Menopause Could Put You at Risk for High Cholesterol

by SXHH Marketing | Jun 18, 2021 | Menopause, Wellness

Do you know your cholesterol levels? If not, it’s time to talk to our women’s health care provider about them! You may not realize, but menopause could change your cholesterol levels and put you at a higher risk for high cholesterol, which can put your health at risk. Even if your cholesterol levels have been healthy before, menopause is a critical time to get screened and talk to your doctor about strategies to help you stay healthy.

Staying healthy after menopause means knowing your cholesterol levels!

Talk to Your Women’s Health Care Provider About Your Cholesterol Levels

High cholesterol usually doesn’t cause any symptoms. It’s a silent condition, but it can put your health at risk in many different ways. So, it’s important to know whether you have high or elevated levels and learn strategies to lower them or keep them in healthy ranges. 

Here are the current cholesterol screening recommendations for women with low risk:

• 20-55: Cholesterol screening every 4-6 years
• 55-65: Cholesterol screening every 1-2 years
• 65+: Cholesterol screening every year

However, if you do have certain risk factors, our women’s health care provider may recommend more frequent screenings.

Here are some general cholesterol goals for most healthy adults:

• Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL
• LDL cholesterol: less than 100 mg/dL
• HDL cholesterol: more than 60 mg/dL

The key to remember is you want your LDL (bad cholesterol) levels low and your HDL (good cholesterol) levels to be high. This is because LDL sticks to and builds up in the arteries, like hair clogging a drain in your home. HDL, on the other hand, is sort of like a drain cleaner, taking cholesterol out of the bloodstream and back to the liver.

Menopause Can Increase Your Risk for High Cholesterol

If you’re going through menopause, now may be an important time to get a cholesterol test. LDL cholesterol levels tend to rise and HDL levels tend to decrease around this time. There may be a link between low estrogen levels and this cholesterol change during menopause. Other changes during this time can also contribute to the risk for high cholesterol.

How Estrogen Affects HDL Cholesterol Levels

While both men and women can have high cholesterol levels, women are more at risk later in life after menopause. This is because estrogen drops off pretty dramatically during menopause. Estrogen is a hormone that has been linked to higher HDL cholesterol levels. Remember, HDL cholesterol is the good kind, that helps remove the LDL from your arteries and back to the liver. However, lower estrogen levels after menopause can mean your HDL levels start to decline and your LDL levels start to increase. Therefore, even if you’ve never had high cholesterol levels before, these hormone changes can have a significant impact. 

One study found that cholesterol levels rose dramatically anywhere from one year before to one year after the last period for women who participated in the study. That’s why it’s important to talk to your women’s health care provider about cholesterol and how to keep it in healthy ranges during and after menopause. 

Why Care about Cholesterol Levels?

It’s a common misconception that only middle-aged men need to worry about cholesterol, but women are at risk for high cholesterol as well, particularly after menopause. The problem with high cholesterol is that, even though it doesn’t necessarily have any symptoms, it can cause other serious health conditions. Some of the most concerning and life-threatening are cardiovascular problems from high cholesterol.

Increases Risk for Heart Disease, Heart Attack, and Stroke

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, especially for women after menopause. Unfortunately, cholesterol awareness is particularly low among women. One survey from the American Heart Association found that most women, about 76%, didn’t know their cholesterol levels. However, cholesterol can put your health at risk. 

High cholesterol levels can increase your risk for conditions like:

• Heart disease
• Atherosclerosis (hardening of your arteries)
• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Stroke

The main problem with cholesterol is that it can clog your arteries. Cholesterol can become sticky plaque that sticks to the arteries and blood vessels. Over time, this can harden your arteries and make them narrower, meaning less blood can flow through them. This can make your heart work harder and even damage the heart muscle from all the overwork. 

Also, the plaque can break off and cause clots that block blood flow. If the blood clot blocks blood flow to your heart, you have a heart attack. If it blocks blood to the brain, you have a stroke. Therefore, it’s incredibly important for your heart health to keep your cholesterol levels in check. 

Where does Cholesterol Come From?

To understand how to keep your cholesterol levels healthy, you need to know what cholesterol is and where it comes from.

First, what is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a fatty, waxy substance in your blood. Cholesterol isn’t all bad, and you actually need it to make many different things in your body, like bile, sex hormones, cortisol, and vitamin D. 

Since cholesterol is so necessary for many different processes in your body, your liver actually makes most of the cholesterol you need. About 80% of cholesterol comes from your liver. The other 20% of cholesterol comes from your diet. 

It’s a common misconception that dietary cholesterol increases your blood cholesterol levels. This isn’t necessarily the case. Actually, dietary cholesterol is unlikely to significantly increase your risks for high cholesterol. However, trans fats and saturated fats certainly can. 

