Study Reveals That WomenAre Stressed Out (NAPSA)—Are women more concerned about weight gain, stress, heart disease or the risk of cancer? A survey of women aged 18 and over found somesurprising answers to that question. The Smart Choices for a Healthy Lifestyle survey, sponsored by drugstore.com Inc., showed that despite serious health risks such as cancer, heart conditions, and high cholesterol, it now appears that women have something else on their minds: * Almost half of the women surveyed (45 percent) identified stress as their numberone health concern. * Two out of five (41 percent) worry about putting on extra pounds. Natural Medicine Popular The survey also found that women in the U.S. are happy to try new remedies. * Fouroutof five (81 percent) of the women surveyed are more inelined to take natural medicine over prescription medicine for various health concerns. Among the health concerns for which women prefer natural medicines, several stand out: * Cold/flu (48 percent); * Sleeplessness or stress (41 percent); * Aches/pains (39 percent). It also appears that American women who have an active sexlife attribute it to their maintenance of overall good health. These women also attribute eating organic and natural foods to keeping themselvesfit. This recognition of the importance of overall wellness may account for the growing popularity of online resources such as the Healthy Woman store on the drugstore.com™ Web site, which is dedicated to helping women make educated decisions regarding their health and wellness. The Healthy Womanstore integrates conventional and alternative What women worry about— In one survey, almost half worry about stress and two out of five worry about putting on weight. @ remedies with detailed health information that empowers women to make smart decisions for every stage of their lives. It also features one of the largest selections of menopause products on the Web. Who WomenTalk To About Health Who do women talk to about their health? More than half of the women between the ages of 18 and 25 surveyed said they feel most comfortable confiding in their friends and family before turning to their primary care physicians. In general, more than 10 times as many women seek out their primary care physicians over their OB/GYN (55 percent to 5 percent) to provide them with information about their health. Interestingly, less than half of all the women surveyed (47 percent) believe they are not operating at their optimum health. What is surprising about this number is that women do not appear to be addressing these health concerns. Only 58 percent of women surveyed schedule complete physicals and just over half (538 percent) arrange regular gynecological examinations. For more information about the survey, visit www.drugstore.com.
