Take Care of Yourself and Your Health This Women’s Month

This Women’s Month, Episodic Health is urging women to take care of themselves too. Here are some of the actions they can put in place:

• Get regular check-ups. Visiting your doctor routinely means they can monitor your health and advise you on how best to care for yourself while you care for your loved ones.
• Reduce your risk of breast cancer. Research shows that lifestyle changes can decrease the risk of breast cancer, even in women at high risk. As breast cancer is the leading cancer affecting women in South Africa, with 1 in 25 women at risk of being diagnosed in their lifetime [1], simple things like limiting your alcohol consumption, being active and avoiding 1 exposure to radiation and environmental pollution can go a long way towards stopping you from becoming a statistic.
• Up your calcium and vitamin D intake. With 1.4 million South African women aged 50 and over suffering from osteoporosis [2], it's crucial to try and prevent this physically debilitating 2 disease as early as possible. One of the ways that you can do so is through diet and ensuring that you eat foods rich in calcium and vitamin D such as broccoli, milk, figs and fatty fish like wild-caught salmon.
• Be heart smart. Did you know that, in South Africa, deaths from cardiovascular diseases amongst women aged 35 to 59 is one and a half times more likely than that of women in the United States [3]? With this in mind, it’s important to maintain a healthy body mass index, 3 don’t smoke, lower your cholesterol and get your blood pressure under control.
• Make sure you have the best maternity care. Having adequate care before, during and after childbirth can not only save your life but that of your new-born too.

Take care of your health this month and every month. Talk to us about an instant personalised quote.