Description
INTRODUCTION
Women have never had it so good, and they have never had it so hard. The
good news is that women living at the beginning of the 21st century can
expect to live much longer than their mothers and grandmothers.
Moreover, they enjoy better health than ever before: they are less likely to die in infancy
or childbirth, and less likely to be old and infirm by the time they reach menopause.
Progress in medicine and treatment and greater knowledge of how to prevent illness
have contributed to increased longevity. Through better education, improved health
services and the media in general, women are more aware than ever of the importance
of basic hygiene, exercise, a balanced diet and controlling stress. The majority of women
alive today have never been threatened by killer diseases such as tuberculosis, poliomy-
elitis or diphtheria, thanks to childhood vaccinations and inoculations. Fifty years ago
we had no drugs to treat hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s or schizophre-
nia, and back-street abortions were rife.We had no heart surgery or transplants, control
of diabetes left much to be desired and there was no treatment for infertility. True, we
still have cancer, stroke and heart disease to combat. But despite all we read in the press
about, for example, the dangers of heart disease within the female population, the fact is
that the number of women dying of heart disease has decreased since the 1980s, while
screening, better drugs and more effective treatments are slowly but steadily reducing
the risk from other potentially fatal conditions.
However, the use of technology and new techniques to prevent, detect and treat
medical conditions and illnesses is a two-edged sword. While it is clear that they enable
people to lead healthier and longer lives, they can be overused or misused to the extent
that they are not merely unhelpful, but positively harmful. Screening tests may help
detect disease in their early stages, but they may also engender a lot of anxiety: they are
not always done properly, and in a few unfortunate cases people die from the very
disease the test was supposed to pick up but did not. Moreover, we do not always
prepare ourselves for the results of the tests, so when something abnormal shows up we
are mentally, emotionally and sometimes physically ill-equipped to deal with the impli-
cations.
Tests can also be done to show if we are genetically predisposed to a disease, The
knowledge that we are likely to contract a serious illness in the future may help us
prepare for it, but it may, on the other hand, destroy our emotional security and happi-
ness, There is, of course, an argument to be made for giving us the choice of having a
test to predict whether we show a predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease or breast cancer
when we are older: we should be given the facts and be allowed to decide for ourselves.
Despite all the advances in medical sciences, in many ways we do not really enjoy
our good health as we might. We read and know a huge amount about illness, but often
much less about how to stay well.We grow up now without expecting to encounter
pain or serious illness and find we cannot cope if we are unlucky enough to experience
the unexpected. We forget how far we have come, and dwell on the things that modern
medicine cannot yet put right: for example, we tend to overlook the benefits of child-
hood immunisation when a scare story about the side-effects of a vaccine is published
and are prepared to forgo the whole programme. Our expectations of the medical
world are so high that we sometimes end up being disappointed.
Women have never had it so hard because we stand on the cusp of even greater
medical advances, but their practical applications are tantalisingly elusive. Genetic testing
can confirm diagnoses of cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy, but cure by genetic
manipulation is still beyond our grasp. Even though scientists have cracked the human
genetic code, this is only the first step of a decades-long process before doctors can
predict who is at risk of contracting certain diseases and tailor treatment for each
individual patient.
Occasionally we find that even when a treatment is available it is not publicly
funded, usually for cost reasons. This could be a life-prolonging drug (for cancer, say) or
a so-called ‘lifestyle drug’ (such as those used to treat impotence or obesity). As more
becomes medically possible, the gap between what we want and what the government
can provide is bound to widen even further, even though the range of publicly funded
health and disability services is quite broad.
Another gap that is growing is the one between the health of the well off and that
of the poor. Only a combination of actions by policy-makers and self-help measures can
improve this divisive situation.
Affluent and educated women going into the 21st century have an unprecedented
range of choices. You can choose if and when to get pregnant, how and where to give
birth, and whether to take hormone replacement therapy at menopause. You can mix
and match conventional and complementary therapies. You can acquire vast amounts of
information from books, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.You may well hear
about new treatments or discoveries before your doctor does. But you can dr~wn in a
surfeit of data and, for all the facts, figures and claims about different therapies and
treatments, it can be very difficult to know what to do for the best, especially when new
and conflicting stories are coming out all the time.
Cosmetic surgery is an interesting example of the modern woman’s dilemma. Many
of us are attracted to the idea of enhancing our looks and preserving our youthful faceand body despite the ravages of age. Advertisements for cosmetic surgery are becoming more frequent. They play on our insecurities about our looks, and promise quick, easy
results. However, objective advice is hard to come by, with many GPs uninterested or
antagonistic to the whole concept of cosmetic surgery. The chapter on cosmetic surgery
in this book explores the pros and cons of the main procedures such as nose re-shaping
and face-lifts, and gives clear, non-judgemental advice on how to choose a cosmetic
surgeon.
Women can take a pro active role in making the longer lives they can now expect to
enjoy both healthy and happy. To do this, you need to make yourself as well informed
on health issues as you can: this will help you to build a better relationship with the
medical professionals with whom you come into contact, so that you can become more
involved in the choice of treatment you receive – which, as any doctor will confirm, is
the single most positive element in your ‘compliance’ (in other words, your willingness
to follow the treatment through and give it its best chance of working).
This book aims to address all the key health issues facing women in order that you
may participate fully in this partnership. The first section considers the external factors
that influence health, positive ways to maintain good health and ways of avoiding ill
health. The subsequent chapters focus on the major body systems and what can be done
to keep the body healthy, as well as discussing the symptoms of the disorders that can
arise in each part of the body. There is detailed information about possible causes, what
steps you may be able to take yourself to alleviate specific problems, and when to seek
professional help; the various tests and treatments available are also described.
Above all, the book celebrates the fact that women are enjoying better health now
than ever before, and stresses ways of staying healthy rather than focusing on illness. For
most women, being well informed is an essential element for good health. Use that
knowledge to make yourself the- best you can be!
Softcover.
365 pages.
In excellent preloved condition.