As many of you probably know, menopause is one of my specialties. A large proportion of my practice now is between the ages of 40 and 60 and menopausal issues are an important part of their decisions about quality of life and healthy living and aging. I, myself am past the 50th birthday milestone so menopause has become a personal issue as well as a professional one. I try to stay up-to-date on the latest news affecting the menopausal transition and also try to incorporate a number of approaches to the treatment of menopause. Because this area is so important to me I will be trying to make this website a mirror of the practice--a place patients can come to for accurate, unbiased, up-to-date information on healthy living and healthy aging during midlife.  While I'm putting this site together, I'll direct you to some of my favorite websites on menopause and healthy aging. If you have any favorite websites, please e-mail me and let me know their names.

One of the things that surprises me is the reluctance of many mainstream, conventional physicians to speak to their patients about bio-identical hormones. I find the counseling and education of my patients around this issue to be one of my most satisfying patient encounters. There are a number of excellent FDA-approved bio-identical hormones available to menopausal women and I also work with a compounding pharmacy that I know and trust, so that menopausal treatment can be individualized to each woman.  If you are going thru menopause or perimenopause and want to discuss bio-identical hormones, please call my office and schedule a consultation.  Unlike other physicians in the area specializing in this field, I accept insurance and so your out-of-pocket costs will be significantly less.

   www.menopause.org

This is the website for the North American Menopause Society. I joined this society about 10 years ago and just recently became certified thru this society as a Menopause Practitioner.  I've been impressed by the diverse make-up of the members. Because of this, the society is able to offer many different approaches to the management of the menopausal transition. A number of the studies looking at non-hormonal treatment of menopausal symptoms and health issues are done thru this society. I don't necessarily agree with all of NAMS positions but as a whole, this is an excellent resource for menopause information.  Their web site isn't very fancy as it doesn't rely on advertising like some of the others do. You'll enter the website thru the "consumers" link.  There I recommend clicking on the different resources listed under "Menopause Information". I also recommend reading the articles under "What's New at NAMS" to get some of the most up-to-date and accurate information on menopausal issues. You can sign up for their free monthly e-letter.

 www.zrtlab.com

I used to be a real skeptic when it came to salivary hormone testing.  I had tried a couple of labs and was simply not impressed.  The North American Menopause Society does not support salivary testing so when I was at a seminar about bio-identical hormones I asked one of their leading educators why he felt that their lab was different.  His answer made sense.  Female hormones (in particular estrogen and testosterone) are found in very small quantities in the saliva.  Many labs cut corners to offer lower prices.  According to this educator and lecturer, the lab with which the North American Menopause Society based their recommendations against salivary testing using indirect testing and is very inaccurate.  Direct testing is necessary for accurate testing.  As he said, "if it doesn't cost much money and doesn't require much spit, you're probably not getting an accurate test".  ZRT labs is headed by Dr David Zava, a PhD with years of experience with the actions and testing of hormones. Take a look at the website.  If you are interested in getting salivary testing done, please call us to schedule a short initial consult so that I can help you decide what testing will be most beneficial for you.