WOMEN'S HEATH
What's affecting women most?
For many women, their own health takes a back seat while they juggle work, family and caring for others. Period problems, pelvic pain, tiredness, low mood, changes in weight and disrupted sleep are often brushed aside as part of life. At the same time, serious conditions such as cancer and heart disease, along with the impact of violence against women, continue to affect women’s health across the UK.
Cancer
Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women, and lung cancer rates are increasing. Bowel, cervical, womb and ovarian cancers also affect many women each year. Changes in the body are not always obvious, and symptoms are often put down to other things. Screening and early checks can make a difference to outcomes.
Menopause and midlife change
Perimenopause and menopause can bring hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, mood changes, brain fog and weight gain, often around the middle. As oestrogen levels drop, this can also affect bone health, heart disease risk and bladder function. Awareness is improving, but many women still find it difficult to access clear, joined-up support.
Metabolism, heart health and lifestyle
Weight can gradually increase, especially around the middle, and lower activity levels, smoking, alcohol and poor sleep all play a role in women’s risk of Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver and heart disease. Although women often outlive men, they are more likely to spend more years living with poor health or disability. Everyday patterns around movement, food, alcohol and sleep all play a part over time.
Gynaecological and reproductive health
Many women experience heavy, painful or irregular periods, as well as conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids and pelvic pain, yet these concerns are often overlooked or treated as routine. Fertility, pregnancy and postnatal care can sometimes leave women feeling that their own needs come second to the baby. These challenges can affect daily life, work, relationships and long-term health.
Chronic stress and the mental load
Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression and are frequently given medication, but a diagnosis is only part of the picture. The constant juggling of caring for others, housework, organising family life and managing a job can build over time. When women speak up about feeling exhausted, in pain or low in mood, their concerns can sometimes be brushed aside.
Safety in relationships and public spaces
Experiences of abuse, controlling behaviour or violence can have a lasting impact on health. This includes physical injury, sexual assault, coercive control, stalking, harassment, trafficking and online abuse. The effects are not only emotional. They can influence sleep, pain, digestion, alcohol use, relationships and the ability to feel safe day to day.
Cancer: Listening to your body
Cancer no longer feels like something distant. Most of us can name several women who have had it: family, friends, colleagues or neighbours.
That familiarity does not always mean women act sooner for themselves. Changes in the breasts, bleeding, bloating, tiredness or weight are often put down to hormones, stress, age or a busy life. Many women are also used to carrying on through pain or fatigue, which can make new symptoms easier to dismiss.
Noticing a change can mean something has shifted and may need a closer look. Screening invitations, home test kits and routine appointments can all help pick things up earlier, when there are often more options.
Click a link to learn more about each cancer, common signs, and when further attention may be needed.
Challenging the idea of normal
It is common to hear that period pain, heavy bleeding or pelvic discomfort are just a normal part of life for women. While some women experience these symptoms without major disruption, others find they have a much greater effect on daily life and wellbeing.
Conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and pelvic inflammatory disease can sit behind ongoing pain, changes in bleeding and fertility challenges. These issues are often downplayed or can take time to be properly recognised.
If your periods or pelvic symptoms are affecting everyday life, that matters. Everyone’s experience is different, but when symptoms begin to affect work, rest, relationships or routine, there is often more going on than people first assume.
Explore “Challenging the Norm” to look more closely at symptoms and what may sit behind them.
Midlife and the menopause
Menopause is often described as “natural”, but that does not make it easy. For some women it is a fairly gentle shift. For others it is a long, disruptive stretch of years that affects sleep, mood, work, relationships and health.
The first signs of change, known as perimenopause, can start at different ages. For some women this is in their thirties, for many it is in their forties, and for others not until their fifties. Periods can become lighter or heavier, closer together or further apart. Menopause itself is reached when you have gone twelve months without a period. After that, you are in the post-menopause years.
Not every symptom in midlife is the menopause, but fluctuating hormones can make many existing issues feel more noticeable. Menopause is more than just hot flushes.
Explore “Menopause and later life” to look more closely at the changes this stage can bring and how they may feel in daily life.
The invisible load
Pressure is not only about what you do day to day, but also about everything you carry mentally. It can appear in planning, remembering, organising, smoothing over issues, and the constant awareness of what still needs attention. There are often unspoken expectations to keep family life steady, manage relationships thoughtfully, and meet the needs of others without letting other responsibilities slip.
This sense of responsibility can stretch across every stage of adulthood. You may feel the pressure to perform well at work while keeping home life running smoothly, to raise children while supporting older parents, or to hold everything together without showing how much is weighing on you. Over time, sustained pressure can have an impact on sleep, concentration, mood, energy and physical health.
Explore how ongoing pressure can build into chronic stress.
Your heart and everyday habits
Your heart is part of everyday life. It responds to how you move, how you rest, how you sleep, and how you experience stress and change. Most of the time, this happens quietly, without you needing to think about it.
Everyday habits and routines can begin to matter more as your body adapts to what it experiences. Activity levels, sleep, alcohol, smoking, weight changes, and long periods of pressure can all play a part in how the heart and circulation cope as the years pass.
Many women move through life stages that bring physical and hormonal changes, such as pregnancy or menopause. These experiences can influence heart health in ways that are not always obvious. Some changes are gradual, and some may not be noticed at all.
Heart and circulation problems often develop slowly. This can make it harder to know what feels relevant and what feels like part of normal life, especially when changes are mild or come and go.
When your surroundings do not feel safe
Feeling safe is a basic part of health. For many women, that safety is shaken by what happens at home, in relationships, at work, online or in public spaces. This can include physical harm, sexual pressure, controlling behaviour, stalking, threats, or constant criticism that chips away at confidence.
It is common to minimise these experiences. It can also be hard to join the dots when things have built up slowly over time. If any of this feels uncomfortably familiar, LiftHER looks more closely at issues women and girls may face at different points in life. You will also find details of where to find specialised support.
Women’s health organisations
These organisations offer information, advice or support on key women’s health issues, from periods and menopause to heart and gynaecological conditions. They are not emergency services, but they can be a helpful place to start if you want to understand more or feel less alone.
You can find more women’s health organisations and services in our Find Support contact directory.