A woman’s health is her wealth
The 2013 woman is a go-getter, hard worker, juggling her demanding career, kids and husband and, very often, her health is not prioritised with focus being on the health of her family.
With time as a scarce commodity for today’s busy woman, if women don’t make time for their health, they may end up having to make time for illness.
Current trends indicate that serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease are no longer the preserve of men and the elderly, but reveal that women are submitting almost twice as many critical illness claims as men.
Altrisk’s Life Insurance assessment of its critical illness, disability and life insurance claims, made by women, between May 2011, and May 2012, reveals the following shocking statistics about women’s changing health profiles.
Book your mammogram
The number one cause of critical illness claims among women is cancer. Of these, 62 per cent are cancer-related, and 58 per cent of these cancer claims are specifically for breast cancer. And, unfortunately, youth is no guard against getting cancer.
In fact, the vast majority of cancer claims occur in women between the ages of 31 and 45. So there’s no better time than today to book your annual mammogram and medical check-up.
Get heart healthy
Thirty-four per cent of all life claims by women are due to heart disease. Alarmingly, a large proportion of these claims are from women younger than 50. Heart attacks and strokes are becoming the leading cause of death among women.
Shocking statistics from the Heart and Stroke Foundation show that women are fast becoming a far higher risk group for heart disease than men.
Watch that posture
After cancer, back pain is the leading cause of disability claims in women. Remember – lift with your legs, not your back and watch your posture when you’re behind your PC.
Healthy living starts today. Change your eating habits. Exercise and prioritise your health.
