Joint Organization Women’s Health Center
Member Clinics
- University Clinic for Internal Medicine I
- University Clinic for Internal Medicine II
- University Clinic for Internal Medicine III
- University Clinic for Internal Medicine IV
- University Clinic for Internal Medicine V
- University Clinic for Neurology
- University Clinic for Urology
- University Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics
- University Clinic for Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
- University Clinic for Orthopedics
- University Clinic for Radiology
- University Clinic for Neuroradiology
- University Clinic for Psychiatry I
- University Clinic for Psychiatry II
- University Clinic for Dental Prostheses and Conservative Dental Medicine
- University Clinic for Orthodontics
- University Clinic for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Women’s Health Out-Patient Clinic
University Clinic for Internal Medicine I
Haus 2, First Floor
Hours: (ONLY by prior appointment):
Tu/We: 13.00 – 16.00 h
Th/Fr: 08.00 – 12.00 h
3Appointments
Mo-Fr: 08.00 – 16.00 h
Tel.: +43 512 504-81827 Dr.in Bader
Tel.: +43 512 504-80298 Dr.in Schwitzer
Women’s Ward
University Clinic for Internal Medicine I
MZA – Medizinzentrum Anichstrasse
4th Floor, East, Ward 4B
Telephone: +43 512 504-27566
Fax: +43 512 504-27521
Women’s Health
General
Women’s Health has been a media topic for some years now. Here, we will try to offer a definition of Women’s Health (see below). As you can see, the definitions are relatively new. For example, it was only in 1976 that this definition was established by the WHO, whereby the definition attempts to focus equally on physical, mental and social well-being. This can certainly be seen as a paradigm shift, because health used to be defined merely as the absence of illness.
The Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion 1986 also took a new approach, in that it stated: “Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health.”
A similar goal is espoused by the project “Healthy Cities” 1986, where for the first time a community approach was taken.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
World Health Organization 1946, 1976
„Women have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.“
World Women’s Conference Bejing 1995
What is Women’s Health?
Everything that concerns ONLY women,
MAINLY concerns women,
concerns women DIFFERENTLY.
| ONLY Gynecology and Obstetrics, girls, women as caregivers, violence against women |
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| MAINLY poverty, care dependency, caring for family members, depression, weight, autoimmune diseases, age: musculoskeletal system, osteoporosis, vision disorders, hardness of hearing, incontinence, Alzheimer’s, dementia |
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| DIFFERENTLY Effects of medication (depending on estrogen level), heart disorders, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases (HIV), occupational medicine |
Gynecology and Obstetrics
A field that is uncontestably female. In the United States in the last century there were attempts to even set up purely “women’s hospitals”, including female staff and even female physicians who would deal with “women’s illnesses” and obstetrics as well as pediatrics. There always were and still are private institutions funded by donations.
Girls
Since there are special health problems that concern young women in puberty, especially in a broader sense of the word “health,” it is uncontested that, in addition to topics purely concerning sexual development, the subject of prevention needs to be communicated in these age groups. All the experts state that, for example, education on nicotine, alcohol and narcotics needs to commence already during compulsory school years with the aim of stopping these addictions before they ever start. Almost all young women are primarily plagued by weight problems, by which we don’t mean the definitely bad but still very rare cases of anorexia and bulimia, but instead the fact that practically no young woman can grow up without constantly worrying about her weight.
Women as caregivers
Almost all women sooner or later encounter the problem of having to care for family members or neighbors who need care. This is a demand made of women in general. Women who refuse live with a guilty conscience and are sometimes even condemned by society. On the other hand, caregiving causes a huge physical and emotional burden as well as the danger that by being a caregiver and thus not holding a job the caregiver could incur financial and social problems, at least in her old age.
Violence against women
Their whole life long, many women are exposed to physical and emotional violence. This is also true of our country, whereby it must be remembered that the situation for women is considerably worse in many parts of the world (see reports by Amnesty International on trafficking in women, prostitution, rape, child abuse, culturally practiced mutilation of women, etc.).
Poverty
Every UN report tells us that throughout the world poverty is female, despite the fact that the lion’s share of measurable work performed around the world is done by women. Here too, we are in a much better position than most women. Nevertheless, it is not only on International Women’s Day that attention is drawn to the enormous differences in income earned by women (approximately 1/3) and men in Austria. How fast a woman can be reduced to poverty, merely by giving birth to a child, is well enough known. And the situation of a large number of older women is also well known. In Austria, too, poverty is female.
