From the monthly archives:

October 2009

Which Cities are the Healthiest Places for Women?

by Wendy on October 23, 2009

I’m proud to see that my home town, San Francisco, is among the top five places for women to live according to Self Magazine’s annual Survey of America’s Healthiest Places for Women.  Their criteria for ranking 100 of the largest metropolitan areas included:

Golden Gate Bridge

  • rates of diseases such as cancer and depression
  • factors that affect access to health care including the number of doctors per capita
  • environmental and community measures such as air quality and crime rates

Interestingly, this year, “quality of sleep” was added as a determining factor.  Charleston, WV took the prize for being the worst sleeping area with the average woman experiencing insomnia 3 to 4 nights per week.  What’s going on there?

In front of San Francisco were Burlington, VT  in the top spot (which has 40 percent more ob/gyns than the list’s average), followed by Bethesda, MD, Portland, ME, and Cambridge, MA.

Additional results?  Women in Madison, WI exercise the most while those living in El Paso, TX have the fewest health clubs to choose from.  Raleigh, NC has the cleanest water but Riverside, CA has the most toxic sites.  Women in Las Vegas have the fewest Pap smears and Rockingham County, NH has the fewest STDs.  And even though San Francisco ranks high among the best places for women to live, we seem to have the most allergies and asthma.  I guess you can’t win ‘em all. It’s a beautiful city anyway.

Details of the survey can be found in Self Magazine’s November issue. You can log onto their website to see how your own state fared.

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A New Online Resource for Women About Midlife Health

by Wendy on October 6, 2009

Pause Magazine

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  has recently launched a website for women who are approaching or going through menopause.  The website and the companion magazine, Pause, covers a lot of territory – from hot flashes to urinary incontinence.  The section on Menopause will likely be most helpful to women in the peri-menopause stage, who are still trying to figure out what’s happening to them.

However, there are sections on the site about Tests & Procedures, Conditions or Health Problems,  Cancer, and Your Annual Check-Up (about health screening tests women over 45 should have annually) that are all informative and important to know about.

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