Top 10 Women's Health Scares of the Decade

10. Breast Cancer
Although not strictly a woman's disease, breast cancer only strikes about 1,000 men a year. Recent government recommendations advise women to start screening for breast cancer 10 years later than previously recommended. This new recommendation is likely due to the decreased incidence of breast cancer and increased survival rates. Breast cancer has become so detectable and treatable that it is beginning to go the way of polio.

9. Salt (Sodium)
Sodium has been labeled as the culprit in high blood pressure and heart problems, and since heart disease is the #1 killer of women, many try to avoid it. But sodium is vital to proper functioning of the adrenal glands which control your response to stress. Poorly functioning adrenals caused by a lack of sodium in the diet can lead to stress-related hormone disorders and mo

8. Fried Foods
You know things have gotten bad when Kentucky Fried Chicken goes against its own name and begins to offer grilled chicken instead. Many women avoid fried foods because of the myth that such foods cause breakouts and oily skin. This is akin to the myth that eating fat makes one fat (see #1).

7. Heart Disease
The #1 killer of women, heart disease categorizes a broad range of diseases of the heart. With career-minded women being under the increased pressure of balancing work and home life, eating unhealthy fast food that is high in carbohydrates and nutritionally void, and not getting enough quality sleep, more and more women are falling victim to heart attacks and congestive heart failure.

6. High blood pressure
High blood pressure may be caused by sodium (salt) in the diet as it can cause an increase in blood volume. However, increase blood volume alone does not cause increased blood pressure. The ability of blood vessels to expand and contract, the health of the immune system, stimulants, alcohol, smoking, blood sugar, and stress have a much greater impact on blood pressure than salt. In the past 10 years, women have become more dependent on these bad habits.

5. Men
Yes, men have somehow been implicated in women's health problems. Although not a disease or health condition, if you believe commercials and the media, men are dumb, stubborn, and destructive, making messes and leaving them for women to clean up. Men smoke, drink, work on cars, and act mean, all of which put women's health at risk.

4. Diabetes
Even though diabetes is typically thought of as a man's disease, it affects women just as seriously. Type 2 diabetes is brought on and worsened by sweets, which women tend to consume more than men. Combine the predisposition to sweets with post-menopausal hormones changes and mood swings, and you have a disease that is very hard to get under control. The emergence of heavily sweetened coffee drinks and other "low-fat" treats have led many unwitting females into drinking themselves into a diabetic coma.

3. Cervical Cancer
Increased rates of cervical cancer caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) have created a market for HPV vaccines such as Gardasil, which has been linked to numerous deaths immediately following vaccination. Not all cervical cancer is caused by HPV, and HPV is easily avoided by refraining from promiscuous behavior. Cervical cancer is a potentially serious disease, but women are better served by screening and avoiding HPV altogether rather than getting stuck with a needle.

2. Influenza/H1N1/Swine/H5N1/Bird Flu
The 2000's saw two of the most ridiculously over-hyped communicable disease scares since AIDS. In 2005, Bird Flu hit the scene with a vengeance. Although the flu itself only killed a handful of people, many canceled trips to Asia where the flu was supposedly lurking. As time has told us, the Bird Flu scare turned out to be nothing more than just a scare. Then in 2009, swine Flu or H1N1 seemingly began to spread like wildfire throughout North America, starting in Mexico and making its way around the U.S. then eventually around the globe. Unlike Bird Flu, Swine Flu was a world traveler. But like Bird Flu, the Swine Flu turned out to be another over-hyped scare. The CDC mounted a high-pressure campaign to scare women into getting themselves and their children vaccinated. Many women, not wanting to put their children at risk, bought it and allowed themselves to be injected with mercury-filled syringes containing an unproven, poorly tested vaccine.

1. Fat and Calories
Virtually every dessert, snack, or food advertised for women bears the label of "low fat" or "low in calories," perpetuating the myth that fat or calories actually make women fat. The reality is that "a calorie is not a calorie" because not all calories get metabolized. For example, a woman can eat a 500 calorie meal, but only metabolize 350 of those calories. She may eat 16 grams of fat, but that doesn't mean that those 16 grams of fat will stay in her body. Yet, despite these scientifically proven facts, women are still buying the hype that fat is bad. The reality is that saturated fat is necessary to human life. Saturated fat is what gives your cells their strength and structure. Two-thirds of your brain is composed of a saturated fat called oleic acid. Despite all this, saturated fat has been accused of causing heart disease in women, an conclusion based on studies which only looked at women who are diets high in saturated fat and high in carbohydrates. The science doesn't lie. Studies have shown that diets high in saturated fat and low in carbohydrates are actually healthier than low-fat diets.