal childhood and not be overwhelmed with schoolwork, so my husband and I opted to keep him…
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Medical tests, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories, Teen health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
A Thanksgiving Nightmare Ends in Gratitude
Read More: A Thanksgiving Nightmare Ends in GratitudeAs told to Erica Rimlinger That Thanksgiving, a stomach virus was going around. My son Jackson, a freshman at Bucknell University, returned to our home in Colorado a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday in 2017, perfectly healthy. But two nights before Thanksgiving, he started throwing up and spiked a fever. Wednesday night, he seemed…
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cancer, Cancer survivor, Colon cancer, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
When I was 32, I Was Getting Ready to Marry and Have Kids. Then I Was Diagnosed With Colorectal Cancer.
Read More: When I was 32, I Was Getting Ready to Marry and Have Kids. Then I Was Diagnosed With Colorectal Cancer.As told to Erica Rimlinger After photographing weddings for 10 years, I was preparing to put my camera down and pick up a bridal bouquet for my own wedding day. I was excited to see all my family and friends at my upcoming bridal shower, and I was really excited to marry my wonderful fiancรฉ.…
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We Need to Talk About Colorectal Cancer
Read More: We Need to Talk About Colorectal CancerMedically reviewed by Dr. Robert NagourneyDesigned by Megan Schofield
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Why Getting an Endometriosis Diagnosis Is Painfully Slow
Read More: Why Getting an Endometriosis Diagnosis Is Painfully SlowAt age 10, I felt a warm rush of fluid fill my underpants while attending a friendโs birthday party. I ran to the bathroom to find my underpants and jeans soaked. I was unsure of how to leave without exposing myself as the first of us to get her period while most of my friends…
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Navigating a Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis
Read More: Navigating a Colorectal Cancer DiagnosisMarch is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. In early 2021, Jamie VandenAvond noticed blood in her stool. She was a little concerned, but she was also preoccupied with taking care of a newborn baby in the middle of the pandemic, so she just made a mental note to call her doctor. Then VandenAvond began having…
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Fast Facts: What You Need to Know About Colorectal Cancer Screening
Read More: Fast Facts: What You Need to Know About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningMedically reviewed by Dr. Robert Nagourney Colorectal cancer โ often called colon cancer โ occurs when cells in the colon or rectum grow rapidly. The colon is also known as the large intestine or bowel. In the United States, colon cancer is one of the most common cancers. About 1 in 25 women (and 1…
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Colorectal Cancer 101
Read More: Colorectal Cancer 101Medically reviewed by Dr. Robert Nagourney Colorectal cancer begins in the colon or the rectum, and is also called colon or rectal cancer, depending on where cancer cells are first found. The colon is the part of the large intestine that food moves through, and the rectum is the lower part of the colon where…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer survivor, Breast health, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
A Preventive Double Mastectomy Helped Me Fight Breast Cancer Before It Could Attack
Read More: A Preventive Double Mastectomy Helped Me Fight Breast Cancer Before It Could AttackAs told to Nicole Audrey Spector February is National Cancer Prevention Month. I was 18 years old when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Iโll never forget the way the doctor broke the news in the stark fluorescence of an ER exam room. He spoke to my father, as though my mother โ the…
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50% of Women With Ovarian Cancer Die From It. Valerie Palmieri Is on a Mission to Change That.
Read More: 50% of Women With Ovarian Cancer Die From It. Valerie Palmieri Is on a Mission to Change That.February is National Cancer Prevention Month. Each year, nearly 20,000 women in the United States are newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer and nearly 13,000 die โ more than from any other reproductive system cancer. HealthyWomen had a conversation with Valerie Palmieri, president and chief executive officer of Aspira Womenโs Health, to discuss how women can…
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Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-up Covid Testing Sites โ and Warn Patients to Beware
Read More: Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-up Covid Testing Sites โ and Warn Patients to BewareBy Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News NEW YORK โ In recent months, mobile covid-19 testing tents and vans have sprouted on urban sidewalks and street curbs as demand has skyrocketed in response to the rapid spread of the omicron variant. Some of the sites run by private companies offer legitimate, timely and reliable results, but…
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Gynecological Procedures Can Be a Real Pain
Read More: Gynecological Procedures Can Be a Real PainAs Sarah*, 32, suffered through pain during a colposcopy โ a procedure to examine the cervix, vagina and vulva for possible cervical cancer โ the healthcare provider (HCP) performing the procedure delivered a comment Sarah said sheโll never forget. โThese are the things we’re expected to go through as women.โ The doctor had been kind…
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Success of Covid Antiviral Pills Hinges on Access to Speedy and Accurate Tests
Read More: Success of Covid Antiviral Pills Hinges on Access to Speedy and Accurate TestsBy JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News Within a few weeks, perhaps before many Americans finish decorating for the holidays, the U.S. could have access to a new antiviral pill from Merck expected to alter the deadly trajectory of the covid-19 pandemic โ with a second option from Pfizer to follow shortly after. Now under federal…
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A New, Lower Threshold for Lead Poisoning in Children Means More Kids Will Get Tested โ but the Ultimate Solution Is Eliminating Lead Sources
