Healthy Women Today Newsletter

February is focused on hearts. Not only the kinds found on Valentine's Day cards and candies, but the one found in your body, too. Although someone else's heart might be the focus of your affection this month, giving your own heart some needed attention is especially important.

Heart disease is still the number one killer of women. Do you know all the signs and symptoms of a heart attack? For women, chest pain may not be the first sign of heart trouble. Before a heart attack, women have said that they have unusual tiredness, trouble sleeping, problems breathing, indigestion, and anxiety.

February is American Heart Month and February 3rd is National Wear Red Day 2008. To learn more about the resources womenshealth.gov has about heart disease and stroke, visit our Heart Health and Stroke page. We link to other resources such as The Heart Truth, For Your Heart, and Heart Healthy Women.

Take the time this month to educate yourself, your family, and your friends about heart disease. Love yourself, and your heart will thank you.

Valerie Scardino, M.P.A.
Communications Director, Office on Women's Health, HHS

Featured Health Article for February

Roughly two percent of women have vaginismus (vaj-uh-NIZ-muhs)—involuntary spasms of the muscles around the vagina. These spasms can make having sex painful and difficult, or even impossible. Often filled with feelings of failure and shame, women with vaginismus usually tell no one of their problem and suffer alone. Read Kathy Cordell’s touching personal story of her struggle with vaginismus and how she is helping women with this condition get assistance.

Share this important article with other women in your life!

How Can We Help You?

We get hundreds of e-mails from you every month. From thank you letters to serious health questions, we strive to reply with the most accurate and up-to-date health information.

Request of the Month:

We received an e-mail from a woman who recently suffered a heart attack and wanted more information. She also told us she was a 23-year breast cancer survivor.

We first applauded her for seeking out more information about heart disease. We gave her links to the following information on our web site:

• Heart Health & Stroke
• Breast Cancer

We then listed several on-line resources that offer information on heart health and information for breast cancer survivors:

• Heart and Vascular Diseases
• The Heart Truth for Women: If You Have Heart Disease
• How to Keep Your Heart Healthy
• Your Guide to Physical Activity and Your Heart
• What Breast Cancer Survivors Need to Know About Osteoporosis
• After Breast Cancer: What do you need to know about your gynecologic health (Copyright © GCF)

We suggested she also contact the following organizations for more information:

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, HHS
  P.O. Box 30105
  Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
  Phone Numbers:
  (800) 575-9355 (Blood Pressure & Cholesterol Information)
  (240) 629-3255 TTY
  (301) 592-8573 (Information Office)
  Fax: (240) 629-3246

• Cancer Information Service, NCI, NIH, HHS
  P.O. Box 24128
  Baltimore, MD 21227
  Phone Numbers:
  (800) 332-8615 TTY
  (800) 44U-QUIT Smoking Quitline
  (800) 422-6237 4CANCER
  Fax: (301) 330-7968

• American Heart Association
  7272 Greenville Avenue
  Dallas, TX 75231
  Phone Numbers:
  (800) 242-8721
  (888) 478-7653 (Stroke Info)

• National Breast Cancer Coalition
  1101 17th Street, NW, Suite 1300
  Washington, DC 20036
  Phone Numbers:
  (800) 622-2838
  (202) 296-7477
  Fax: (202) 265-6854

February's Featured Health Topic

A feature designed to help you find important health information on womenshealth.gov and girlshealth.gov

Eating Disorders

February 24 – March 1, 2008 is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Eating disorders—such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder—involve extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. Having an eating disorder can lead to serious health problems. Many people with an eating disorder also have other mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts. Getting help early is important to recovery.

Here are a few resources to help you learn more about eating disorders and how to seek help:

• Binge Eating Disorder
• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Body Image

February Recipes

If you’re planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantic dinner, show your loved one how much you care by preparing a heart-healthy dessert. Try these sweet, but healthy recipes from the CDC’s web site, Fruits and Veggies Matter. Here are some of our favorites:

Broiled star fruit with vanilla frozen yogurt Spicy apple-filled squash Strawbrosia parfaits Apple dumpling

New! Spotlight on Ana Dodson

When she visited a Peruvian orphanage four years ago, Ana saw how the children in her homeland were not as fortunate as her. So, Ana made it her mission to help them. Read Ana’s story about her trip to Peru, and how she opened her heart to give back to the place she once called home. Read Ana Dodson’s story.

Growing Great Girls
Introducing Growing Great Girls, a newsletter for parents of "tween" and teenage girls! Each month we will pack it full of information that will help you teach the girls in your life the importance of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Register today!

News from womenshealth.gov and the Office on Women's Health (OWH)

Healthy Eating for Adolescent Girls and their Families
BodyWorks is a program designed to help parents and caregivers of girls ages 9 to 13 improve family eating and activity habits. The program focuses on parents as role models and provides them with hands-on tools to make small, specific behavior changes to prevent obesity and help maintain a healthy weight.

Parents who enroll in the BodyWorks program receive a BodyWorks Toolkit and will attend ten 90-minute weekly sessions, moderated by a trained facilitator, to help them develop healthy eating and activity habits.

These regularly scheduled sessions are being held all over the country in communities close to your home.

For more information on this program, visit the BodyWorks web site.

Daily Updates from womenshealth.gov
Want daily updates from womenshealth.gov? Visit womenshealth.gov's Twitter site to get daily women's health news. We send you daily messages about happenings at womenshealth.gov, as well as information on a wide variety of women's health topics. It's a great way to stay plugged in!

womenshealth.gov Posters Available in Bulk
Promote womenshealth.gov by providing your clients, patients, or health fair attendees with our free materials. We have posters in English and Spanish that promote our toll-free call center and our web site. Order today by calling us at 800-994-9662.

We need your lung disease or oral health story!
Do you suffer from asthma or emphysema? Do you have an inspiring story about your experience with gum disease? If so, let us know! Your story may be featured in a book about women's health. We'd like to hear about difficult struggles as well as positive stories about how you have dealt with your diagnosis or situation. Share your story with us.

Other News on Women's Health

Donors Needed Now
Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Registering to become an organ donor is easy, and you can do it on National Donor Day, February 14th, at www.organdonor.gov.