What Every Woman Should Tell Her Doctor - Brief Article

Ebony, March, 2001 by Kimberly Davis

Not revealing certain information can threaten your life

MOST people would like to think they are--and will stay--in good health. But statistics show that the average person may face at least one major illness in their lifetime. And Sisters--the historical and traditional caregivers of the Black family--are often unprepared to deal with that reality.

Indeed some Black women walk through life without ever having faced the facts--that there are illnesses that afflict them disproportionately.

Conditions like fibroids, which are generally non-cancerous tumors in the uterus; and lupus, an inflammatory disease that can affect the skin, joints, blood and kidneys, are three times more common in African-American women than in White women.

But those aren't the only medical conditions that strike Sisters in disproportionate numbers. Diabetes and heart disease (one out of every two women will eventually die from heart disease) are attacking the Black female community more than ever before. In fact, the death rate for cardiovascular disease is roughly 69 percent higher in Black women than in White women.

And other illnesses affect women more than men, such as breast cancer and hyperthyroidism, which can cause weight loss, nervousness, insomnia and a dangerously fast heartbeat.

The best way to fight these sometimes life-threatening illnesses is to have a good relationship with your doctor, be it an obstetrician/gynecologist, a general practitioner or a specialist. Physicians are the doorway to better health.

The following are eight things that every woman should tell or ask her doctor to gain better health, and make the diagnosis and treatment of potential medical illnesses easier:

1. DIVULGE YOUR COMPLETE MEDICAL HISTORY.

If you have a complicated medical history, write everything down and keep a copy of your medical file so you and your doctor don't omit anything or leave anything to chance. What may appear to be minor to you could be major to your caregiver.

"It is amazing how much [patients] will forget," says Dr. Tonja Gadsden, assistant professor of medicine at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. "We need to know everything ... You can lie to the tax collector; you can lie to the mechanic. You cannot lie to the doctor. That's the golden rule ... [Lying] could be life-threatening."

Remember, you should reveal any information--no matter what --that could affect your health.

2. DISCLOSE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY AS THOROUGHLY AND ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.

This step is vitally important in accessing your risk for medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, medical expert's say. Some conditions can be passed on genetically, so if you don't know your family history, it's important that you tell your doctor. That way, the physician may be able to compensate by performing more tests and examinations to assess your risk factors for certain diseases.

3. ASK YOUR DOCTOR WHAT YOUR RISK FACTORS ARE FOR MAJOR ILLNESSES.

Make sure you are aware of any risk factors that you can control, which can decrease the chance that you'll contract a major illness such as stroke, heart disease and cancer. Regular exercise, a healthful, low-fat diet that is high in fiber and nutrients can slow or help prevent heart disease, cancer and diabetes, doctors say.

If you're overweight, smoke, don't exercise or eat fatty foods, you have a greater chance of being affected by conditions associated with those risk factors. The more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop the illness.

"Much of the premature death or disability from heart disease and stroke can be prevented if you understand the risk factors," says Dr. Elizabeth O. Ofili, the chief of cardiology at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. "Most of the women under 60 who present with a heart attack, either smoke, have diabetes, high blood pressure or have a family history of the early onset of heart disease. Ask yourself, what is your personal risk?"

4. TELL YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU ARE TAKING ANY MEDICATIONS--OVER-THE-COUNTER OR PRESCRIPTION--AS WELL AS ANY ILLEGAL DRUGS.

Remember, the doctor-patient relationship is confidential. The disclosure of drug use must include herbal medicines as well. Recent studies have shown that herbal remedies like St. Johns Wort can interact negatively with other prescribed drugs.

"[Patients and some doctors] don't consider that as real medicine, but we have to," Dr. Gadsden says. "We're seeing a lot of drug interactions, and all of us really need to start thinking of all of that [herbal remedies] as tree medicine."

5. TELL YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU FEEL OVERWEIGHT AND OUT OF SHAPE.

If you don't bring it up, your physician may skip it, too. A physician who fails to inform you of potential problems associated with obesity and body fat, and who is not honest with you should be second-guessed, according to experts. Perhaps it's an issue of sensitivity, or maybe they don't want to rock the boat on the first or second visit.