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Little Rock, Ark. – January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) BreastCare program coordinates efforts with a statewide network of providers offering no-cost cervical and breast cancer screenings and follow-up services.

Exercise is a pillar of a healthy lifestyle. When individuals exercise regularly and pair physical activity with a healthy diet and smart lifestyle choices, they can extend their life expectancies and sleep well knowing they’re doing everything they can to increase their chances of enjoying a limitless retirement. Adults over 50 know it’s not always so easy to exercise. Hectic schedules can make it seem like there’s little time for exercise. And even when adults make time to break a sweat, they might find that traditional workouts combining strength training with cardiovascular exercise are too time-consuming and possibly even a little dull. In such instances, fitness classes can take the place of more traditional exercise regimens. Various classes provide a challenging workout, and many can do so in an hour or less.

It may seem like adolescence is the time in a woman’s life when most of the biological changes she will experience take place. After all, puberty brings with it hormone fluctuations that can affect both physical and emotional health in various ways. However, as a woman enters mid-life and beyond, she may notice that she has to reevaluate her lifestyle to accommodate the evolution of her body and health. Preventive health screenings and additional strategies can keep women fit and well as they reach age 40 and beyond.

Adults know much about their health changes as they grow older, but health experts note that sleep requirements generally remain the same throughout adulthood. According to the National Institute on Aging, older adults need roughly the same amount of sleep as all adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the recommended amount of sleep for adults is at least seven hours each day, and various organizations recommend adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. Those recommendations can promote optimal health into one’s golden years, but that advice is not being heeded by a significant portion of the adult population. The CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) tracked the sleeping habits of men and women between 2013 and 2022 and ultimately found that 37.5 percent of men and 36 percent of women were not getting enough sleep during that time period. The percentage of individuals not getting enough sleep was particularly high among adults between the ages of 39 and 64, among whom nearly four in 10 were falling short of the recommended daily amount of sleep.

Cancer can affect any area of the body. Women may be susceptible to cervical cancer, which affects a part of the body involved with menstruation and reproduction. The World Health Organization says cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women across the globe, resulting in roughly 342,000 deaths in 2020. Nearly 90 percent of all new cases of cervical cancer in 2020 were in low- and middle-income countries. Cervical cancer may be prevalent, but it is preventable in many cases. Prevention might be more likely when individuals learn the basics of cervical cancer. The following are 10 facts about the cervix and cervical cancer that can be helpful.

There is no magic formula to ensure long-term health. However, if there were such an equation, sleep would be a critical component. Though adults may be able to function with less sleep than doctors recommend, the National Institutes of Health note that consistent lack of sufficient sleep can interfere with work, social functioning and driving ability. The National Institute on Aging notes that adults of all ages generally need the same amount of sleep, typically between seven and nine hours of rest per night. That’s an important distinction, as busy adults in mid-life might feel as though they can operate on less sleep without adversely affecting their overall health. However, in addition to the problems noted by the NIH, the NIA reports that ongoing lack of sleep, or even consistently poor sleep quality, can increase risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and obesity. Adults who feel their sleep quality is poor or those who aspire to sleep more each night can consider these three strategies to ensure a more restful night’s sleep.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of women and people assigned female at birth are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The World Health Organization reports that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women across the globe, with around 660,000 new cases reported in 2022. Learning more about cervical cancer may help to reduce these numbers.