Some things that play a role in your risks for high cholesterol include:

• Genetics
• Diet
• Age
• Activity level

Why Get Regular Cholesterol Screenings from your Women’s Health Clinic?

Getting your cholesterol tested is a simple blood test we perform at our women’s health clinic. Our team can check your cholesterol levels as part of your annual health exam. We can also talk about strategies for keeping your cholesterol levels healthy. Even if you don’t have high or elevated levels, we can talk about things you can do to keep them low. 

If you do have unhealthy cholesterol levels, we’ll work with you to create a treatment plan to help you stay healthy and reduce your risks. So, make sure you get regular cholesterol screenings as part of taking care of your overall health.

Treatment Solutions for High Cholesterol After Menopause

If you do have high cholesterol levels after menopause, our women’s health care team can help you find treatment solutions for how to lower cholesterol. Treatment for high cholesterol can look different for different people, and it all depends on your specific situation. 

For instance, some women are able to lower cholesterol with diet and lifestyle changes, like cutting out trans and saturated fats and increasing how much they exercise. In other cases, you may need medications to help lower your cholesterol. Many women require all of these strategies. Our medical professionals will work with you to personalize your treatment and help you reduce health risks from high cholesterol. 

Quality Women’s Health Care to Help You Take Control of Your Health

Our team at HerKare is here to empower you by helping you take care of your health. We listen, understand, and help you take steps to improve your overall wellness. We’re with you at every stage of life to help you stay healthy and help you feel great. Whether you have a specific health concern or just need a checkup to get necessary screenings to help with early detection of serious conditions, our team is here for you. Make an appointment with one of our women’s health care providers today!

Kegel Exercises & Menopause: Exercise the Pelvic Floor

by SXHH Marketing | Apr 20, 2021 | Menopause, Wellness

Did you know doing Kegel exercises after menopause offers many benefits? Many women’s health care professionals recommend women do these pelvic floor exercises daily to help prevent many common issues during menopause. Talk to our provider about whether Kegel exercises are right for you and how to include them in your lifestyle.

Talk to our women’s health care professionals about Kegel exercises. They may help prevent uncomfortable symptoms and conditions during menopause.

What Are Kegel Exercises? Why Might a Women’s Health Care Provider Recommend Them?

Never heard of Kegel exercises before? These are essentially exercises to help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor helps support the organs in your pelvis, such as the uterus, bladder, rectum, and vagina. 

With age, these muscles can start to become weaker. What’s more, lower estrogen levels during menopause can also contribute to a weak pelvic floor. This puts you at risk for many different issues, such as pain during sex, difficulty controlling your bladder or bowels, or even uterine prolapse. 

Some other things that might contribute to weak pelvic muscles include:

• Being overweight
• Chronic cough
• Chronic constipation

Fortunately, Kegel exercises can help make your pelvic floor stronger and are fairly easy to incorporate into your every day routine. 

Kegel exercises were developed in the 1950s by a gynecologist named Arnold Kegel. He studied the use of pelvic floor exercises for women with urinary incontinence. Today, many women’s health care professionals recommend Kegel exercises for women of all ages because of their many benefits. This is especially true for women during and after menopause who are more likely to experience pelvic floor weakening and related conditions.

Benefits of Regular Kegel Exercises after Menopause

So, why might you start doing Kegel exercises after menopause? Since your pelvic floor supports a lot of important organs, it’s important to keep these muscles strong. This can also help with the function of your pelvic organs. 

Your Women’s Health Care Provider May Recommend Kegels to Help with Urinary Incontinence

Millions of women experience urinary incontinence (UI), which can take the form of anything from small leaks when you sneeze or even having accidents because you’re unable to reach the restroom in time. Your risk for this condition increases with age and after menopause due to lower estrogen levels.

Many women with urinary incontinence deal with a reduced quality of life. A lot of those with UI change a lot about their lives due to the condition, like avoiding going places due to fear of leakage. Many also feel embarrassed and isolated socially because of the condition.

If you have UI, it’s important to talk to our women’s health care provider about causes and treatments. One common recommendation for urinary incontinence is doing Kegel exercises. Stronger pelvic muscles may help you hold your urine in more effectively until you can make it to the bathroom. 

One study from 2018 even found that regular pelvic floor exercises helped improve quality of life for those with urinary incontinence. So, Kegel exercises may be used both as a preventative measure and a treatment for urinary incontinence. 

Reducing Your Risk for and Treating Uterine Prolapse

Uterine prolapse is a somewhat common condition, and your risk for it goes up after menopause. This is where your uterus starts to sag lower than normal, sometimes entering the vagina (a partial prolapse) or even protruding outside of the vagina (complete prolapse).

