Checklist for ages 40-64

For women this stage of life, the physical and emotional changes are dramatic, even though they seem to happen more slowly than the changes you saw during your childbearing years.

Your ovaries stop producing the hormone estrogen during your 40s or 50s, and you will stop menstruating, a stage of life called menopause. The average age of menopause is 51, but it can happen from ages 40 to 55.

 Meanwhile your life is changing in other ways. Your home and family are likely changing. And you may be changing the nature of your work.

Being prepared for these changes, and managing them, requires ongoing health care. Here are the concerns your Loyola physician will address during your doctor appointments:

• Height, weight, Body Mass Index
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Cardiac screening for women with risk factors
• Colonoscopy
• Bone density screening for women with risk factors
• Pap smear
• Clinical breast exam
• Mammography: for women for ages 40-49, screening every one to two years. After age 50, annual screenings
• Thyroid disease and cancer checks: for post-menopausal women, signs and symptoms should be assessed and tested as needed
• Diabetes mellitus
• Glaucoma screening for women with risk factors
• Alcohol, drugs and tobacco screening
• Basic skin cancer screening
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Eating disorders
• Immunization
• Food, nutrition and exercise
• Dental and oral hygiene
• Vitamin, calcium supplement usage and hormone therapy