It’s a complicated time in U.S. history.  During this season, I’m reminded that our history of the pilgrim story and the Thanksgiving part of our narrative is incomplete at best, and a false representation of what actually took place at that time at worst.  The worst is actually what we did to the land and ..read more

Here is one more menopause hormone therapy (MHT) myths is it relates to duration of MHT. Myth: Women who take MHT should stop by the age of 60. There is no such guideline from the main menopause expert organizations.  There is no general rule for stopping systemic hormone therapy in a woman aged 60, or ..read more

I think you will enjoy this podcast I did on managing menopause with menopause hormone therapy with my friend and colleague, Dr Jaclyn Smeaton. In this episode Dr. Smeaton and I discuss menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and its resurgence in recent years. Dr. Hudson explains that MHT may be recommended for women experiencing significant quality ..read more

Women after the age of 18, are almost twice as likely to struggle with depression than men.  Some studies also show that rates of recurrence and worsening of depression as well as new onset depression are a vulnerability in perimenopause. Green tea consumption and supplementation has been the subject of many research studies in areas ..read more

In this prospective cohort study of older noninstitutionalized adults in the U.S., researchers found that consuming 1 or more eggs/week was associated with a 47.0% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s dementia (AD).  This study included 1024 older adults at a mean age of 81.  Over a mean follow-up of 6.7 years, 280 participants were diagnosed with AD.  Weekly consumption of > 1 egg/week was associated with a 47% reduction in the rates of AD  as was 2 or more eggs/week.  Those with intakes of > 1 egg/week also had a  reduction for AD pathology in the brain and 2 or mo ..read more

Menopause hormone therapy is having a new moment in its long history of use and research.  While the last 22 years, since the publication of the first paper from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), put what seemed like a permanent dark mark on the use of menopause hormones.  Researchers and clinicians who have kept up to date with the research in the last 22 years and longer, have realized its benefits and select risks for all of this time, and never did have the across the board dark mark against it.  But now we have the reverse problem, it’s being thought by uninformed clinic ..read more

In my neck of the woods (Pacific NW), June is when we start to see more regional juicy summer fruits including cherries and blueberries.  But this is only the beginning of the robust berry season which will soon be local blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and then the peaches, plums and melons.  We also find more and more fresh vegetables at local farmer’s markets starting with the fresh greens and snap peas and then moving into all the summer goodies of tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, summer squash and corn.  Then, we get to look forward to winter squashes and r ..read more

Women during the menstruating years often struggle with one or more issues related to menstruation, including abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramping pain), premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and cyclic mastalgia (breast discomfort) related to PMS. Abnormal bleeding can include heavy menses, long menses, short cycle, long cycle and no cycle at all.  Any of these symptoms require an evaluation by a qualified practitioner and require a thorough medical history, select physical exam and possible laboratory testing, pelvic ultrasound and sometimes a uterine biopsy.  PMS symp ..read more

I think we all know what aging of the skin looks like: wrinkles, reduced tone, sagging areas, loss of fat pads in the face, dryness, skin pigmentation changes, telangiectasias and lentigines.  There are multiple influences on this normal age related process such that some individuals have more or less skin aging features.  Genetics, decline in estrogen with menopause, UV light exposure, cigarette smoking, alcohol, stress, select medications and weather exposure in general are the dominant influencers.  Darker skinned people have less severe intrinsic facial skin aging, with agin ..read more

The herbal research for perimenopause and menopause women and their symptoms continues to expand.  This recent published report was the second study that I am aware of, on Shatavari in menopausal women.   This randomized, double-blinded, multicenter, placebo-controlled clinical study investigated the use of a full spectrum Shatavari root for menopausal symptoms.   It was conducted in India where both pre and postmenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 65 who had typical symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, fatigue, depression, insomnia and mood swings. T ..read more