What’s In a Name?

Each year I assemble a small group of colleagues to study the schedule of seminars that have been confirmed for the Johns Hopkins Medicine annual women’s health conference, A Woman’s Journey. Our agenda is to craft titles for each lecture. These are critical subjects about improving your health and sometimes devastating diseases. Naming a seminar is serious business. Never the less, the meeting sometimes becomes raucous. It’s challenging. We need to be creative, yet maintain the integrity of the subject matter. The bottom line is to appeal to your curiosity and interests.

So, as you plan your fall, I hope you will check out hopkinsmedicine.org/awomansjourney. Read the titles of A Woman’s Journey’s 32 seminars that will be taught by Johns Hopkins physicians. Laugh at some of the titles; be motivated by others. But, when you finish reading the seminar names, be sure to go to our website, register for A Woman’s Journey, and learn what’s really in a name.
Leslie

Time

Someone asked me if anything has changed since Mollye Block, Harriet Legum and I began the annual Johns Hopkins Medicine women's health conference in 1995. The answer is simple: a lot.

Each year we ask thousands of women about health topics and issues that are important to them. In the 15 years since we began the day-long conference, we have seen a surge in new topics. Many of us share these concerns. In the mid-90's women were focused on the benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy. As new research has helped to answer those questions, women increasingly have been keen to better understand heart disease--the number 1 cause of death among women. Today we are all focused on staying well; that can mean eating well, exercising, and learning more about antioxidants, vitamins and supplements.

What hasn't changed is the compelling need to learn about medical advances. I hope you will join us at this year's conference, Saturday, November 14. Johns Hopkins physicians will teach 32 classes about issues that are important to you. If you can't attend this year, be sure to check our web site and sign up for the monthly newsletter about women's health. It is a terrific way to learn about new discoveries and see how women's health has changed since 1995.

Leslie

A Marathon, Not a Sprint

Before you run off………..

I am running (figuratively) off to the gym to meet with my personal trainer. Sometimes it is so hard to leave the office; it would be so much easier to go directly home and cook dinner. But, I am reminded of the importance of exercise. It is the single most important thing we can do for ourselves.

Dr. Kerry Stewart, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a frequent speaker at our annual women’s health conference, A Woman’s Journey, points out that resistance and cardio exercise can achieve many goals: increased bone mineral density, reduced body fat, increased lean tissue, increased muscle strength, improved glucose metabolism, improved lipid profile, increased cardiovascular endurance, decreased blood pressure and increased basal metabolism. How can I resist?

My trainer often reminds me that strength training is a marathon not a sprint. I’ll remember that tonight on my way to the gym.

Leslie

awomansjourney@jhmi.edu