As women age from childbearing to the senior years, their bodies change and they have special needs. The women's health professionals at TMC can support women as they go through menopause and also provide advanced medical imaging and diagnostic tests, such digital mammograms and bone density screenings, to help keep women well.
Listen as J. Timothy Parker, MD discusses what the health care professionals at Texoma Medical Center can offer in order to help you better understand menopause.
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Understanding Menopause
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Learn more about J. Timothy Parker, MD
J. Timothy Parker, MD
J. Timothy Parker, MD is a doctor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a member of the Medical Staff at Texoma Medical Center.Learn more about J. Timothy Parker, MD
Transcription:
Understanding Menopause
Melanie Cole (Host): As women age from childbearing to the senior years, their bodies change, and they have special needs. The Women’s Health Professionals at TMC can support women as they go through menopause and also provide advanced medical imaging, diagnostic tests, such as digital mammograms and bone density screenings, to help keep women well. My guest today is Dr. Timothy Parker. He’s an obstetrician/gynecologist and a member of the medical staff at Texoma Medical Center. Welcome to the show, Dr. Parker. What does that mean – women hear menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause – when, typically, does a woman start perimenopause, and what would she notice that would tell her it’s starting to be that time?
Dr. Timothy Parker (Guest): Well, you have to understand what menopause is, first. Menopause is when a woman’s ovaries stop functioning, and the average age is 51 in the United States. Approximately a year before menopause, a woman will start to have perimenopausal symptoms. Those symptoms could be hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness, one or all of those symptoms. And also what goes with this is a change in their menstrual cycles. We describe, or we define menopause as a complete year with no menstrual cycles.
Melanie: So women can experience many of these symptoms all of the time anyway, so it’s sometimes a little bit confusing for a woman to know that now this is what she’s in, what do they do about it? Is this something that requires a visit to our obstetrician/gynecologist?
Dr. Parker: Well, that’s a great question, and absolutely, a patient should go see their obstetrician/gynecologist if nothing more for education purposes because, like you said, a lot of these symptoms may be present years before menopause. By talking with their physician, they can get to the details and decide, yes, I really am in menopause, or I am perimenopausal. Then, maybe decide on some treatment options or where to go next with their doctor.
Melanie: So before we even talk about some treatment options, do the treatments – are they intended just to help us with the symptoms? It's not something where we can speed up the process, or stop in anyway, is it?
Dr. Parker: No, you can’t, and every woman is different. That needs to be individualized with each patient and her physicians, whether she wants treatment or whether she does not want treatment, but that needs to be individualized
Melanie: So when we speak about treatments for some of these symptoms that women experience and they hear about hormone replacement therapy, and they hear about risks for breast cancer, they hear about bioidentical hormones. Explain some of this, Dr. Parker, and what is it you want women to know about these kinds of treatments?
Dr. Parker: Well, there are so many different treatments out there now. In the olden days, we had just estrogen and today we have estrogen, which is what the ovaries normally produce, and we also have progesterone, which the ovaries also produce. Women that have had hysterectomies are a candidate to take estrogen alone. Women who have not, need to take both estrogen and progesterone. There are also some treatment regimens where women can take medications that treat the symptoms. They are not hormonal, but they help with hot flashes, or they help with vaginal dryness, or they help with night sweats. Those are individualized, and they’re specific to each of those symptoms.
Now, as far as the bioidenticals, most of those are plant-derived and being such, there’s not been any FDA oversight with some of the bioidenticals. Some of them work really well, but like I said, the FDA doesn’t oversee a lot of that, so there’s some of that that really needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Melanie: Dr. Parker, since some women experience pretty severe symptoms and some women don’t experience many at all, how do help them make the decision on whether or not they want treatment or want to go on hormones because it is confusing? We hear about these risks, but yet we hear that hormone therapy can help us with bone density, decrease our risk of heart attack, what do you tell them when they’re trying to make sense of all of this?
Dr. Parker: Well, as I stated before, it needs to be individualized with each woman. Some women have such significant symptoms that they really need to be treated. There’s some women that have a family history of breast cancer, and they may be those women that you don’t want to treat with hormone replacement therapy. They may be better suited with some of the symptomatic medications.
