When It Comes to Women's Health, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

The premise is simple: the more we know about our bodies, the better we can take care of them. But for most women, the inner workings of our bodies remain one of life's greater mysteries?a subject best left to doctors and other health care providers.

After all, how many women want to wade through a 600-page medical reference? Or tackle paragraph after paragraph of word-heavy text-until now our only option?

But thanks to Anatomical Chart Company - yes, the folks whose familiar illustrations adorn your doctor's walls - understanding women's health issues has just become a whole lot easier. Now, every woman can own an up-to-date, user-friendly medical reference that's informative, accessible, and easy to understand.

That book is Women's Health & Wellness: An Illustrated Guide. It's about women, for women. (It was even created primarily by women.) And unlike other women's health books, it relies primarily upon meticulously illustrated images - not words - to convey key concepts.

The 144-page book features more than 100 full-color illustrations,
providing an at-a-glance understanding of all major women's health issues, from arthritis and cholesterol to diabetes and menopause. It explains what each condition is, lists risk factors and symptoms, and offers key prevention and management
strategies-all in concise laywoman's language. Easy-to-read callouts offer key statistics and quick facts that explain why each topic is so important to women.

"The goal," says co-creator Lesley Weeks Ochoa, Product Development Manager at Anatomical Chart Company, "is to make health issues more understandable for every woman?and to facilitate communication between women and their physicians."

That is why the Skokie, Illinois-based company, which has been creating its famous anatomical charts for more than thirty years, gathered a team of medical illustrators, health writers, and outside medical experts to create this first-of-its kind illustrated guide.

The reference book encompasses the full spectrum of women's health conditions-including cardiovascular disease, cancers, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, and stress and panic disorders. In addition, it addresses healthy lifestyle factors such diet, nutrition and smoking. And it contains a comprehensive list of additional online resources, so women
interested in specific topics can easily explore them further.

The information is based on impeccable sources, such as the National Women's Health Information Center and the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services' National Institutes of Health. Furthermore, it is grounded in gender-based biology.

According to Weeks Ochoa, that's an important distinction: "In the last few years, medical researchers have found critical gender differences at many anatomical levels."

For example, women display different heart attack symptoms than men do. They react differently to medications - even aspirin. They are two and a half times more likely to develop an autoimmune disease such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis. In fact, in 1998, the Surgeon General predicted that gender would become identified as the single most important
factor affecting an individual's health.

"That's why we committed ourselves to a gender-based approach," says Weeks Ochoa. "This book is specifically for women. A woman can read it, understand it, and bring it along to her doctor for further discussion."

"In a nutshell, it will encourage women take a more active role in their medical treatment, and as a result, make the best healthcare decisions for themselves."

Women's Health & Wellness: An Illustrated Guide is published in
hardcover by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and retails for $ 24.95. It will become available late summer at bookstores around the country, as well as online bookstores such as amazon.com. It is also available by calling 1-800-ANATOMY or going to www.anatomical.com.