Melissa Swan's Blog: My Head is Spinning

Mammograms, pap smears, hormones…oh my!   I don't know about you but my head is spinning. 
 

This week, after years of being dutiful about annual mammograms and pap smears, a government task force says maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all. 
 

The US Preventative Task Force recommends no mammograms until the age of 50 and then only every other year, not annually.  
Then on Friday, the American College of OBGYNs says pap smears should be every other year as well.  
 

Also on Friday, I reported on four women discussing bioidentical hormones.   You'll find the story and several helpful website links here at WHAS11.com. 
 

But, I have to admit even after all my research and talking to a doctor who prescribes bioidenticals, a pharmacist who makes them and teaches seminars on bioidenticals and two women who take them to relieve the symptoms of menopause,  I'm still a little confused.
  

Here's one thing I do know for sure.   You have to take control of your own health.   Now more than ever I think women need to learn about tests and drugs that can make us feel better or perhaps endanger our lives.   No one knows a woman's body like the woman who is living inside it.  

We all have scares and get them checked out usually to find it wasn't as bad as we feared.   However, we all know wonderful women who have been struck down way too early in life by a cancer that only affects females.   
 

And that's something else that I learned while doing a report on bio-identicals.  We need to take what ails us out of the closet and discuss it until we do find the answers we need or want.   Talk about menopause.  Recommend website and seminars.  Consult your doctor.  

If you don't feel right or good at any age there's usually a reason why and way to make a difference.