What Did you do to take control of your health?

 As National Women’s Health Week comes to an end, ask yourself

 “What did I do to take Control of my Health?” 

Angelia Jolie had a double mastectomy and reduced her chance of breast cancer from 87% to 5%. While most women do not need to take such drastic measures, all women can take small steps to improve their health.

• Schedule a mammogram:  Age 25-35 every 2 years; Age 35 & older, every year. 
•  Schedule an annual pap: In the past 40 years, the number of cases of cervical cancer and the number of deaths from cervical cancer has decreased significantly. This decline largely is the result of many women getting a regular pap test which can find cervical pre-cancer before it turns into cancer.

 

• Know Your Health Risk: look into your family health history and share your findings with your doctor (Mom and Dad’s family).

 

• Wear Suncreen Daily: Melanoma rates in young women have skyrocketed. A Mayo Clinic study finds they’ve increased eightfold between 1970 and 2009.

 

• Take a Walk: Exercise keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, certain types of cancer, and arthritis.

 

• Sleep 7-8 hours a night: The immune system greatly depends on sleep to function. With other systems of the body in rest mode, the immune system can go to work fighting and protecting.  Lack of sleep can cause a depressed immune system, allowing harmful germs and exposures to wreak havoc on our systems.

Remember taking control of your health is not a 1-shop-stop but an ongoing occurrence. As they say:  “Be Good to your Body & Your Body will be good to you.”

 

Planned Parenthood of CollierCounty

Too much TV could damage sperm production

Planning on having a baby 1 day, then you might want to go for a jog and skip the TV shows. 

Semen quality is a much-discussed subject among scientists these days. Data suggests sperm concentration has been declining in Western countries over the past couple of decades – and reasons for the decline are debatable.

The lead author of a new study on the subject, Audrey Gaskins, has been studying the effects of diet and exercise on semen for several years as a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her latest research shows a lack of physical activity – and too much time in front of the television – may impact sperm count and concentration.

Previous studies have shown a link between physical activity and decreased levels of oxidative stress, Gaskins says. “Oxidative stress” is stress placed on the body as it tries to get rid of free radicals or repair the damage caused by them. Exercise may protect certain male cells from oxidative damage, Gaskins says, leading to increased sperm concentration.

Those findings led Gaskins to complete an observational study on young men’s exercise and TV habits as they relate to semen quality. The results were published online Monday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

 

The study

Gaskins and her colleagues asked 189 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 22 how often they exercised each week and how intensely they worked out. The study participants also recorded their TV watching habits.

Then at the clinic, semen samples were collected from each man. The semen was analyzed for sperm size and shape, motility, concentration and total sperm count.

The researchers also conducted a physical examination and looked at the men’s diet, body weight, reproductive history, stress levels and smoking habits to rule out other potential causes of their findings.

The results

The men who did moderate to vigorous exercise 15 hours or more per week had a significantly higher sperm concentration than those who worked out less than five hours a week. And the men who watched more than 20 hours of TV a week had almost half the sperm concentration as the men who watched zero hours a week

for more information on this study, visit the link below

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/04/too-much-tv-could-damage-sperm-production/

Planned Parenthood of Collier County, we’re here for you! 

IT’s National Women’s Health Week!

National Women’s Health Week.

 

May 12-18 is National Women’s Health Week. Make your health a priority and schedule a well-woman checkup today.  

 

What is National Women’s Health Week?

National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health. It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health and its importance. It also empowers women to make their health a priority and take the following five steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases:

• Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings.
• Get active.
• Eat healthy.
• Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.
• Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet, and texting while driving.

Many women are nervous about what well-women visits entail and so don’t get the care they need. But regular exams and health screenings can rule out or detect life-threatening diseases such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancers.

 

 The American Cancer Society estimates for ovarian cancer in the United States for 2013 are:

• About 22,240 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
• About 14,230 women will die from ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the ninth most common cancer among women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. It ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. Ovarian cancer accounts for about 3% of all cancers in women. A woman’s risk of getting ovarian cancer during her lifetime is about 1 in 72. Her lifetime chance of dying from ovarian cancer is about 1 in 100. (These statistics don’t count low malignant potential ovarian tumors.)

This cancer mainly develops in older women. About half of the women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are 63 years or older. It is more common in white women that African-American women.

Early detection is the key to many cancers and lift threatening diseases.  

Prom Night

Prom is only weeks away in Collier County! Young women are getting ready by dress shopping, shoe shopping, and planning their after party extravaganzas! What else should they be planning?  Come into Planned Parenthood for free condoms and make an appointment to get birth control.  At Planned Parenthood, we can show you all of the different methods of birth control so that you can find the best method for you.  We will happily answer all of your questions and make sure you are comfortable with your decision.  Book an appointment now at (239) 262-0301. 

Today is the day!

Good morning!

