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Nutrition
A woman's reproductive life - encompassing menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause - means that her nutritional needs differ greatly from those of a man. No matter what age you are or shape you're in today, nutrition matters. Nutrition is essential for growth and development, health, and well-being. Behaviors to promote health should start early in life with breastfeeding and continue through life with the development of healthful eating habits.
But having a healthy diet is sometimes easier said than done. It is tempting to eat less healthy foods because they might be easier to get or prepare, or they satisfy a craving. Between family and work or school, you are probably balancing a hundred things at once. Taking time to buy the ingredients for and cooking a healthy meal sometimes falls last on your list. But you should know that it isn't hard to make simple changes to improve your diet. And you can make sense of the mounds of nutrition information out there. A little learning and planning can help you find a diet to fit your lifestyle.
Click here for Mercy Nutrition.
Diabetes
According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 9.3 million or 8.7 percent of all women over the age of 20 in the United States have diabetes. However, about one-third of them do not know it. The prevalence of diabetes is at least two to four times higher among African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than among white women. Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States, and has no cure.
Women with diabetes have an increased risk of vaginal infections and complications during pregnancy. Click here for more information on gestational diabetes.
Diabetes-related Complications
The risk for cardiovascular disease, the most common complication attributable to diabetes, is more serious among women than men. Click here for more information on Women and Heart Disease.
The risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is 50 percent higher among women than men. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is life-threatening. It can occur in people who have little or no insulin in their bodies (mostly people with type 1 diabetes) when their blood sugar levels are high. Ketoacidosis can be caused by not taking enough insulin, having a severe infection or other illness, becoming severely dehydrated, or some combination of these factors. Click here for more information.
Women with diabetes are 7.6 times as likely to suffer peripheral vascular disease (PVD) (also called peripheral arterial disease (PAD)) than women without diabetes. Peripheral arterial disease is a chronic condition that results from narrowing of the vessels that supply oxygen-rich blood to the legs, abdomen, pelvis, arms, or neck. Click here for more information.  Diabetes is the fastest growing risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The number of people -- which has tripled over the last three decades -- is equal to 7% of the American population. More concerning is that one-third of diabetics are unaware they have the disease -- a disease which leads to cardiac conditions, stroke, blindness, loss of limb, and impotence for men. The good news is that Diabetes is controllable and preventable. Knowing your risk profile will enable you to take control of your health and provide you with the best defense against diabetes. This free risk assessment will take about 7 minutes to complete. At the end, you will receive personalized, strictly confidential information. Take the DiabetesAware Risk Assessment
 Peripheral Vascular Disease refers to diseases of blood vessels outside the heart and brain. Many people are unaware that, to a large extent, the disease is both modifiable and preventable. Knowing your risk profile will enable you to take control of your health and provide you with the best defense against vascular disease. This free vascular risk assessment will take about 7 minutes to complete. At the end, you will receive personalized, strictly confidential information. Take the VascularAware Risk Assessment |
