The Most Important Healthcare Tips for Black Women

Effective health promotion and prevention measures aren’t something that women should begin worrying about when they reach a certain age. Rather, they should begin during early adulthood, then progressively continue through age, 30, 40, 60 and beyond.   

Healthcare Tips for Women in Their 20s

Even though the 20s are not commonly known as the years that most women are overly concerned with health issues, it’s important to avoid taking one’s health for granted. The 20s are a time to lay the foundation for good health habits later in life. Ignoring your diet, sleep habits or the need for regular exercise may not make an obvious difference today, but it can catch up with you down the road.  Important lifestyle and diet choices during your 20s should include:

• Engage in a minimum of 2.5 hours per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (according to Harvard Health).
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day 
• Make healthy homemade meals at least 60% of the time
• Have a meatless meal at least once each week
• Have a yearly physical and dental exam
• See your gynecologist regularly
• Strengthen your personal support network (particularly if you have recently moved away from home for a romantic relationship)
• Practice safe sex (women in their 20s are more likely to get a sexually transmitted disease) 

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Healthcare Tips for Women in Their 30s

Women in their 30s are in their prime childbearing years, and Black women have a higher incidence of maternal mortality (death), infant mortality and low birth weight babies.

It’s essential to be in an optimal state of health to have a healthy baby. Eating a healthy diet and employing a regular exercise routine are imperative during a woman’s 30s. Be sure to consult with your obstetrician if you are pregnant, or another healthcare provider, before starting any type of exercise regime.

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Although Black women are less likely to get breast cancer than other racial groups, studies show when they do, they often get breast cancer earlier. Black women are also 30 percent more likely to get triple-negative breast cancer (a type of breast cancer that has fewer treatment options). Early breast cancer detection can save lives. Essential health tips for women in their 30s include:

• Have a baseline mammogram at age 35 (if you have breast cancer that runs in your family) or otherwise at age 40 
• Do monthly breast self-exams
• Have an annual physical exam, including a clinical breast exam
• Get around 7 hours of restful sleep each night
• Continue with a healthy diet
• Continue getting regular health checkups
• Continue with safe sex practices
• Commit to a regular exercise routine (if you haven’t already done so)

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Healthcare Tips for Women in Their 40s

During your 40s, it’s often a time for career advancement and raising teenagers; it’s also a time when women commonly let their health priorities slide. Being busy with career and family during which there never seems to be enough time can be a recipe for skipping normal health screenings such as a regular Pap smear. Important health tips for women in their 40s include:

• A yearly routine physical (to allow your healthcare provider to monitor key indicators such as increased blood sugar or blood pressure or a change in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), waist-to-hip ratio or other factors. 
• A Pap smear at least every 3 years
• A mammogram every year (beginning at age 40)
• Consider treatment modalities for hot flashes, sleep problems or other perimenopause symptoms (caused by a fluctuation in estrogen levels)
• Start working on taking off any excess weight before you get through your 40s because weight loss often continues to get more difficult as women reach age 50
• Continue practicing safe sex

Healthcare Tips for Women in Their 50s

A woman’s life during her 50s is often burdened by caregiving. Although the kids may have flown the coop, taking care of aging parents, and perhaps grandchildren, is common during this decade of life.

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Adult caregiving is associated with its own set of stressors, often interrupting the caregiver’s ability to keep up with their own health needs. But the 50s are a time to rev up your prevention strategies. Essential health tips for women in their 50s include:

• Get a baseline colonoscopy (to check for polyps or growths that could lead to colon cancer)
• Have your thyroid level checked (particularly with unexplained weight gain, symptoms of fatigue and depression); hypothyroidism can cause heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. 
• Have an annual well-woman visit and Pap smear every three years 
• Continue with yearly mammograms and routine physical examinations.
• Start employing self-screenings (such as taking your blood pressure regularly, a blood pressure cuff can be purchased at your local drug store and the price starts at around $20)
• Get a shingles vaccine and flu shot (if recommended by your healthcare provider) 
• Continue practicing safe sex

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Healthcare Tips for Women in Their 60’s (and older)

The 60s and beyond are often a time when women retire from their careers to take time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But this isn’t the time to sit back and ignore your health.

Rather, it’s a time to keep moving and eat healthy to combat an ever-slowing metabolism rate, weight gain, and other health risks that increase with age. Tips for healthy Black women at age 60 and beyond include: 

• Continue well-visit checkups 
• Manage symptoms of any chronic health conditions (such as high blood pressure or diabetes).
• Adjust your caloric intake to accommodate a slower metabolism.
• Take supplements to compensate for a lower food intake, ensuring you get ample nutrients ( consult with your healthcare provider before taking any type of vitamins or supplements, including over-the-counter products).
• Continue with regular exercise (to help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other health conditions) and include strength training (to support strong bones).
• Continue with an active sex life (a study found that 2/3rds of women who were sexually active at an average age of 67 reported satisfaction with tier sex lives
• Use quality skin moisturizers, and natural exfoliators, and avoid super-hot bath or shower water to combat dry skin

Last, but not least, learn to accept the things you cannot change and how to be comfortable in your aging body. Although we can certainly do a lot to help promote a youthful appearance and health at any age, eventually, we are all going to experience signs of aging such as sagging skin, wrinkles, and gray hair. Instead of seeing your body for its lack of youthfulness, consider that it has “weathered the storm,” as one wise researcher put it.