Menopause and Lifestyle Medicine: How to improve your health, lose weight, and improve your quality of life
Improve health | Lose Weight | Improve quality of life
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Menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life that marks the end of her reproductive years. Women, as well as some trans men and nonbinary people, typically reach this milestone in their mid-40s to mid-50s. A gradual decline in hormones, especially estrogen, triggers menopause and a range of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. These symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and fatigue.
Menopause can greatly impact health, quality of life, relationships, and work. Symptoms usually last for up to 10 years, but one in 10 women experience menopause symptoms for up to 12 years. Unfortunately, many medical professionals ignore menopause, lacking the knowledge and training to diagnose and treat it properly. As a result, this complex issue—and those experiencing it—are often dismissed. While this transition can be challenging, there are effective treatments for menopause and perimenopause that can ease symptoms.
Lifestyle medicine and menopause
In recent years, there’s been more focus on how lifestyle changes can treat, reverse, and prevent certain chronic diseases. Lifestyle medicine centers on six pillars of good health: nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep, social connectedness, and avoiding or cutting back on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
Menopause is a natural biological process, not a disease, and can’t be prevented or reversed. But some pillars of lifestyle medicine can help treat the symptoms of menopause and give you a greater sense of wellbeing at any age. Lifestyle changes can also lower the likelihood of developing chronic illnesses that become more common after menopause, like osteoporosis, heart disease, and cognitive decline.
Weight gain is a significant concern for people at many life stages. A slower metabolism during menopause can bring with it extra pounds, and some people find they need to exercise more and eat less to stay at their current weight.
Medically based weight loss program
Amity Hall, a physician associate with Art and Science of Medicine in San Carlos, believes everyone can be happier and healthier with lifestyle changes. Her medically based weight loss program focuses on fresh, whole foods, physical activity, counseling, and optional FDA-approved prescription weight loss medicine. The program also looks at the whole person to address other possible causes of weight gain, like an underactive thyroid. It’s for those 40 and older living with weight gain, fatigue, and other symptoms–whether or not they’re related to menopause. Many times, these symptoms can be improved through lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, and reducing stress.
The journey toward losing weight isn’t always easy, but weight loss during menopause is possible, and the health effects can last a lifetime. Losing weight can help ward off heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure, as well as boost your mood. Art and Science of Medicine and Amity Hall want to help you develop better habits for success in the long term.
About Amity Hall
Amity Hall is a physician associate with more than 15 years of experience providing her patients with the highest level of care, graduating from the renowned University of California at Davis physician assistant program. She has provided healthcare for a broad spectrum of medical concerns, from complex cancers to bone marrow transplant cases, as well as preventive and health maintenance care. Amity works for Art and Science of Medicine under José G. Montoya, MD, an international authority in Toxoplasmosis, and is the present Director of the National Reference Laboratory for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Toxoplasmosis, the “Dr. Jack S. Remington Laboratory for Specialty Diagnostics (Remington Lab).”
A former college and professional athlete, Amity competed in Division I swimming for the University of California, Berkeley, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials and becoming an NCAA All-American. She also competed as a professional triathlete for several years. Amity’s background in sports and medicine has given her an edge in providing outstanding care and coaching in health maintenance, lifestyle medicine, post-menopausal fatigue, and more.
Learn more about how lifestyle medicine can improve your menopause symptoms at artandsciencemd.com
To contact Amity Hall directly, call 747.800.2180 ext. 102. or email her [email protected].
*This article is provided by an advertiser. Statements made are not meant to offer medical advice nor to diagnose any condition. Any studies cited here may be preliminary, and may or may not be peer reviewed, and may or may not have sufficient participants to be statistically relevant. Anecdotal accounts should not be taken as scientific results. Products discussed in this article are not designed to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. The FDA does not evaluate dietary supplements. Consult your doctor about possible interactions, allergies, and if you are considering using a natural and/or dietary supplements for any condition. Individual results will vary.