Today is the day! We are having GYT- Get Yourself Tested at Planned Parenthood of Collier County today until 4:00 p.m.  People are already arriving and our first client received a free goodie bag and t-shirt! Come in and get tested! Normally getting yourself tested can cost up to 180 dollars! Not today.  Today teens get free testing and young adults 20 and older only have to pay 30 dollars!  The 25th person will get a free T-shirt! Can’t wait to see you!

 

Preventing Teen Pregnancy

The month of April is coming to an end. The month of May is teen pregnancy prevention month.  One of the best ways to prevent teen pregnancy is with education.  At Planned Parenthood of Collier County, we do just that. Every Thursday we hold teen clinic between 2:30 and 5:30.  At teen clinic, teens have the option to learn, ask questions, and get answers from educated professionals.  Teens get the chance to learn what type of contraception will work best for them and can discuss affordable options to obtain these forms of contraception.  In addition, Planned Parenthood of Collier County always had condoms available.  So come in and get educated!

 

Do not forget that GYT-Get Yourself Tested day is coming up this Tuesday.  Free testing to teens under 19 and 30 dollar testing for adults over 20.  The first and fiftieth person to come in get a free t-shirt! We can’t wait to see you!

Fact or Myth?

There are so many myths about sexual reproductive health.  It is important to know the difference between a myth and a fact especially when it comes to your health. 

1.  If you are on birth control you do not need to worry about contracted any STI’s.

MYTH! Birth control prevents pregnancy, but does not protect you from STI’s.  In order to protect yourself from STI’s you need to get tested and use condoms.

2. Oral and anal sex are not really sex and are considered “safe’ sex options.

MYTH! Almost all STI’s you can contract from vaginal sex you can also contract from oral and anal sex.  Oral sex is less risky than both vaginal and anal sex, but in terms of having it with someone who has HIV or another STI is still risky.  Anal is in fact the riskiest of all types of intercourse. When used correctly, condoms are the best way to protect yourself from HIV and other STI’s.

3. 2 condoms are better than one.

MYTH! It is smart to inspect a condom and check the expiration date and for any bubbles, but when used correctly one does the trick! Condoms simply need to be used at all times during sexual intimacy and the right way to be effective. 

4.  You can tell by looking at someone if they have an STI.

MYTH! Most people who are sexually active by age 25 will not know if they even have an STI.  Many STI’s including HIV do not show any symptoms.  The only way to be 100 percent sure if you or your partner have an STI is to get tested.

It is so important you and your partner get tested.  Come to Planned Parenthood of Collier County on April 30, 2013 to get test.  The first and fiftieth person to arrive will receive a t-shirt and goodie bag! We will be open for testing from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Free testing for teens 19 and under and 30$ testing for young adults 20 and over.  Call and make an appointment at (239) 262-0301 or just walk-in. 

 

Chlamydia- GYT-Get Yourself Tested

There are a number of reasons you should be getting yourself tested on April 30th at Planned Parenthood of Collier County.  In this post, I am going to focus on the most commonly reported STI in the United States- Chlamydia.  There are over 3 million cases of Chlamydia reported in the United States every year.  Many times (half of the time for men) no syptoms are shown with this STI.  You may be wondering if there are no symptoms how can it harm you? Well, if Chlamydia goes untreated, it can lead to long term issues within the body such as infertility for women.  For this reason, it is so important you get tested even if you show no symptoms. Testing includes either urinating or getting a swab taken from cervix or penis.  Either way it is quick and worth your time.

Come in and get tested on April 30th at Planned Parenthood of Collier County. Free testing for teens 19 and older and only 30 dollars for young adults 20 and older.  Call and make your appointment today at (239) 262-0301 or walk-in any time on April 30th between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.  The 1st and 50th person to come in get a free shirt and goodie bag! We look forward to seeing you!

A Weekend Reminder

Happy Friday! Only 11 days until GYT.  Come in and get yourself tested on April 30, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  You can call and make an appointment at (239) 262-0301 or walk-in.  Free testing for teens 19 and under and 30 dollar testing for young adults 20 and over.  We will be promoting the event at Blue Martini on Wednesday night for ladies night from 9:00 p.m. to midnight and at Noodles for Latino night on Friday the 26th.  Come see us and get a free shirt and goodie bag! We can’t wait to see you!

STI Trivia- How informed are you?

When it comes to the GYT (Get Yourself Tested) Campaign, how informed are you?! Let’s do some more trivia!

True or False: You only need to get an STI test if you’re having unprotected sex with multiple people?
FALSE- Many people have STIs with no symptoms!

True or False: You can wear a condom more than once as long as there are no tears in it.
FALSE- You should dispose of a condom after you use it and use another one the next time you partake in sexual activity.

What is the only visible symptom of certain low-risk types of human papilloma (HPV) virus?
Genital Warts

Which of the following are symptoms of genital herpes?
a) yellow discharge b)no symptoms c) blisters around the mouth or genitals d) both b and c
d-both b and c

When is the last time you got tested? Come into Planned Parenthood of Collier County on April 30, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call and make an appointment at (239) 262-0301 or just walk-in. FREE testing for teens 19 and under and 30 dollars for young adults 20 and older. We look forward to seeing you!