Mary Jane Minkin, MD, OB, GYN and Missy Lavender, Founder

Womens Health Foundation (non-profit 501 (c) (3)

National Womens Health Week Encourages Women to Improve Their Health

Medical Expert Offers the Obvious and not so Obvious Tips for Healthier Living

May 9th marks the start of National Womens Health Week, a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Womens Health. The observance is designed to empower women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life.

This year, with a theme of Its Your Time, Mary Jane Minkin, MD/OB/GYN, a nationally-recognized expert on womens health, has teamed up with the Missy Lavender of the Womens Health Foundation to increase awareness of womens health issues and to offer tips on how woman can take a more proactive role in managing their own health. National Womens Health Week, encourages women to take important steps that include some already well-known steps to some not so well-known steps such as:

· Engaging in the proper amount of moderate and/or vigorous physical activity each week

· Getting enough calcium to help reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bone density loss;

· Understanding the relationship between oral hygiene and heart disease;

· Annual Eye exams

· Introducing more fiber into a diet

· Exercising often overlooked muscle groups such as pelvic muscles which can weaken from life events such as pregnancy, childbirth, weight gain and menopause.

· Following a more nutritious diet designed with womens health in mind

· Getting annual physical check-ups from a physician and gynecologist and receiving preventive screenings

· Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress

Dr. Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine and a member of the medical advisory board of Prevention magazine, and Missy Lavender, founder of the Womens Health Foundation,these two women are going to talk about National Womens Health Week to help viewers begin the journey for a healthier, happier life.