Care dependency, caring for family members
The care of ill or aged family members continues to be the almost exclusive domain of women with all the resulting consequences that are disadvantageous for women (see above). However, women themselves must expect to be alone in their old age or to have to rely on a seniors’ home or a nursing home (see the pertinent percentages, see also our study below).
Depression
Far more women than men suffer from depression. This is true at least for all of Europe from the northern-most point of Scandinavia to Sicily. Depression is not only an illness that is not taken seriously by many people because it is not visible or measurable, but it is an illness that easily extends to social isolation and poverty.
Weight
„Weight problems“ are without a doubt the single leading women’s health problem. Only the extremes such as anorexia and bulimia as well as extreme obesity are recognized illnesses. However, there is hardly a woman in our society who is not perpetually dissatisfied with her current weight, planning to go on a diet or in many cases has already done numerous diets. It seems there is no right weight for women any more. But that also means that practically no woman seems to be satisfied with her body.
Autoimmune disorders
These disorders, too, show gender differences with regard to their type and incidence. This tells us that research into gender differences has to also look at basic research, the cell and metabolism.
Age
Worldwide, women have a longer life expectancy than men. While women in Austria can currently expect to live seven years longer than men, in many cases this longer life expectancy appears to be associated with a long period of infirmity and care dependency. There are many underlying factors such as illnesses of the musculoskeletal system, osteoporosis, vision disorders, hardness of hearing, incontinence, Alzheimer’s and dementia. The goal here is to counteract all these defects and infirmities at an early time.
Medication
Medication works differently in women and men. This fact must be logical for everyone – after all, women have fluctuating hormone levels, especially in their monthly menstrual cycle. Consequently, all medications must be tested separately for women. Some have no effect, others are even dangerous. For example, aspirin was the world’s top-selling medication when it was tested only in men!
Heart disorders
In addition to the problem that heart disorders are seen as being a male thing, meaning that men and everyone around them believe men will die of a heart problem, women and everyone around them don’t give a thought to a woman’s heart risk. Moreover, many diagnostic methods are tailored for men and are much less useful for women.
Cancer
Women die of cancer more often than men do, and women die of other types of cancer with the most common cause of female death from cancer being breast cancer followed by cancer of the intestine and of the lung. In men the most common cause of death from cancer is lung cancer followed by prostate cancer and cancer of the intestine.
In addition, a difference in smoking habits means that considerably more men quit smoking, while the risk for lung cancer for women is climbing steadily. Over the last twenty years it climbed by an exorbitant approx. 140% for women, while in men it increased by only approx. 26%.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (AIDS)
Here great efforts are made to educate women about how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases (AIDS). Remember: AIDS was originally known as a disease that affected homosexual men. Meanwhile, the problem of the high risk of infection for women and transmissibility to their children is generally known.
Occupational Medicine
The female aspect is given, on the one hand, by dividing professions into women’s and men’s professions, which not only leads to poorer pay for the so-called women’s professions, but also to largely poorer research and evaluation of the health risk involved. The term “hard work” needs to be looked at more closely in light of the physical strain of caring for older persons, which is usually women’s work. All of the more recent studies on stress define stress as the result of doing work which you have no choice but to do, and this is true to a far larger extent for women’s work than for men’s work, contrary to the established cliché of the over-stressed manager.
Life expectancy in Tyrol has increased by more than 80% in the last 100 years.
At the beginning of the last century the average life expectancy for women in Tyrol was 43 years. At the end of the twentieth century it was already over 80 years. A similar, albeit somewhat smaller increase, was seen for men, whose life expectancy increased from approximately 40 years to 74 years throughout the twentieth century.
A further increase in nicotine consumption could possibly put the brakes on this success story. After all, female and male smokers are generally expected to have a life expectancy of about eight years less.
Life expectancy at birth in Austria
under construction
What do women die from in Austria?
under construction
Causes of Death in Women 2017
Malignancies (C00-C97)
Heart death
Cardiovascular diseases
Respiratory diseases (J00-J99)
Intestinal diseases (K00-K93)
Other causes of death