As a woman, do you feel you are getting the care you need from your healthcare provider? How do you feel about your practitioner’s approach to perimenopause and menopause symptoms?
If you’re fortunate, you have a provider who understands your unique needs as your body transitions out of childbearing years into perimenopause, to menopause and postmenopause – a transition that can take as long as 10 years. Hopefully, you’re fortunate enough to have a provider who doesn’t simply chalk up your sleepless nights, weight gain, tanking libido, and mood swings to “depression” and prescribe pills that may or may not help you feel better for a little while.
Imagine if you were a man who told your doctor, “I’m losing muscle tone, having trouble focusing, and my sex life is suffering.” At the very least, you’d easily get a prescription for medication that addresses your sexual needs – unlike the antidepressants prescribed to most women who “complain” of these same issues.
Can we, as women, overcome this bias in healthcare?
Will “the system” (a.k.a. mainstream healthcare) ever catch up to us and meet our needs as it has for our male counterparts?
That’s a loaded question; one that has bothered Belmar’s Medical Director, Angela DeRosa, DO, MBA, CPE, since her own experiences with early menopause and multiple attempts to get to the root causes of her life-disrupting symptoms. This gender bias became so emphatically obvious to Dr. DeRosa that she wrote a two-part article about it: Gender Bias in the Treatment of Menopausal Women: I Am Hot As Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore, Part 1 and Part 2.
“A blatant case of gender bias is keeping women from receiving the same treatment options for mid- and later-life loss of sex drive as their male counterparts; as well as other important menopausal-related symptoms and subsequent chronic diseases that develop from loss of important reproductive hormones. This gender bias has been prevalent for decades…”
– Angela DeRosa, DO, MBA, CPE
Much of this bias comes from the commercial pharmaceutical industry, which caters to men, offering dozens of FDA-approved testosterone replacement therapies for erectile dysfunction (ED), so their sex lives, relationships (and egos) don’t have to suffer.
What about women?
The majority of healthcare providers are not taught how to address, or even fully comprehend, menopause and women’s health needs as we age and as our needs relate to hormones. Many providers operate under the false understanding that only men need testosterone replacement therapies as they get older. However, women need it, too, along with estrogen and progesterone, especially during perimenopause and menopause when these hormones typically nose-dive, leaving women feeling miserable, and in some cases, barely able to function as well as they did before this normal, albeit life-changing experience began.
To exacerbate the problems for women, when it comes to medical research, women are less likely to be included in clinical trials. Even lab mice are predominantly male!
The commercial pharmaceutical industry and its lack of approved hormone therapies for women, would have you believe that there really aren’t any “good options” for us when it comes to managing perimenopause and menopause symptoms. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, thanks to compounding pharmacies.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapies (BHRT) from a compounding pharmacy, like Belmar, are personalized for individual needs. The amount of testosterone, estradiol/estriol, and progesterone you need to feel your best is unique to you, based on your lab results, age, weight, and other health factors. When your physician truly understands women’s health, you are more likely to get the hormone therapies you need, not only for short-term symptom relief, but for the long-term health benefits for your heart, bones, brain, and so much more.
As you can see, the gender bias in healthcare goes beyond “just relieving symptoms.” This bias has long-term consequences if we continue to ignore women. Our lives, in fact, depend on it.
How can you get the care you deserve?
First, educate yourself. Learn more about BHRT and which options might be ideal for your needs.
Second, find a provider who understands women’s health and is an expert in perimenopause, menopause, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapies.
To get you started, Dr. DeRosa created this letter to share with prospective hormone therapy providers. For additional help finding a provider who is expertly trained in women’s hormones, visit:
Read More About Perimenopause
How Do I Know If I’m in Perimenopause?
Demystifying Menopause: The Art of Training Doctors to Support Women on Their Menopausal Journey
Women’s Health: Perimenopause and Menopause
Learn More About Compounded BHRT Medication