Good news for women. Their health status in California has improved in several vital areas over the last decade, according to the Profile of Women’s Health Status in California, 1984-1994.
Death rates for heart disease and cancer, while still the leading causes of death for California women, declined. More women over 50 are having mammograms. And fewer are dying from breast cancer.
There were also declines in deaths due to motor vehicle accidents and suicide.
Dr. Katherine Sutherland, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology on staff at El Camino Hospital, said the decline in deaths due to heart disease may be a result of an increase in post menopausal hormone replacement therapy.
“I would hope we’re learning how to use our greater knowledge about lifestyle and preventive care – such as the importance of exercise, and of fiber, fruit and vegetables in the diet,” Sutherland said. “That may be more true in the Los Altos area. We have a sophisticated population of women here who know how to take care of themselves.”
The population in and around Los Altos is roughly 75 percent Caucasian, 17 percent Asian and 4 percent black. Women make up 49 percent of the population. Approximately 23 percent of the female population is age 20 or under, 40 percent between ages 21 and 44, 22 percent between ages 45 and 64, and the remaining 15 percent are over 65. More than two times the number of area residents hold bachelors and advanced degrees than the national average.
The state report identified several risk factors specific to Asian and white women, and to women in specific age categories.
Asians as a group were more likely than other groups to have never received a Pap test, putting them at higher risk for late diagnosis of cervical cancer. Mary Chung, executive director of the National Asian Women’s Health Organization in San Francisco, said that a survey completed by her organization in January 1997 found similar results.
“We found that 50 percent of Asian women surveyed had not visited a health care provider in the last year for reproductive services, and 25 percent of them had never seen a health care provider,” Chung said. “The availability of health insurance doesn’t necessarily lead to health care access.”
The state’s report noted an increase in mortality associated with lung cancer, and found that, among younger women, whites were more likely to smoke and to abuse alcohol than other groups.
“We are paying the price now for the increase in the population of women smokers years back,” Sutherland said. “I have seen a decline recently in the number of my patients who are smoking. Hopefully, we are starting to see a turnaround.”
A number of emerging problems that could cause an increasing burden of illness among women in California and an increasing need for health care services surfaced in the state’s report.
Not surprisingly, these included the aging of the “baby boom,” as well as significant increases in female mortality among women in all race/ethnic groups due to AIDS.
Obesity was the only behavioral risk factor that showed a significant increase among California women during the past decade. It is an important risk factor for the leading causes of hospitalization and death among women, including heart disease, stroke, some cancers and diabetes. The study did find an increase in mortality associated with diabetes.
“Obesity is an easy result of our current lifestyle and affluence here, “Sutherland said. “People are aware of it and want to fix it, but it’s hard to do.”
Elizabeth Beckner Lee, a member of the Governor’s California Commission on Aging and expert on health issues affecting older women, said that today’s women finally have the benefit of research directed specifically at aging in women.
“More attention is being paid now to the differences between aging men and women,” Lee said. “Before, the assumption was made that women had the same issues as men.”
Errors were also made in thinking that because women had lower risks for cardiovascular disease than men earlier in life that this held true consistently.
“When older women complained of symptoms indicating cardiovascular problems they were often labeled as whiners,” Lee said. “Now we know that after menopause women have the same cardiovascular risks as men. We’ve also seen at least one study in which women reacted differently to a pain-killing medication than men.”
Isolation is a particular problem for women over 75, especially for widows, Lee said. It is often difficult for them to make connections and to access the help available to them. The result is higher incidence of over-medication with prescription drugs, and higher levels of drinking and smoking. Older men, Lee notes, are more likely to have women to look after them.
Looking at our local population, Sutherland said, “The biggest concern relates to the level of stress and the hectic lifestyle. There are an incredible number of women balancing stressful jobs, child-rearing and elderly parents, and still trying to take care of themselves.
“Often women are too stressed to get to a stress management program.”
Sutherland recommends that women be aware of and maximize the factors that make for good health: diet, exercise, stress reduction and preventive check-ups.