Read More: A New, Lower Threshold for Lead Poisoning in Children Means More Kids Will Get Tested โ but the Ultimate Solution Is Eliminating Lead SourcesGabriel Filippelli, IUPUI The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its blood lead reference value โ the level at which children ages 1-5 are considered to have high exposure to lead. Since 2012, this threshold had been set at 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood; children at or above this…
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Newborn Screening Saves Lives: What Parents Need to Know
Read More: Newborn Screening Saves Lives: What Parents Need to KnowElisa Seeger’s son Aidan was 6 1/2 years old when he started having vision problems. Seeger thought her son just needed glasses, but after what she calls a “diagnostic odyssey,” going from one specialist to another, she learned that he had a rare genetic neurological disorder called adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). The once active first grader, who…
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Whatโs the Difference Between a PCR and Antigen COVID-19 Test? A Molecular Biologist Explains
Read More: Whatโs the Difference Between a PCR and Antigen COVID-19 Test? A Molecular Biologist ExplainsPCR tests are extremely accurate but require special lab equipment โ like the PCR heating machine seen here โ and can take hours or days to perform. Rapid antigen tests โ like the two seen here showing negative results โ are much faster and easier to perform but are less sensitive than PCR tests.Lennardywlee via…
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cancer, Cancer survivor, Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Medical tests, Menstrual period, Period, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
My Close Friendโs Cancer Diagnosis Helped Save My Life
Read More: My Close Friendโs Cancer Diagnosis Helped Save My LifeAs told to Fortesa Latifi I know my body, and I know when something’s wrong โ even when doctors don’t believe me. My period pain had been dismissed my entire life, but after watching my close friend die of cancer, I knew I could no longer afford to be quiet. Last year, I had a…
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Breast cancer, Breast cancer survivor, Breast health, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Real women real stories
A Mammogram Saved My Life
Read More: A Mammogram Saved My LifeOctober 15 is National Mammography Day. As told to Jackie Froeber The mammogram stars aligned for me in 2017. I was working at St. Peter’s Health Partners and popped into a co-worker’s office to say hi. On her desk was a flier advertising free mammograms over the weekend for employees. I had just turned 40…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
HPV, Cervical Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screening: What Do You Need to Know?
Read More: HPV, Cervical Cancer and Cervical Cancer Screening: What Do You Need to Know?Medically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN Infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of cervical cancer, is common. By the age of 50, 80% of women will have had an HPV infection with one or more of 14 high-risk HPV types. Most infections are cleared within 24 months. If the virus isn’t…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Understanding Your HPV Type and the Risks That Go With It
Read More: Understanding Your HPV Type and the Risks That Go With ItMedically reviewed by Nancy R. Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Conversation Tips for Talking With a Patient About HPV
Read More: Conversation Tips for Talking With a Patient About HPVMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Fast Facts: Hereโs What You Need to Know About Cervical Cancer and HPV
Read More: Fast Facts: Hereโs What You Need to Know About Cervical Cancer and HPVMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP A cervical cancer diagnosis is scary โ and for good reason. The American Cancer Society estimates that around 14,480 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2021, and about 4,290 of them will die. Black and Hispanic women are more likely than white women to…
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Cervical cancer, Gynecological cancer, Hpv, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Cervical Cancer Prevention
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Cervical Cancer PreventionMedically reviewed by Nancy Berman, MSN, ANP-BC, NCMP, FAANP Cervical cancer has steadily become less and less common. “It’s a preventable cancer because we do a lot of effort in screening to find precancer and treat or remove those precancerous cells so they don’t progress to cancer cells,” said Nancy Berman, a nurse practitioner and…
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Coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthy home, Medical tests, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Getting Caught Up on Back-to-School Vaccines
Read More: Getting Caught Up on Back-to-School VaccinesMorgan Aten’s son Isaac was due for his seven-year annual checkup in March 2020 โ just as the country was shutting down because of Covid-19. “We ended up missing it,” Aten said. But when Aten’s other son Arthur was due for his three-year checkup in July of last year, their pediatrician let Aten bring Isaac…
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Anxiety, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthy home, Medical tests, mental health, Parenting, Parenting teens, Prevention, Preventive health, Vaccinations, Vaccines
Tips for a Safe and Healthy Return to School
Read More: Tips for a Safe and Healthy Return to SchoolKate Schultz, a high school teacher from Madison, WI, has made back-to-school preparations many times since she started teaching 20 years ago, but never quite like this. Going back to the classroom looks very different in the age of Covid-19, and Schultz is planning accordingly. She knows her students may be stressed about the virus,…
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Cardio workouts, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Heart disease, Heart health, Heart healthy recipes, Medical tests, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention, Preventive health
Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your HCP About Cardiovascular Disease
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your HCP About Cardiovascular DiseaseMedically reviewed by Dr. Nieca Goldberg Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, accounting for 1 in 3 deaths. Yet, less than half of women recognize that heart disease is their number one killer. Heart disease โ including coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction (also known as heart attack)…
