Top Illnesses and How To Avoid Them
When you’re a young woman in your twenties, it’s normal to assume that you don’t need to worry about health problems such as colon cancer or high blood pressure yet. However, many health conditions are thought to only affect those over forty can still impact women in their twenties.
Top Illnesses Young Women Can Get
Recent studies suggest that some of the disorders associated with older age can affect younger adults and are often caused by lifestyle choices that carry an increased risk of health issues.
Understanding these top illnesses and the preventable risk factors will help you make changes in your life to significantly reduce the chance of developing these health problems.
High Blood Pressure
Most people who have high blood pressure don’t suffer any symptoms, which is why it is often called the silent killer. When you have high blood pressure, the disorder does damage to your heart, blood vessels, brains, and kidneys.
While the percentage of women between the ages of 20 and 34 with high blood pressure is low, you are less likely to get a diagnosis in order to receive treatment for this condition.
If high blood pressure is left untreated, it could lead to heart disease and is the primary cause of strokes, which is why monitoring and maintaining your blood pressure significantly reduces the likelihood of a stroke and cardiovascular disease.
Type 2 Diabetes
In the United States, it’s estimated that approximately 3.1 million women have diabetes and don’t know they have the disease due to a lack of symptoms. One of the leading causes of diabetes is obesity, and younger generations have a higher rate of obesity than previous generations before them.
There are some women who are at high risk of developing this condition, with Native American, African-American, and Hispanic women four times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes.
If you develop diabetes, you are also more at risk from heart disease later on in life. If you experience gestational diabetes during pregnancy, you’re 20% to 50% more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later on.
Due to the increased risk for women who have gestational diabetes, it is crucial to have regular screenings for type 2 diabetes once following labor and birth.
Colon and Rectal Cancer
Recent studies have found an alarming increase in young adults being affected by rectal and colon cancers. Suppose you notice any blood in your stool or experience any changes in your bowel habits, you need to speak to a medical professional immediately.
As younger people are typically less likely to have colorectal cancer, there are often delays in diagnosis, which could impact treatment.
Due to the delay many young women experience when trying to get a diagnosis, it is essential to have regular cancer screening using a whole-body MRI scan.
These screenings are able to provide you with imagery for multiple parts of the body within an hour, and experts are able to offer you advice on the results for any next steps you need to take. When looking to set up your screenings for peace of mind when it comes to many cancers as well as colorectal, take a look at Ezra’s whole body MRI scan.
Strokes
It is well known that the majority of strokes happen in people ages 65 or over; however, a recent study found that there is a spike in strokes occurring in women aged 18 to 34. While it is less likely for strokes to affect younger women when it does, it has a higher chance of being fatal.
It is thought that the rise of strokes in young women is due to an increase in risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
A woman’s risk is also increased when pregnant or taking birth control pills, and women with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, are linked with a significant increase in the risk of strokes.
Brain Shrinkage
The term brain shrinkage may sound scary, but it’s actually a normal stage in the aging process. However, there are many factors that have been linked to an increased decline in your brain volume, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, or obesity.
Studies have shown that healthy heart choices are the ideal way to protect your brain in years to come, with further evidence showing it can decrease the risk of heart disease, which has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Wrap-Up
Juggling a busy life with things such as school, work, marriage, parenting can make it challenging to remember to care for yourself.
However, it’s crucial to make time for your health as it can make a massive impact on the health of your body later and reduce the risk of developing any of the issues we discussed above.
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Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels
Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels
