Women’s Health

The National Women's Health Information Center provides an explanation of heart disease and how to prevent it, as well as important information on issues specifically for women, such as how birth control pills, the birth control patch and hormone replacement therapy can affect your risk of heart disease.

WomenHeart is the online home of the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, and has the latest heart news and cardiac information (such as conditions, treatments, facts and stats) as well as advice on keeping fit and healthy. Stop by the “Get Support” section for support networks, an online community, personal stories from those with heart disease and an area especially for friends and family of women suffering with it.

The Cleveland Clinic hosts the Center for Women and Heart Failure whose “goal is to focus more attention on women in heart failure research so that we can eventually tailor therapy to meet individual needs.” The Web site examines the heart failure issues specific to women as well as causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and the prognosis/outlook for the future.

WebMD has an article “Women and Coronary Artery Disease” that points out that coronary artery disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. The article deftly illustrates why it is so important for women to learn about this disease, and it goes on to discuss the factors that lead to coronary heart disease in women, what women can do to prevent the disease and what medications are commonly prescribed. Another article, “Her Guide to a Heart Attack: Recognizing Female Heart Attack Symptoms” says that women have more unrecognized heart attacks, and their symptoms are sometimes different from men’s.

MedicineNet has an article on the risks of heart attacks in women. While the WebMD article focuses more on symptoms and misdiagnosis in women, MedicineNet acknowledges these factors and goes on to discuss treatment options as well as the correlation between estrogen levels and coronary heart disease in women.

The American Heart Association has specialized hypertension information for women. Learn what blood pressure is, what the different levels mean and how your blood pressure is affected if you're taking the contraceptive pill, are pregnant, overweight, postmenopausal, African American or have a family with a history of high blood pressure.

The National Women’s Health Information Center has answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" about spider and varicose veins including "How common are abnormal leg veins?" and "Are varicose veins and spider veins painful or dangerous?" At the end of the article, there’s also a list of organizations you can contact for more information.

WebMD has an article titled, "Women and Hair Loss: The Causes," that explains the difference between male and female pattern hair loss, the physiological process that can cause hair to stop growing back regularly, the change that has occurred in the medical community in regard to the perceived causes of female hair loss, and some of the possible medical conditions (such as polycystic ovary syndrome) that may cause female hair loss.

The American Hair Loss Association describes the different treatment options available for women.