THE MENOPAUSE PRACTICE cont.
The comprehensive health assessment includes questions regarding current symp- toms and concerns, medical and family his- tory, medications, supplements, allergies and health goals. The diagnostics and phys- ical exam assist in reviewing all systems, including cardiovascular, endocrine, meta- bolic, liver, kidney, adrenal, thyroid and hor- monal health. As a sister company to Body Measure, The Menopause Practice has ac- cess to medical testing that is often unavail- able/inaccessible to the general public, such as metabolic testing, bone density, and liver scans. “Bone density is a big issue for women. One in three women will have osteoporosis after the age of 50 because we can lose ten to 20% of our bone density in the first five to seven years of menopause,” says Hen- derson, a registered radiation technologist, who used her expertise in her own journey. “I did a hip and spine DEXA scan, which is how we look for osteopenia and osteoporo- sis. I did mine when I was 51, and my bone density was above normal. When Annabelle came on board a few years later, and I had no hormones left, I did it again, and I was in osteopenia. Six years later, I had dropped 11% of my bone density.” With this knowl- edge, Henderson was able to address the issue with hormone replacement ther- apy and was able to bring her bone density back into a healthy range within six months. “The goal is to establish a plan that will help each client feel optimal. Bloodwork, scans and other diagnostics, including blood pressure, paps, mammo- grams and other screening tools, assist the nurse practitioner and the client to understand baseline, poten- tial health risks and to set priorities to op- timize health,” Reimer explains. “Clients tell me that they appreciate being able to better understand their own health, and this helps them be more engaged in the changes they may need to make.”
Dual x-ray absorptiometry scans (DEXA) measure bone density by passing a high and low energy x-ray beam through the body.
16 CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
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