Recently I presented at a conference for women navigating perimenopause and menopause. It was great to see women educating themselves about this life transition and also having a laugh, sharing food, stories and support along the way.

There’s lots of research out there and sometimes conflicting evidence. Fortunately there are passionate researchers now such as Lisa Mosconi, who is a neuroscientist trying to figure more out about the effect of hormones on women’s brains during and post menopause.

There were lots of insights at the conference, but a common theme from all of the presenters was that individualised assessment and management plans are essential for women trying to navigate their changing hormones, bodies and brains.

Many of the presenters were asked their advice about different menopausal symptoms or problems. Although general information was given, often the answer to a specific query was “it depends”……it depends on the person’s own medical history, family history, medications and lifestyle, and their preferences. There’s no “one size fits all”.

On a similar topic, I’ve also been learning more about precision medicine. This ties in with a more personalised approach that I hope will become more common in health.

I’ve often noticed as a doctor that one patient might do really well with a particular lifestyle change but another patient does the same thing and doesn’t get any result at all. This can be really frustrating for the person who is trying their best, doing all the things and can feel like they are “failing”.

Precision medicine looks at the interaction between your genetics and your environment, takes into account how you developed in the womb as an embryo and can give much more detailed and useful information about what is likely to be most effective for your health. The best thing is no blood tests or genetic screening is needed - the programme works it out from your medical history and some simple body measurements. I certainly didn’t know until recently that exposure to different hormones in the womb gives us different femur (the large thigh bone) lengths, for example.

Trialling this myself over the last three weeks (I always like to be a guinea pig before recommending anything to others 🙂) I have felt more energy and at the same time calmer. Learning more about my what my body and mind needs more and less of has been incredibly useful. It can help remove some of the guesswork out of “how can I tackle this health concern” amidst conflicting online or well meaning friend and family advice.

This can be a strategy not only for the menopause transition, but for our life long health.

TIP: When struggling with an issue, don’t be afraid to reach out and get support from others (This is a tip I’m still trying to practice myself!). I think this is particularly important in menopause when everything can feel a bit overwhelming and your body and brain are essentially rewiring.

Contact me on [email protected] if you would like more information or support.

If you’re wanting some support and information with actionable insights, join us for this relaxed and friendly workshop with local women’s health experts. A complimentary afternoon tea is provided.

More information and tickets available here: https://events.humanitix.com/menopause-workshop

Some tickets have already sold and we have a limit of 20 participants, so if you want a ticket, be in quick.

Stay happy and healthy,

Erika.

PS: “Our mothers were largely silent about what happened to them as they passed through this midlife change. But a new generation of women has already started to break the wall of silence.” — Trisha Posner