Health Risks As You Age
As women age, their risks for certain conditions and diseases increases. In general, it is best to live as healthy a life as you can, including a nutritious diet, regular exercise, and regular checkups. While the risks for the conditions described in this section do go up as you age, that does not mean you are going to experience one or any of them. Still, they are risks you should be aware of.
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a devastating disease that will affect 12.7 percent of women. Your risks for breast cancer increase with age. Women ages 30 to 39 have a .43 percent risk, and women ages 40 to 49 have a risk of 1.44 percent. Note that these numbers have been calculated only using white women, and each woman's risk differs based on her ethnicity, health, and family history.
Breast cancer is often detected when a hard lump is found in the breast by the woman or her health-care provider. Mammograms are also important for breast cancer detection. Breast self-exams are no longer a recommendation because they find very few lumps and those that are found are often benign. Being familiar with your own breasts is important, though, and doing regular breast exams is not harmful or discouraged.
To learn your personal risk of breast cancer, use the online Breast Cancer Risk Assesssment Tool.
Other Cancers
Seventy-seven percent of all cancers are diagnosed in people over age 55, so age is a significant factor in cancer risk. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women and becomes more likely after age 50, but the risk is highest for current or past smokers. This cancer often has no symptoms, but women should report coughing up blood to their healthcare providers.
Ovarian cancer mostly occurs in women who are post-menopausal and is the fifth-highest cause of cancer death for women. Half of all ovarian cancer occurs in women who are over the age of 63. Getting a yearly pelvic exam is recommended, as is reporting bloating, pelvic pain, or abdominal changes.
The American Cancer Society recommends that a woman should have a baseline mammogram done by age 40. Women over 40 should have a mammogram every other year and women over 50 should have one yearly. Women with a family history of breast cancer should consult their doctor about mammogram frequency and timing.
Women in their thirties and forties are at increased risk for lymphoma, which is accompanied by swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, low-grade fevers, and weight loss. Colon cancer risks increase after age 50, and all women over this age should be screened. Screening options include one of these five methods:
Yearly fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test
Flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years
Yearly fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test and flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years
Air contrast barium enema every five years
Colonoscopy every 10 years
Women with certain risk factors may need earlier or more frequent screening. You should consult your health-care provider to assess your risk. Report any change in bowel habits, including bleeding, to your physician.
Cervical cancer risks decrease as you become older, but those that do occur are more likely to have poor outcomes, so it is important to continue to have Pap smears. Pap smear screening should be done yearly with conventional Pap tests and every two years with liquid-based Pap tests.
After age 30, women who have had three normal Pap smears in a row may have a Pap smear every two to three years, or every three years with Pap smear and human papilloma virus DNA testing.
Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among American women and kills 32 percent of women — almost twice as many as all cancers combined. The risk for heart disease increases with age. Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease as well as strokes, is responsible for 39 percent of female deaths.
To reduce your risk, get your cholesterol levels checked at least once every five years and work to get them into acceptable ranges. Have your blood pressure checked regularly. Get regular exercise, and eat a healthy diet. Quit smoking and get tested for diabetes.
You can take an online assessment to determine your personal risk for heart disease Go Red for Women.
Thyroiditis
Five to seven percent of women experience postpartum hypothyroidism, or thyroiditis, in which the thyroid gland is suppressed by the autoimmune system after pregnancy. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a similar condition, but is not linked to pregnancy. It is most common after age 40.
Painless inflammation of the thyroid gland, often only detectable to an experienced physician, is often the first symptom. The disease is slow to progress and symptoms can include fatigue, constipation, hair loss, and leg cramps. A simple blood test can diagnose this, and it is easily treatable with thyroid hormone replacement. All women over age 50 should be screened for thyroid disease.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease involving bone loss. It is silent and painless until the point at which the disease causes a bone to break or fracture, commonly the hip or spine. Menopause results in a decrease in your body's production of estrogen, a hormone that helps control bone loss. Because of this, women going through menopause are at increased risk for osteoporosis. Women are four times more likely than men to experience osteoporosis. It is more common in Caucasian and Asian women and in women who are small boned and thin.
For more information about osteoporosis, contact the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Osteoporosis can be prevented. To help your bones stay healthy, get enough calcium (1000 mg per day) and vitamin D (200 IU per day), eat a healthy diet, stop smoking, and do weight-bearing exercise. Bone-density scans are recommended for all postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 65 who have risk factors (such as previous fractures, low body weight, smoking, or a family history). If no other risk factors are present, scans are recommended after age 65.
Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease in which the body cannot use insulin effectively and eventually cannot make enough. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes include the following:
Increased thirst
Increased urination
Increased hunger
Fatigue
Weight loss
Blurred vision
Sores that won't heal
It is important to note, however, that many individuals with type 2 diabetes may be totally asymptomatic (have no symptoms) for many years. Screening is the only effective way to detect type 2 diabetes in its early stages before it causes additional problems.
Women over age 45 should be tested for type 2 diabetes. This should be done at least once every three years. Those who have risk factors should be tested sooner and more frequently. Risk factors include the following:
Being overweight (body mass index over 25)
A parent or sibling with diabetes
Being Native American, African American, Asian American, or Hispanic
Having had gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby over nine pounds
High blood pressure
High triglycerides or low good (HDL) cholesterol
Not exercising regularly
Having cardiovascular disease
Having polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Studies show that approximately 30 to 40 percent of women who had gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within five to 10 years. After 10 years, the rate may be as high as 70 percent.
If you have had gestational diabetes and are contemplating future pregnancies, it is important to be screened yearly for diabetes. Screening is done with a fasting blood glucose or 75-gram glucose tolerance test. The 75-gram glucose tolerance test gives additional information and may be preferable for women contemplating pregnancy.
If you screen positive for diabetes or already have type 2 diabetes, it is important that you undergo preconception diabetes care prior to becoming pregnant again. This allows screening for other complications of diabetes that may impact a future pregnancy, as well as to control blood sugars before conception to reduce the risk of birth defects.
To reduce your risk of diabetes, eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise are key. Controlling your cholesterol and blood pressure are also important.