There are other women that, for some other reason may or may not need the hormone replacement therapy, but it needs to be talked to your doctor and, like I said again, individualized. There’s just so many now that are out there and so many medications other than hormones that work well. You mentioned it; you said bone health – that really important. We can treat that with calcium, but there are other things that may need to be added if you have osteoporosis, or if you have osteopenia, but you still need to talk to your doctor about these things.
Melanie: And what about some of the holistic or complimentary – there’s so many on the market. You look on your Walgreens shelf, and there’s Black Cohosh, and Ginseng, and Primrose, there’s all of these things. What’s a woman to know about all of those things?
Dr. Parker: Well, that kind of go back to the bioidenticals, I think. They are good for some women. I have had some patients that have used the Black Cohosh or the other medications. They work well for some people. Others they don’t do a thing. Most of those medications that are over the counter are not going to hurt a woman, and if a woman wants to try those first, I sure encourage them to do that.
Melanie: And where do you put the importance on things like Vitamin D, good nutrition, healthy sleep, and exercise when dealing with some of these things?
Dr. Parker: Great question, great question. Vitamin D – many, many women are deficient in Vitamin D, and they definitely need that with their calcium. We know that exercise treats or can help bone health. We know that women that do weight bearing activities increases their bone density and help prevent fractures in the hip and spine. And of course, sleep, we know that women who get more sleep do better with their health in general, so all of those are important to a woman.
Melanie: Well, they certainly are, and in just the last few minutes, Dr. Parker, what should women starting in perimenopause and entering menopause think about? What do you want them to know about this time of life, this change, and also dealing with some of the emotional issues -- depression, anxiety, insomnia, these things that can go along and be a part of it?
Dr. Parker: Well, first they’ve got to understand that this is just another part of life. It’s a normal process. Every woman is going to go through this at some point in their life. There are going to be certain degrees of symptoms for each woman, but it’s all a normal part of life, and there are things to help. There are medications. There are things like meditation that may help some women with the hot flashes and even the depression, but there is so much that we can do now that we didn’t have, but still getting back to the point – this is a normal part of a woman’s life.
Melanie: And why should they come to Texoma Medical Center for their care?
Dr. Parker: We have great facilities here at Texoma Medical Center. We have state-of-the-art facilities for a mammogram, bone density scans. We have outstanding physicians and really think we can take care of women in this part of their life.
Melanie: Thank you, so much, Dr. Parker. It’s really great information. You’re listening to TMC Health Talk with Texoma Medical Center, and for more information, you can go to TexomaMedicalCenter.net, that’s TexomaMedicalCenter.net. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Texoma Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much, for listening.
Understanding Menopause
Melanie Cole (Host): As women age from childbearing to the senior years, their bodies change, and they have special needs. The Women’s Health Professionals at TMC can support women as they go through menopause and also provide advanced medical imaging, diagnostic tests, such as digital mammograms and bone density screenings, to help keep women well. My guest today is Dr. Timothy Parker. He’s an obstetrician/gynecologist and a member of the medical staff at Texoma Medical Center. Welcome to the show, Dr. Parker. What does that mean – women hear menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause – when, typically, does a woman start perimenopause, and what would she notice that would tell her it’s starting to be that time?
Dr. Timothy Parker (Guest): Well, you have to understand what menopause is, first. Menopause is when a woman’s ovaries stop functioning, and the average age is 51 in the United States. Approximately a year before menopause, a woman will start to have perimenopausal symptoms. Those symptoms could be hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness, one or all of those symptoms. And also what goes with this is a change in their menstrual cycles. We describe, or we define menopause as a complete year with no menstrual cycles.
Melanie: So women can experience many of these symptoms all of the time anyway, so it’s sometimes a little bit confusing for a woman to know that now this is what she’s in, what do they do about it? Is this something that requires a visit to our obstetrician/gynecologist?
Dr. Parker: Well, that’s a great question, and absolutely, a patient should go see their obstetrician/gynecologist if nothing more for education purposes because, like you said, a lot of these symptoms may be present years before menopause. By talking with their physician, they can get to the details and decide, yes, I really am in menopause, or I am perimenopausal. Then, maybe decide on some treatment options or where to go next with their doctor.
Melanie: So before we even talk about some treatment options, do the treatments – are they intended just to help us with the symptoms? It's not something where we can speed up the process, or stop in anyway, is it?
