What are some common myths about women’s health?

While many people view heart disease as a primarily male condition, heart disease is actually the leading killer of both men and women. Ovarian cancer – not breast cancer – is the most deadly female reproductive cancer. Despite historical thought, menopause is a natural stage of life, not a disease-state.

Several common health misconceptions dramatically affect women’s attitudes toward disease. For example, many people view heart disease primarily as a male disorder. But heart disease is the number one killer in the United States of both men and women. This means that more women die from heart disease than from any other disorder.

Because breast cancer receives a lot of publicity, women may assume that it is the most deadly of the female cancers. But ovarian cancer kills more women than other reproductive or female cancers, mainly because it is rarely diagnosed early enough. Once noticed, ovarian cancer has often already spread beyond easily treatable measures.

Finally, some medical doctors view menopause as a disease. And until recently, most people avoided discussing menopause as though it was somehow “wrong” or embarrassing. But now we know that menopause is a natural life process, marking the end of menstruation and the reproductive years.