Women’s Health Week 2015: Another Success!

In its early years Women’s Health Week—an annual Health and Dental Center event—drew between 1,000 and 1,500 members. Now, the event draws around 5,000 participants, and that’s great news because the good health of our members and their families is a primary concern of the Union.

Women who visited one of the Health Centers during this year’s Women’s Health Week did not need an appointment to be able to receive testing and an exam that allows doctors to detect early signs of different types of cancer. Tests were also provided to measure members’ blood pressure, cholesterol levels and other health indicators. As always, information was provided on a number of other health issues that are specific to women, including menopause, infertility, osteoporosis, family planning and certain infectious diseases. Members could also get flu shots, which, we should add, remain available to all members and their families at the Health Centers without appointments being necessary.

One of several health areas covered during Women’s Health Week was heart disease in women. Sadly, too many people think that heart disease is a medical condition that affects mostly men. This misconception has probably led to the needless deaths of many, many women. In fact, more women die from heart disease each year than from anything else!

One of the problems concerning women and heart disease is that too may believe that the only symptom is chest pain. But in fact there are other signs of heart disease in women, including difficulty breathing and sleeping, nausea, and back pain. The good news is that all women can greatly reduce their risk for heart disease. Giving up smoking is a must, and so is staying away from other people who smoke. Getting your blood pressure checked often is important, too. High blood pressure increases your risk of a heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and other conditions. But it is easily controlled with medication. Women should also have their cholesterol checked regularly. Both blood pressure and cholesterol tests were available at the Health Centers during Women’s Health Week.

Members who attended Women’s Health Week were reminded that help is readily available to those who want to quit smoking. The importance of a good diet and regular exercise was emphasized, too, not only to reduce one’s risk of heart disease but also to reduce the risk of various forms of cancer. Yes, it is now known that women who exercise regularly have a lower rate of cancer than women who live sedentary lifestyles. The advice was to stay active. As an example, walking every day can greatly lower one’s chances of a heart attack as well as various forms of cancer.

Information was also available during Women’s Health Week on how to lose weight. Good nutrition, counting calories and getting plenty of exercise are all important factors in the process of maintaining a healthy weight, and additional information was available on all of these topics.

It is encouraging to see that so many members now take advantage of the many benefits found in attending Women’s Health Week. Early detection of cancer and other medical conditions is the greatest weapon we have against these killers, and Women’s Health Week provided various tests for early detection.

It is also clear that attending Women’s Health Week gave many members peace of mind. Getting a clean bill of health always makes one feel good. The vast majority of this year’s visitors to the Health Centers ended up with clean bills of health, and that’s great news for all of us!

Each participant at Women's Health Week received a gift bag. From left to right are Jody Erskine, Liwen Line, Lourdes Lio, Irina Viruet and Lashanda Jackson, RN.

These members attended Women's Health Week at the Queens Health Center.