Dr. Parker: No, you can’t, and every woman is different. That needs to be individualized with each patient and her physicians, whether she wants treatment or whether she does not want treatment, but that needs to be individualized
Melanie: So when we speak about treatments for some of these symptoms that women experience and they hear about hormone replacement therapy, and they hear about risks for breast cancer, they hear about bioidentical hormones. Explain some of this, Dr. Parker, and what is it you want women to know about these kinds of treatments?
Dr. Parker: Well, there are so many different treatments out there now. In the olden days, we had just estrogen and today we have estrogen, which is what the ovaries normally produce, and we also have progesterone, which the ovaries also produce. Women that have had hysterectomies are a candidate to take estrogen alone. Women who have not, need to take both estrogen and progesterone. There are also some treatment regimens where women can take medications that treat the symptoms. They are not hormonal, but they help with hot flashes, or they help with vaginal dryness, or they help with night sweats. Those are individualized, and they’re specific to each of those symptoms.
Now, as far as the bioidenticals, most of those are plant-derived and being such, there’s not been any FDA oversight with some of the bioidenticals. Some of them work really well, but like I said, the FDA doesn’t oversee a lot of that, so there’s some of that that really needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Melanie: Dr. Parker, since some women experience pretty severe symptoms and some women don’t experience many at all, how do help them make the decision on whether or not they want treatment or want to go on hormones because it is confusing? We hear about these risks, but yet we hear that hormone therapy can help us with bone density, decrease our risk of heart attack, what do you tell them when they’re trying to make sense of all of this?
Dr. Parker: Well, as I stated before, it needs to be individualized with each woman. Some women have such significant symptoms that they really need to be treated. There’s some women that have a family history of breast cancer, and they may be those women that you don’t want to treat with hormone replacement therapy. They may be better suited with some of the symptomatic medications.
There are other women that, for some other reason may or may not need the hormone replacement therapy, but it needs to be talked to your doctor and, like I said again, individualized. There’s just so many now that are out there and so many medications other than hormones that work well. You mentioned it; you said bone health – that really important. We can treat that with calcium, but there are other things that may need to be added if you have osteoporosis, or if you have osteopenia, but you still need to talk to your doctor about these things.
Melanie: And what about some of the holistic or complimentary – there’s so many on the market. You look on your Walgreens shelf, and there’s Black Cohosh, and Ginseng, and Primrose, there’s all of these things. What’s a woman to know about all of those things?
Dr. Parker: Well, that kind of go back to the bioidenticals, I think. They are good for some women. I have had some patients that have used the Black Cohosh or the other medications. They work well for some people. Others they don’t do a thing. Most of those medications that are over the counter are not going to hurt a woman, and if a woman wants to try those first, I sure encourage them to do that.
Melanie: And where do you put the importance on things like Vitamin D, good nutrition, healthy sleep, and exercise when dealing with some of these things?
Dr. Parker: Great question, great question. Vitamin D – many, many women are deficient in Vitamin D, and they definitely need that with their calcium. We know that exercise treats or can help bone health. We know that women that do weight bearing activities increases their bone density and help prevent fractures in the hip and spine. And of course, sleep, we know that women who get more sleep do better with their health in general, so all of those are important to a woman.
Melanie: Well, they certainly are, and in just the last few minutes, Dr. Parker, what should women starting in perimenopause and entering menopause think about? What do you want them to know about this time of life, this change, and also dealing with some of the emotional issues -- depression, anxiety, insomnia, these things that can go along and be a part of it?
Dr. Parker: Well, first they’ve got to understand that this is just another part of life. It’s a normal process. Every woman is going to go through this at some point in their life. There are going to be certain degrees of symptoms for each woman, but it’s all a normal part of life, and there are things to help. There are medications. There are things like meditation that may help some women with the hot flashes and even the depression, but there is so much that we can do now that we didn’t have, but still getting back to the point – this is a normal part of a woman’s life.
Melanie: And why should they come to Texoma Medical Center for their care?
Dr. Parker: We have great facilities here at Texoma Medical Center. We have state-of-the-art facilities for a mammogram, bone density scans. We have outstanding physicians and really think we can take care of women in this part of their life.
Melanie: Thank you, so much, Dr. Parker. It’s really great information. You’re listening to TMC Health Talk with Texoma Medical Center, and for more information, you can go to TexomaMedicalCenter.net, that’s TexomaMedicalCenter.net. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Texoma Medical Center. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much, for listening.