Cycling mother and daughter, Netherlands/via Wikimedia Commons
Women, especially working women with families, often are their own last priority—the job and family come first. This week is the 13th annual National Women’s Health Week, which started on Mother’s Day, May 13, and will last until May 19th. The theme for this year is “It’s Your Time.” And it’s the perfect time for women to stop and take stock of their own health needs. This year’s Women’s Health Week is particularly poignant, coming on the tail of the recent debates about access to birth control on the national stage.
Coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health, this special week is meant to bring together health organizations, businesses, government offices, and communities in order to promote women’s health. You can find more information about how to get involved on womenshealth.gov.
Our views on women’s health continue to evolve. For example, menopause: what is a “normal” symptom during menopause? What treatments are available for various symptoms, and what can women do to help themselves? What do we currently know about the effects of certain treatments, and are they worth the possible benefits? Are we overmedicalizing women’s bodies? Or what about pregnant nurses on the job? What might endanger their health or that of their developing babies?
We’d like to offer some of our recent articles on women’s health to help increase awareness of some health issues:
“Menopausal Hormone Therapy: What We Know Now,” by AJN clinical managing editor, Karen Roush. Part I of a four-part series on postmenopausal health.
“Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women: A Review.” Part II of series.
“The Underutilization of Emergency Contraception”
“Occupational Hazards for Pregnant Nurses”
Also note part III of our ongoing series on postmenopausal health: “Managing Menopausal Symptoms.” This publish-ahead-of-print CE (available for a short time now if you click through to the PDF version, and slated to appear in the June issue of AJN), provides a useful review of the three most commonly reported symptoms of menopause: hot flashes, insomnia, and mood problems.—Michael Fergenson, senior editorial coordinator; Shawn Kennedy, editor-in-chief; Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor
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