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Turn 50 and you might suddenly find yourself overwhelmed. Commercials, friends and family and your doctor are all repeating the myriad diseases you should be concerned about — heart disease, osteoporosis, breast cancer. That’s not to mention all those magazine ads recommending ways to shed wrinkles and age spots.

It’s not necessarily your age that’s causing the hubbub; it’s more likely that you’re a hot target for advertisers because you are a part of the baby boomer bumper crop, says Amy Allina, program director for the National Women’s Health Network in Washington, D.C.

And while women should be concerned about health risks — particularly cardiovascular disease — Allina believes many women in the age group are being made to feel like they should be scared and are being overprescribed unnecessary medications.

The best piece of advice she can give women is to be informed and ask questions.

“A lot of doctors assume at menopause a woman automatically wants hormone replacement therapy, despite the fact that it’s very controversial and can have serious side effects for some women. Many doctors are even still telling their patients that it prevents cardiovascular disease when research now indicates that might not be the case. The woman has to be able to talk with her doctor about what percentage chance does this, or any treatment, have of helping me vs. the chance it has to hurt me,” Allina said.

“I don’t want to give the impression that women that age shouldn’t be concerned about heart disease or osteoporosis, but they should consider if that is something they’re at risk for — they should ask themselves, do I have a family history, do I have a low-fat diet, a healthy lifestyle. But they shouldn’t assume that just because they’re in their 50s they are at risk,” Allina said.

For example, Allina says, TV commercials and some doctors are advocating use of prescription drugs without a prescription to reduce the chance of breast cancer. “There are some very serious side effects here, so this is not something you want to take unnecessarily. The ads say something along the lines of ‘Every woman is at risk, but there’s something you can do about it’ — that’s a very misleading statement. We don’t know what causes breast cancer, so how can we know what prevents it. That’s not to say it’s not for some women. Research showed there was a very small percentage of women whose benefit would outweigh the risks.”

The bottom line, Allina said, is “You have to be an active patient and find a healthcare provider that responds to your needs, even if it means changing doctors.”