Reproductive Health

“In general, the way we take care of ourselves should be the same through all decades,” says Donna L. Block, MD, of Clinic Sofia OBGYN in Edina. “But I must say, we are not always paying attention to ourselves the same way in each decade.”

To stay on top of reproductive health throughout your life, Block recommends annual exams with an OBGYN in which doctors discuss not only reproductive health,but also nutrition and nutritional supplements, exercise (making sure you’re maintaining structural and functional health in all the organ systems), and self/emotional well-being. It’s also important for patients to bring up any inherited family health issues because the earlier these are known, the better they can be accessed. But what should women know about sexual and reproductive health during different life stages?

In Your 20s
According to Edina’s Clinic Sofia OBGYN, the number one reason young women go to the gynecologist is for birth control, followed by painful or irregular periods, and sexually transmitted disease (STD) screenings. The biggest risk factors affecting fertility among twenty-something are STDs.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports that in 2007, the number of reported bacterial STDs in the state reached the highest ever with 17,057 documented cases—a 4 percent increase from 2006 and consistent with the increasing trend observed over the past decade. Annual pap smears (beginning when women are sexually active or over eighteen years old) are extremely important among young women. The simple test screens for infections ranging from gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis to human papilloma virus (HPV)—the most common STD among young women.

Although all STDs are dangerous to a woman’s reproductive health, it is vital to catch HPV early as it can lead to cervical cancer if left untreated. In fact, 99 percent of all cervical cancers are caused by high-risk HPV viruses. And although women ages twenty to twenty-four are most at risk for HPV, if caught early, the infection can be cleared with little to no damage to a woman’s reproductive health. Safe sex, yearly pap smears, and the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, are the best ways to prevent HPV infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend girls get HPV vaccine as part of their preteen exams (at ages eleven or twelve) before they become sexually active, but females thirteen to twenty-six can also be vaccinated.

Although staying aware of your sexual health is most important to maintaining a healthy reproductive system, women in their twenties should also remember healthy eating and regular workout routines. A healthy body achieved from exercise and necessary nutrients—not dieting or starving yourself—makes for a healthy reproductive system throughout life.