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Every moment is critical when you’re having a stroke. In fact, the severity of 8 out of 10 strokes can be limited by fast action. If a stroke patient reaches emergency help within 3 hours, a stroke drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can give them a much better chance of survival and recovery.

Unfortunately, public awareness of common stroke symptoms and the benefits of tPA remains low, despite years of efforts by the American Stroke Association and other groups. Surveys show most people still don’t realize that there is a lifesaving drug available - or that it must be administered so quickly.

Act FAST. That’s the #1 thing to keep in mind if you suspect someone is having a stroke. Every moment counts, and quick action saves lives. Every 4 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies of stroke.

The good news is that 80 percent of strokes can be prevented or limited through fast action. In fact, FAST is an acronym for the stroke factors to keep in mind: face, arms, speech, time. Each represents a key set of noticeable symptoms:

Here’s great health news for central Indiana residents: Johnson Memorial Health was awarded Stroke Ready Certification from the Healthcare Facility Accreditation Program (HFAP). This accreditation shows JMH is committed to providing world-class stroke care.

Let’s take a closer look at what this stroke certification means, and how it supports Hoosier health.

Over the past few decades, experts have debated the impact of not having children on women’s health. Between 1994 and 2014, the percentage of women who had no children by age 44 hovered between 15 and 20%, up from 10% in the 1970s.

Did you know menopause isn’t just one phase? It’s actually divided into three stages, based on where you are in your reproductive and hormonal life. Here’s a closer look at the four stages of menopause and what they mean for your reproductive health.

Your hormones are like chemical messengers that deliver changes throughout your body. Over the course of your lifetime, hormones shape your body and mind. Anyone can have a hormone shift or imbalance. It’s not limited by age or gender.

For women, hormones shift significantly during adolescence, pregnancy, and menopause, helping the body adapt to these phases. Imbalances may be particularly noticeable for both women and men as they advance through middle age and experience hormonal shifts.

Men and women over the age of 50 are at the highest risk of developing colorectal cancer, which is cancer that begins in the colon or rectum. Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the United States.

While those statistics may seem daunting, the good news is that even though it is a very common type of cancer, it is also very treatable and even preventable.

Like clockwork, many women experience premenstrual symptoms including body tenderness and bloating. These symptoms typically arise a few days before you get your period each month and fade as it goes by.

When symptoms are severe enough to disrupt your daily activities, it’s called PMS: premenstrual syndrome. PMS is an array of symptoms that includes mood changes, cramps, body aches, pain, and fatigue. About 90 percent of girls and women have PMS during their lifetimes and 20 to 40 percent experience severe PMS symptoms.

As women age, they tend to accept and cope with PMS challenges. But some women actually find their PMS worsens as the years go by. If this sounds like you, read on.

When a woman has hot flashes, the first thought is the m-word: menopause. In the U.S., the average age of menopause onset is 51, but that average is surrounded by a wide swath of time that encompasses women age 30 to 70.

Genetics, illness, and medical procedures can cause symptoms of menopause much earlier than age 51. So if you’re in your 30s or 40s and starting to feel hot flashes, here’s what could be happening.

Despite decades of public health awareness about the importance of mammograms, many women are still resistant to getting them. Fear and opposition may be due to persistent myths about mammograms.

Let’s separate myth from reality. Here are six common misunderstandings and the true facts behind them.