Women’s Health

The Canadian Women’s Health Network gives an overview of 10 gender differences pertaining to women’s health. This site also details how gender affects health care, both in the actions men and women take, and the subsequent medical care they receive. Although some of the information is specific to the Canadian health care system, there are good links to many female-specific medical conditions, and a monthly newsletter.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women’s Health (OWH) Web site presents information on advancements in the field of women’s health, including clinical trials and research. The site itself doesn’t contain a lot of text but offers useful links to articles and news regarding women’s health.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality , a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, has a “Women’s Health” section that provides extensive information written specifically for women on issues like medications, breast cancer surgery, smoking cessation and more.

Black Women’s Health is dedicated to providing up-to-date health information with an emphasis on the specific concerns of black women. Find articles about healthy eating, cervical cancer, a physician directory and health topics on the left sidebar.

The National Women’s Health Information Center has a “Frequently Asked Questions” page about physical activity. According to the site, being active has a number of benefits: it can help you deal with stress, have more energy, sleep better, look better and have less anxiety. Regular physical activity can also lower your risk for a variety of medical problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression and bone fractures. This page also describes how much activity women need, how they can prevent injuries and offers tips to get started.

The Center for Young Women’s Health at Children’s Hospital Boston has worksheets young girls can fill out to learn what motivates them, and to keep track of their exercise progress. Complete the first worksheet by filling in what motivates you to become fit, what you do already and your fitness goals. The second worksheet offers activity ideas.

The National Women’s Health Information Center has an excellent nutrition overview that discusses the benefits of a healthy diet and the components of good nutrition. This page, in question-and-answer format, also explains the good and bad types of fat, offers portion size guidelines and defines terms such as fat free, low fat and cholesterol free.

WebMD has an article that describes six “super foods” women need, and how they help. Learn why low-fat yogurt, beans and berries are among the top foods that can help keep a woman healthy.

Girlshealth.gov is sponsored by the National Women’s Health Information Center. Learn about the different food groups, how much you need of them and how to incorporate these foods into your diet. Other articles cover vegetarianism, the importance of healthy bones and the basics of reading a food label.

4CollegeWomen.org was developed by students and faculty at Brandeis University. Read about the nutritional needs of a woman in her late teens and early 20s, get healthy food tips or find a dietician. The information is useful but be aware that some of the interactive tool links below the pyramid are broken.

Mayo Clinic has a comprehensive guide to birth control that can help a woman select a birth control method that is comfortable and fits her lifestyle. The specific types are described in-depth, along with the pros and cons of each method.

TeensHealth has a page for teens that describes the effectiveness of different birth control methods, and links to more in-depth descriptions of them. Of 100 couples who use birth control pills, for example, only five to eight will get pregnant in a year; 85 of 100 couples who use no contraception will become pregnant in a year.

Our Bodies Ourselves explains the different types of emergency contraception available and has a question and answer section. Our Bodies Ourselves is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that publishes a women’s health book of the same name.

See the findingDulcinea Pregnancy Web Guide.

See the findingDulcinea Fertility Issues Web Guide.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has an overview of abortion that introduces medical and surgical abortion procedures and answers questions about their effectiveness and safety.

Medem presents an excerpt from a pamphlet put out by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Read about the different types of medical and surgical abortion procedures, and some of the complications that can occur.

The National Women’s Health Information Center hosts information on sexually transmitted diseases. It reviews signs and symptoms and describes how STDs affect a pregnant woman.

TeensHealth has a page that describes what sexually transmitted diseases and infections are; why they are dangerous; and how they are spread. Sexual activity at a young age and unprotected sex are two factors that increase a person’s chance of getting an STI or STD. Scroll down the page for links that describe specific conditions.

See the findingDulcinea Menopause Web Guide.

See the findingDulcinea Breast Cancer Web Guide.

See the findingDulcinea Ovarian Cancer Web Guide.

The American Cancer Society has an in-depth cervical cancer guide. Besides describing the disease, the guide also addresses causes, prevention, diagnosis and the variety of standard, complementary and alternative treatments available for it; use the links on the right to access these topics.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has an overview of what uterine bleeding can mean in women of different ages, the tests used to diagnose the problems and how they are treated.

Mayo Clinic has a series of articles on different uterine conditions, including this one on adenomyosis. Other conditions addressed are cervicitis, double uterus and uterine polyps.

MedlinePlus has an interactive tutorial on endometriosis that covers what it is and how it’s caused, diagnosed and treated. The tutorial is also available in a PDF.

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.

The Anxiety Disorders Association of America has a “Women’s Initiative” because women are affected by anxiety disorders twice as often as men. This site offers a PDF with “Frequently Asked Questions” on anxiety disorders. The organization also has fact sheets (in PDF) for each of the major types: panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The National Women’s Health Information Center has a question-and-answer page about depression that describes what it is and how it affects women. Learn what the symptoms are and what to do if you think you have some of the symptoms. The site has similar pages for postpartum depression and insomnia.

The National Institute of Mental Health has an overview of how depression can affect women starting in adolescence and on throughout their lives. Discover how life events, such as marriage, having children, living in poverty, suffering abuse and even cultural differences, can influence a woman’s risk for experiencing clinical depression.

The National Women’s Health Information Center has an extensive site that discusses violence against women and how to prevent it. NOTE: The site warns women who may be in an abusive situation that their computer use can be tracked. It’s impossible to completely erase sites that have been visited. If you’re in an abusive situation, use another computer, such as at a library, friend’s house or school computer lab to explore this site safely. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233, or for the TTY line, 800-787-3224. Learn the signs of abuse and ways to stop it.