Some symptoms of uterine prolapse include:

• Heaviness or pressure in the pelvis
• Pelvic pain
• Abdominal pain
• Back pain
• Painful sex
• Frequent bladder infections
• Unusual or excessive discharge
• Constipation
• Urinary leaks, frequency, and urgency

These symptoms may also get worse when you’re standing or walking, as gravity can pull on the prolapsed uterus. 

If you have uterine prolapse, Kegel exercises may be the recommended treatment for mild cases. In other cases, you may need surgery to remove the uterus or put it back in place. 

However, Kegel exercises may also help reduce your risk for experiencing uterine prolapse. Generally, the reason the uterus slips down from its normal position is due to a weakened pelvic floor. Therefore, keeping these muscles strong may help provide the support needed to prevent uterine prolapse. 

Improving Intimacy with Kegels

Another issue Kegel exercises can help with is intimacy after menopause. As your estrogen levels start to fall, you might notice vaginal dryness or pain, especially during sex. Kegel exercises help in a few different ways. 

First, a common reason you might experience pain during sex is due to tight vaginal muscles. Kegel exercises can help you relax these muscles so they’re not as tight and painful during sex. 

Also, pelvic floor exercises can help increase circulation to the pelvic floor and vagina. Better blood flow to the area can help improve arousal and lubrication. In some cases, doing Kegel exercises regularly may even help improve orgasms. 

All this can come together to help improve intimacy after menopause. So, Kegels may even help your sex life!

How to Do Kegel Exercises

Did you know about one-third of women who do Kegel exercises are actually doing them wrong? That means they may not get any of the benefits of doing Kegel exercises. Your women’s health clinic can help you determine whether you’re doing Kegel exercises right and offer some tips to help you with Kegels during your next checkup or appointment. However, here are some general tips that may help you learn how to do Kegel exercises.

Find the Right Muscles

Remember how we mentioned about a third of women aren’t doing their Kegels right? In many cases, this is because they’re actually flexing other muscles, like the buttocks, abdomen, or legs. Finding the right muscles for Kegel exercises can be a little difficult, but we do have a few tips.

First, it might help if you lie down while you try to find the right muscles and get used to doing pelvic floor exercises. While you can do them in practically any position, like sitting at a red light, it’s much easier to contract the muscles when you’re lying down. 

A lot of guides say that the easiest way to find the right muscles is to stop the stream of urine when you’re going to the bathroom. While this can help you find the right muscles, doing this can make it difficult to fully empty the bladder, which can cause other issues like urinary tract infections. Instead, we recommend pretending you’re trying to avoid passing gas, or to tighten your vagina around a tampon. This can help you find the right muscle group. 

If you’re still having trouble finding the right muscles, lie down and insert a clean finger into your vagina and try to do a Kegel. You should feel the muscles tighten around your finger.

Also, try placing a hand on your abdomen when doing your Kegel exercises. This can help you feel any unintended muscle contractions in your abdomen. If you’re contracting your abdominal muscles, there’s a good chance you’re doing your Kegel exercises wrong.

How Often to Do Kegels?

Once you have the hang of which muscles to contract, you can start doing them regularly to help reap the benefits of a strong pelvic floor. 

If you’re just starting out, then you may need to work your way up to longer contractions and multiple reps. Generally, one rep is contracting the pelvic floor for three to five seconds and relaxing for three to five seconds. For most women, aim to do about ten reps two or three times a day. Once that becomes easier, you can even try mixing them up by holding for longer, like ten seconds, or even shorter, like two or three second bursts.

Just keep in mind that doing Kegel exercises too much can make your pelvic floor muscles too tight. This can cause issues like:

• Constipation
• Incomplete bowel movements
• Pelvic pain
• Lower back pain
• Painful sex

If you notice these signs of a tight pelvic floor, then try giving your muscles a break from Kegels for a little while. If your symptoms don’t improve, visit our women’s health care team for help finding underlying causes, like overworking the pelvic floor muscles or even other health conditions.

Talk to Your Women’s Health Care Providers About Staying Healthy

At HerKare, we’re a women’s health clinic dedicated to your wellness. Our team is here to help you feel your best at every stage of life. Whether you’re looking for advice on maintaining a healthier lifestyle or need to talk about symptoms you’ve noticed, we take time to listen, understand, and work with you to find personalized health solutions for you. Be proactive about your health. Schedule an appointment at one of our convenient locations today.

Staying Healthy After Menopause

by SXHH Marketing | Mar 19, 2021 | Menopause, Wellness

Life doesn’t stop after menopause, so make sure you’re getting the women’s health care you need! Staying healthy is important for your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. You’re in control and we’re here to help! Our providers are here to help you understand your health risks and help reduce them with healthy lifestyle changes and quality healthcare services.

