If you're like many women, you take better care of your family's health than you do your own. Yet, women often need more health tests than men do, simply because they face a greater array of illnesses.

Because it's vital to correct any health problems in their earliest stage, you should see your doctor for routine checkups on a regular basis. This is particularly true at age 50 and over, when a woman's body undergoes many changes during and after menopause.

Just because you're young and feel relatively healthy doesn't mean you shouldn't be monitoring your health. In fact, the health decisions that women under 35 make can have a lasting effect on how healthy they are for the rest of their lives.

Physicians specializing in women's health care usually consist of gynecologists and obstetricians, but the field is expanding to include infertility specialists, psychiatrists, and doctors of internal medicine.