Health Issues for Women Over Sixty

For many women, the major health issue as she ages is menopause and the attendant hormonal changes. Other conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer are health risks she can try and prevent.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Many women will find they need to take hormone replacement therapy after menopause. This is to replace the estrogen that the body is no longer producing but still needs. Estrogen is necessary for the prevention of a lot of things, but it is especially important to keep bones healthy, which prevents osteoporosis. The lack of estrogen causes the bone density to decrease at a rate of 2-3 percent a year. But it is not just bones that a lack of estrogen affects. It is believed that estrogen protects women from coronary vascular disease, as well.

Osteoporosis

Although men can suffer from osteoporosis, women are more likely to be affected by it. With the loss of bone density, there is a greater risk of breaking bones with a simple fall or even moving the body the wrong way. As women age, broken bones take longer to heal and can cause other health risks.

Breast Cancer

Women over the age of 60 are at the greatest risk of developing breast cancer, as a woman’s chances of getting the disease increase after menopause. Also, recent studies are showing that obesity after menopause, as well as physical inactivity, lead to a greater risk of breast cancer.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Women are more at risk to have dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than are men. This is probably due to the fact that women live longer than men. Dementia is a group of symptoms that are characterized by a steady decline in intellectual functioning, eventually interfering with a woman’s ability to complete normal daily activities. Alzheimer’s is a progressive and irreversible decline in certain cognitive brain functions and it is the most well-known and most common form of dementia in senior citizens. The first symptoms usually begin to appear around the time a woman turns 60. Initially, the only symptoms might be forgetfulness, but as time goes on, the woman will have trouble remembering recent events, people’s names, and even how to do simple math problems.