Climacteric & Preventive Medicine

“Climacteric” Medicine is the study of health changes that occur with endocrine aging as we transition from reproductive life (teens and twenties) to menopause (women) or andropause (men). This field addresses, from an integrative perspective, the disruptions and imbalances that occur in all our endocrine systems as we get older: pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, endocrine pancreas, ovaries (women) and testes (men).

Climacteric Medicine is more widely known and practiced in Europe, but does not have a separate specialty designation in the USA. It is different from and broader in scope than Gynecology, or Endocrinology (that in the USA typically focuses on diabetes and thyroid disorders), or general Internal Medicine because Climacteric Medicine looks at the myriad ways that hormone imbalances affect all brain and body systems, and can lead to mood, sleep, memory, metabolic, and other physical changes or “symptoms.”

Preventive Medicine focuses on identifying health risks before actual disease develops, and then helping people to reduce these risks and prevent development of serious disease through diet, exercise, stress management, proper use of medications and hormones where appropriate, or referral to other specialists as needed.

Osteoporosis, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Dementia and even some cancers are just some of the examples of health problems that can be prevented with early detection of risks and prompt intervention with the appropriate treatment.