Women’s Health and Wellness

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Womens Health and Wellness

• Lisa Zaynab Killinger, DC

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Overview of Womens Issues

• Leading health concerns
• Heart Disease-1 Killer of women
• Cancer- 2nd leading cause of death
• Stroke- 3rd leading cause of death
• Osteoporosis- Common to almost all older women
• Dementia- Leading cause of nursing home placement
• Menopause-A quality of life issue for 1/3 of
  women
• Concerns of younger women Menstrual issues,
  nutrition, fertility, overweight, exercise

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Heart Health in Women

• Heart disease Leading cause of death
• Whats special about women?
• Women are twice as likely to die if they have a
  heart attack, than a man
• Womens heart attacks are often
  missed/mis-diagnosed
• Disproportionate of heart attacks happen at 9
  am Monday morning
• Many women dont recognize or believe they are
  having a heart attack
• Heart attacks present differently in women-
• Neck, jaw or arm pain (or no pain)
• Panicky or uneasy feeling
• Shortness of breath
• General discomfort or tightness in chest
• Sweating
• Any of the above, exacerbated by exertion or
  stress

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Why are heart attacks more deadly in women?

• Women have smaller blood vessels with thinner
  walls (fragile)
• Emergency room staff and medical professionals
  often miss the diagnosis due to unusual/mild
  symptoms
• Women, often too busy to go to the doctor, may
  endure pain/discomfort in silence.

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Heart Disease Prevention ?

• Advise patients to quit smoking
• Keep patient adjusted
• Recommend regular physical activity
• Monitor/control blood pressure cholesterol
• Manage stress effectively-yoga, relaxation
  techniques, biofeedback, exercise

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Heart Disease and Nutrition

• Mediterranean Diet-Shown to lower risk of heart
  attack (More fruit, veggies, grains, less animal
  fat/red meat, more fish, etc.)
• Whole bran foods-Oats, Wheat bran etc. (increase
  fiber intake)
• Lower sodium intake
• Vitamin E, other antioxidants, selenium

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Heart Health Nervous System

• The Heart is innervated by
• Related Spinal Levels are
• Thoracic spine T4-6

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Cancers and Women
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Lung Cancer

• Leading cause of cancer death in women
• Very preventable!
• Most cases are related to smoking or radon
• Have home checked for radon gases
• Advise pts to quit smoking
• Provide good smoking cessation materials
• http//www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/quits.htm

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Lung Dis-ease and the Spine

• Lungs are Innervated by
• Spinal Levels Related to Lung

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Breast Cancer

• Breast Cancer-
• 200,000 cases/year 40,000 deaths/year
• Risks
• Obesity, sedentary lifestyle
• Alcohol use
• High fat diet
• Family history (only 10 of cases)
• Genetics (BrCA1 and BrCA2 genes)

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Breast Health and the Spine

• Breast tissue is innervated by
• Related spinal levels are

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Colo-Rectal Cancer

• Third leading cause of cancer death
• Prevention recommendations
• Diet high in fiber
• Diet low in animal fat
• High calcium intake
• Resources www.cancer.org

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The Colon the Nervous System

• The Colon is innervated by
• The related spinal levels are

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Stroke The 3rd Leading Cause of death in women

• Risks
• Smoking
• Overweight
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Use of oral contraceptives/hormone replacemt.
• High blood pressure or cholesterol

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Stroke Patient Presentation

• Headache or neck pain-Severe
• Dizziness
• Speech disturbance (may be mild or none)
• Vision disturbance (may be mild or none)
• Unusual weakness, numbness, etc (not injury
  related)

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Strategies for Stroke Prevention in Chiropractic
Practice

• Adjusting Strategies
• In patients with risk factors
• Avoid extension and rotational vectors
• Employ a least invasive to most invasive strategy
• Do not adjust if stroke symptoms are present
• Recommend Stroke Prevention For Your Patients
• Exercise!!
• Quit Smoking
• Increase fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
• Decrease animal fat and red meat
• Consume more fish

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Osteoporosis The silent thief

• Osteoporosis is silent
• Often patient knows nothing about their bone loss
  until a fracture occurs
• 1/3 of women over 70 have osteoporosis
• 84 of women over 70 have low bone mass
  (osteopenia)
• Osteoporosis is PREVENTABLE

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Identify who is at riskControllable
risks Uncontrollable risks

• Low calcium intake
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Hi caffeine intake
• Alcohol use
• Smoking
• Soda pop drinks

• European or Asian descent
• Fair skinned
• Sm. framed/lo weight
• Family history of OP
• Early hysterectomy

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Recommendations for Bone Health

• Exercise Walking or other axial loading
  exercises, weight lifting
• Calcium Supplementation 1,200-1,500 mg/day
• Avoid smoking, caffeine, alcohol, soda pop, etc

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Menopause

• 1/3 of women in the US are menopausal
• Process starts in mid forties w/ pre-menopause
• Night sweats, mood swings, depression, sexual
  changes.
• Patients seek help!

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Menopause and Health

• Post menopausal increase in risks
• Breast, uterine, cervical, ovarian cancer
• Osteoporosis
• Heart Disease/Stroke
• Dementia/memory problems

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Help Natural remedies

• Isoflavones
• Black Cohosh
• Red Clover
• DongQuai
• Alfalfa
• Passion Flower
• Wild Yam

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Especially.

• Black Cohosh ltRemifemingt Used for relief of
  general menopausal symptoms, nervousness,
  anxiety, hot flashes, vaginal dryness
• Resources Whiting, Clouston, Kerlin. M J
  Australia 2002177(8)440-443.
• Leiberman J Womens Health 19987(5)525-529.

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What herbs for what?

• Herbs For Bone Loss
• Wild Yam natural progesterone source
• Chaste Berry-LH/Progesterone stimulant
• Red Clover All 4 isoflavones
• Daidzen, Genistein, Formononetin, Biochanin
• Source Nestel et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.
  1999 84(3)895-8.