National Women's Health Week - It's your time!
May 17, 2012

National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health. It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health. The theme for 2012 is “It’s Your Time.” National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. It also encourages women to take the following steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases:

• Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings.

• Get active.

• Eat healthy.

• Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.

• Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet.

Learn more about National Women's Health Week.

(Content directly from womenshealth.gov/whw)

New NAMS Position Statement on Hormone Therapy
Apr 18, 2012

The North American Menopause Society, the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the health and quality of life of women through an understanding of menopause, has released a new Position Statement on Hormone Therapy. An expert panel of Menopause experts reviewed and evaluated new evidence regarding recommendations for hormone therapy. The full text is available at www.menopause.org

Highlights of the findings:

• Hormone Therapy (HT) remains the most effective treatment available for menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats that can interrupt sleep and impair quality of life. Many women can take it safely.
• If you have had blood clots, heart disease, stroke, or breast cancer, it may not be in your best interest to take HT. Be sure to discuss your health conditions with your healthcare provider.
• How long you should take Hormone Therapy is different for Estrogen+Progestogen Therapy (EPT) and Estrogen Therapy (ET). For EPT, the time may be limited by the increased risk of breast cancer that is seen with more than 3 to 5 years of use. For ET, no sign of an increased risk of breast cancer was seen during an average of 7 years of treatment, a finding that allows more choice in how long you choose to use ET.
• Most healthy women below age 60 will have no increase in the risk of heart disease with HT. The risks of stroke and blood clots in the lungs are increased but, in these younger age groups, the risks are less than 1 in every 1000 women per year taking HT.
• ET delivered through the skin (by patch, cream, gel, or spray) and low‐dose oral estrogen may have lower risks of blood clots and stroke than standard doses of oral estrogen, but all the evidence is not yet available. Individualization of care continues to be the hallmark of excellence in women’s health care. If you have questions regarding Hormone Therapy, please contact your health care provider.

Robin Kroll, MD

© 2012 Seattle Women's: Health, Research, Gynecology All Rights Reserved

Putting the Pap smear into Perspective: only a small part of the annual exam
Apr 09, 2012

New Guidelines for Pap smears have many women mistakenly questioning the need for an annual exam

Recently, new guidelines for Pap smears have made newsworthy headlines, but it’s important to put this topic in perspective - the “Pap smear” is only a small part of the annual exam. A Pap smear is the collection of cells sent to the lab to test for abnormalities that could lead to cervical cancer. Many women mistakenly equate a pelvic exam to a Pap smear and misunderstand the purpose of an annual “well woman’s exam."

The annual “well woman’s exam” includes a breast examination, review of you mammograms (if appropriate), examination of your thyroid gland, lymph nodes, abdomen and a pelvic exam. Pelvic exams are crucial whether or not a Pap smear is done. A pelvic exam includes examination of the vulva, urethra, vagina, cervix, uterus and ovaries as well as adjacent structures. If you do not have a Primary Care Provider, your annual exam may also include recommendations regarding other preventive care measures, including cholesterol monitoring, Vitamin D intake and osteoporosis.

With the importance of your annual exam in mind, here is a summary of the new Pap smear guidelines for your reference: These guidelines apply to Pap Smears only ¬– yearly well-woman exams are still critical to a woman’s overall healthcare.

The new Pap smear guidelines emphasize several basic areas: age at which women should begin and end screening, screening frequency, and testing for human papillomavirus (HPV). Note that these guidelines apply to healthy women only – women at increased risk for cervical cancer may need more frequent screenings.
• Age: Women should begin screening at age 21 regardless of sexual history; Women older than 65 may discontinue screening (providing they have had adequate prior screening and are not otherwise at high risk for cervical cancer).
• Screening Frequency: Women should have a Pap smear every three years; between the ages of 30 and 65, women may opt to have a Pap smear every 5 years with a “co-test” of HPV.
• HPV: Women under 30 should not be regularly screened for HPV; Women over 30 should have HPV testing every 5 years

REMEMBER: A completed gynecologic exam is still recommended on a yearly basis.

Robin Kroll, MD

© 2012 Seattle Women's: Health, Research, Gynecology All Rights Reserved