Common Health Issues Young Women Encounter

Age doesn’t matter when it comes to health issues. Whether you are in your 20’s or 40’s, any age group can experience health problems. Some illnesses can be present throughout a woman’s adult life, while some only occur according to age.

Although young adults are expected to be healthier than older age groups, they are still vulnerable to diseases. Here are the most common health issues that young women are experiencing.

Reproductive Health Issues

Women have a delicate and complex reproductive system, so it is more prone to different kinds of issues. From injuries to infections, women of all ages experience a problem with their reproductive health.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS is the most common reproductive health issue among young women. PCOS is a hereditary issue, which means if you have a family member diagnosed with PCOS, you have a higher chance of developing it.

PCOS is caused by a hormonal imbalance in a woman’s body. A woman’s body produces three hormones, which are estrogen, progesterone, and androgen. Androgen is known to be a male hormone that women also produce in small amounts.

These hormones help regulate the menstrual cycle. Suppose the body produces a higher amount of androgen than what is necessary. In that case, this will result in an irregular menstrual cycle that causes the accumulation of unfertilized eggs in a woman’s ovary. This build-up is referred to as Polycystic ovarian syndrome, with multiple small eggs piling in the ovary.

Other reproductive health issues that even young women can experience are:

• Endometriosis
• Cervical Cancer
• Uterine Fibroids
• STD
• Infertility
• Pregnancy-Related Issues

Psychological Health Issues

Women are known to be more susceptible to mental health issues than men. This problem should be given more attention as many teenagers are reported to have mental illnesses that resulted in injuries and even death.

Psychological issues started even before birth as most of these illnesses are genetics and only worsened by environmental factors. Maternal stress also plays a big role in a child’s mental health, so taking care of the pregnant mother’s mental health is vital to ensure that the child will not have possible mental disorders in the future.

Depression and anxiety are the most common psychological issues young women face, especially among teenagers. These mental problems will be with them throughout their lifetime, if not looked into.

Postpartum depression is also common among women after childbirth. 20% of new mothers suffer postpartum depression, which hinders them from fulfilling their newborns’ obligations. Although perinatal depression also exists, it only affects a small group of women, unlike postpartum depression.

In addition to depression and anxiety, young women may also experience eating disorders. The new generation of women is more conscious of their physical appearance as the social stigma related to body figure increases. The stigma often results in having negative feelings towards food, which triggers the eating disorder.

Abnormal eating patterns can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. This is a serious disease that affects young women as it can put them in life-threatening situations. Eating disorders are considered a psychological issue that needs to be addressed.

Cardiovascular Disease

An increase in heart attack incidents among young people, especially among young women, is alarming. Contrary to what we used to know that cardiovascular diseases will only affect older adults, it has also affected young adults.

Compared to young men, young women are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease. These ailments are commonly found in patients who had heart attacks. Lifestyle is the number one factor that causes cardiovascular diseases among young women.

Obesity became a widespread problem in the country. With the growing industry of fast food, plus the decline of physical activities among young generations due to their access to technology, the rise in heart attack cases amongst young individuals is not surprising.

One of the reasons young women are more prone to cardiovascular diseases than young men is that the new generation of women is a multi-tasker. They are independent and hardworking where they often forget about taking care of themselves.

Breast Cancer

1 out of 8 women in the United States is expected to develop breast cancer throughout their lifetime. For the women population in the U.S, death rates from breast cancer are higher than any other cancer. This health issue is also increasing among women ages 50 and below, while a significant decrease of breast cancer cases in women above 50 was observed.

A woman’s chance of acquiring breast cancer increases if she has a close relative diagnosed with cancer. However, breast cancer can also be acquired by women with no family history of breast cancer. They might acquire the disease due to gene mutation that is affected by aging and lifestyle.

Takeaway

Women, in general, are vulnerable and are prone to many health issues. Women should pay close attention to their health and never take it for granted. A regular wellness check-up should be conducted once a year when a woman reaches 18 to identify any underlying health problems or avoid them entirely. Moreover, for women who are already suffering from these or other health problems, taking regular medication as prescribed by the doctor is essential. Luckily, there are a lot of places and websites that provide RX coupons to aid with the expenses that come with the disease/s.