Menopause, unlike menstruation, is often viewed by the medical profession as a disease rather than as a natural part of aging. More than one third of women living in the U.S. have been through menopause. The average American woman can expect to live one third of her life after menopause. There is no consensus within the medical community about the risks and benefits associated with hormone replacement therapy. More research is needed to help women make this difficult decision in the face of conflicting data.
Young women are most prone.
Despite depression s disproportionate impact on women, few if any of the nation s largest managed care organizations have gender-specific guidelines for the treatment of depression. Panic disorder, in which feelings of terror strike suddenly and repeatedly without warning, strikes between 3 to 6 million Americans. It is twice as common in women as in men. Eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia, are about 10 times as common in women as in men. Anorexia, in which a person starves oneself to control their weight, leads to death in one in ten cases, killing approximately 1,000 adolescent girls per year.