The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) has released its Women, Health and Ageing report and is warning that we must, as a community, be prepared for the changes that arise from ageing and that both individuals and health care systems will be forced to deal with the eventual health and social changes that come about in women as they age. It has been shown that there are increasing health risks, disabilities and illness that are sure to emerge in future generations of women.

Since 1996, over 40,000 women who were born between 1921 and 1926 were surveyed by the joint University of Newcastle and University of Queensland study. The surveys, and subsequent report, focused on the changes in the women’s health and found:

- Many of the women that participated in the study, particularly those at the higher end of the age scale, were living with multiple conditions and disabilities.
- Arthritis was one of the most common ailments affecting the women in the study. Sufferers were found to be leading a poorer quality of life due to pain and social limitations brought on by the arthritis.
- The highest use of health care services was by those women who had suffered a stroke or were living with cancer.
- Various conditions, like diabetes, weren’t being managed according to current guidelines.
- Surgical intervention may have a profound effect on the ongoing well-being of certain women.

It is thought that, with the high-risk behavior of some of today’s young women, the problems found in the study will be exacerbated as these young women age. Smoking, obesity and drug use all have a profound effect on the health of women as they face ageing.

The good news is that the study confirms that low risk behaviors in young adulthood contribute to a high quality of life in later years. By educating young and middle aged women, the perils of ageing may be lessened dramatically.