October 18th Was International Menopause Day. Are you aware of the Recommendations?.

International World Menopause Day Was October 18th

This year the International menopause Society (IMS) released their white paper (guidelines) focusing on effective empowerment of women, shared decision making, communication skills and validating the goals and concerns of each woman. These issues in combination with personal medical history, symptoms, age of peri or menopause can help frame care into a biopsychosocial framework.

This year, the 2025 IMS white paper focused on the importance of lifestyle changes to optimize health and well-being during the menopause transition. The paper discussed the risk of chronic diseases with aging and how to prevent them via lifestyle.  Six areas of lifestyle medicine were addressed to promote health and well-being into menopause; healthy eating, physical activity, mental well-being, minimizing harmful substances, restorative sleep and healthy relationships. The focus suggests putting a positive spin on what to incorporate without chastising the “don’t do, xyz”.  Informative counseling and goal planning can help women stay well.  Utilizing any of these tools, can benefit a woman and how she ages throughout her life span.

While we ALWAYS start with lifestyle changes, we now know that despite the women’s health initiative study (WHI) in 2003 revealing increased cardiovascular events and breast cancer risk, in the right patient, with the right history, initiated in the right time frame window, menopausal hormone therapy is a safe, well documented, proven option for abating vasomotor symptoms.

The scary results of the WHI which caused most women to stop their hormones or not consider using them was largely largely due to increased age of enrollees in the study-most well over the age of 60 ,(with already established subclinical cardiovascular disease) and using combined equine estrogen/Premarin and  not the  bioidentical beta estradiol which we use now, as well as the use of  the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate/Provera instead of the bioidentical natural micronized progesterone we now use.

Years later, the Women’s Health Initiative has been reevaluated to focus on younger women in the study within 10 years of menopause and has extrapolated and reassessed that Menopausal Hormone Therapy in our younger, age appropriate patients , meaning again, for the right patient, with the natural bioidentical hormones,  is a safe,  well documented,  proven option for abating vasomotor symptoms considering the correct patient candidate and personal and family history. That said, aside from hormone therapy, we always, ALWAYS start with or recommend in addition, lifestyle changes for healthy menopausal aging for many, MANY organ systems and enhanced aging and quality of life.

Lifestyle changes have long been part of the management of menopausal breast cancer survivors and who are not able to take hormones for vasomotor symptom//hot flashes. We now also have new non hormonal agents to address this issue for these and other patients whom hormones are contraindicated, or those women choosing not to take them and prefer to explore a different route of therapy. Lifestyle changes along with appropriate pharmaceutical agents can only further enhance therapeutic outcome and create a muti facetted approach for disease prevention.    

An extended visit which allows time for to collect client information and counsel women on the role of life style medicine and discuss dietary habits, physical activity and exercise, sleep patterns, emotional state , stress management and reduction, relationships and social connectivity, and any substance abuse is key to incorporating an individualize health plan for each woman taking into account her health goals, priorities and personal values.  Listening and believing what clients say is more important than the clinician speaking. That’s how trust is obtained.  Certain devices in the femtech market can sometimes also enhance our knowledge base regarding what’s going on to give bio information feedback regarding physiology and reinforce positive healthy behaviors.

Women Wise Holistic Healthcare and Wellness provides an extended first visit of one hour which also includes another hour of our clinician preparation, reviewing your history, days before you come to your appointment. Notes to discuss and further questions are captured in your chart, patient education information for you gathered, so when you present for your visit, your time here is truly well spent, allowing time to and review lifestyle, sleep, diet, life goals and anything else you want to discuss. We always do a 10-year breast cancer risk assessment with every new annual exam and women are given the opportunity to feel what a  breast mass might feel like on our breast model.

We are members of the Menopause Society and a large part of our care is dedicated to serving women in the Peri and Menopause space. We invite you to make  your healthcare decisions in person with a real clinician dedicated to women’s empowerment  where you will be seen, heard and cared for in a beautiful, serene, space, with handmade cloth gowns and matching drape sheets,  music and aroma therapy and have an extraordinary healthcare experience, verses, an on line consult for hormones where you will still need to have an additional visit and seek a provider for your well woman gyn exam and still required to pay a copay. Why not do it all in one unparalleled, beautiful, emotionally enriching, informative, nurturing, empowering experience?!  YOU DESERVE THAT and we get that, and that’s why we created this practice for you, with the patient experience in mind always! Call us today to schedule your appointment and to find out more.  610-808-6388, or voice to text. 610-632-5642.