Health Risks After Menopause

Most women reach menopause around age 51. Around this time, due to normal aging and low estrogen levels, your risks for some health conditions go up. This might mean making some changes and working with your women’s health clinic to reduce your risks. It can also mean getting regular screenings to help with early detection and treatment. Whatever the case, we’re here to help you take control of your health. 

Around this time, your risks increase for conditions like:

• Osteoporosis
• Heart disease
• Obesity
• Urinary incontinence
• Dry skin
• High blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Diabetes

This might seem pretty frightening, but the good news is there are many things you can do to help reduce your risks. For example, making healthy lifestyle changes may help lower your risk for most of the conditions on that list. You’re in the driver’s seat and our women’s health care professionals are here to help you design a personalized plan to stay healthy after menopause.

Maintaining (or Starting) a Healthy Lifestyle

Around middle age, it’s more important than ever to lead a healthy lifestyle. Like we mentioned, your health risks do go up with age, so the healthier you live, the better. Getting serious about making healthy choices not only helps reduce risks for preventable conditions, but it can also help you feel healthier, stronger, more energetic, and happier. So, it’s time to make a commitment to treat your body the best you can!

Now, even if you haven’t led the healthiest lifestyle until now, there’s still plenty you can do! It might take a little extra work and you might have to take smaller steps to get there, but you’ve got a women’s health care team on your side. Don’t forget to enlist some daily cheerleaders through friends and family to help you make healthier choices. 

Diet After Menopause

Eating healthy is another way you can follow a healthy lifestyle after 50. What you eat has a pretty big impact on a lot of different things, from mood and energy levels to weight gain and cholesterol levels. Making healthy diet choices empowers you to get the fuel and nutrients you need for a healthy, active lifestyle.

What many women don’t realize is that you need fewer calories after menopause. Most women around this time lose some muscle mass as a part of normal aging. Muscles burn a lot of calories, so with less muscle tissue, you’ll likely need fewer calories.

How many calories you need depends on a lot of different factors, so talk to our women’s health care provider about your specific needs. However, here’s a general guide:

• 1,600 calories a day if you get a low amount of activity
• 1,800 if you get moderate amount of activity 
• 2,000-2,200 if you get a high amount of activity

In addition, we recommend eating a balanced diet with foods from all five food groups each day. This can help you get a variety of foods in your diet and help you get the nutrition you need. Nutrition and vitamins after menopause are extremely important for helping reduce your health risks. For example, you need plenty of calcium and vitamin D to help keep your bones strong. This means eating a healthy diet and potentially working with our women’s health care provider to see which vitamin supplements you need. 

Don’t forget keeping hydrated! Getting enough water each day can help with everything from dry skin to keeping your urinary tract healthy. If water isn’t appealing, you can even try infusing it with berries or other fruits to give it some flavor. 

Exercise

Getting plenty of exercise has so many benefits, from reducing the risk for heart disease, improving your mood, keeping your weight in check, and helping bone health. Active adults are also less likely to suffer from depression and cognitive decline! So, getting some physical activity is especially important as we age.

Aerobic Exercise

Biking is a great way to get aerobic exercise in. Talk to our women’s health care providers about other exercises you can do!

Most women should shoot for 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week. This is about 30 minutes five days a week or 21-22 minutes every day of the week. Some aerobic exercises include:

• Walking
• Jogging
• Dancing
• Swimming
• Biking
• Climbing stairs or hills
• Tennis

How do you know if you’re getting moderate intensity aerobic exercise? Talk to someone! If you’re breathing heavily, but can still have a conversation, then you’re getting moderate intensity aerobic exercise. However, if you’re struggling to talk, then you’re getting vigorous aerobic exercise. If you like vigorous exercises more, then do those about 75 minutes a week instead.

Strength Exercise

Strength exercises can help keep your bones healthy and help you build muscle tissue, which offers its own benefits like burning more calories. Most women need to do strength exercises twice a week, allowing for rest time in between.

Exercise all your major muscle groups during these sessions with 10-15 repetitions of the exercise. Some strength exercises include:

• Lifting weights
• Body weight exercises  (like squats and pushups)

Consider also doing exercises that prioritize flexibility and balance. These are also helpful for daily tasks (like picking dropped items off the floor for those of us clumsy folks).

If you’re just starting out exercising for the first time, don’t panic. Even if you can’t jump right into those recommendations, it’s okay! Make a goal to do just 10 minutes of activity each day and gradually ramp it up as you can.

Limit Alcohol, Caffeine, Quit Nicotine

As we age, our bodies handle certain things a little differently. That may mean it’s time to cut back on certain things or quit entirely. Things like alcohol and caffeine may affect you differently than they did before, and too much of either of these can have health impacts. Smoking can also cause serious health issues. So, we’re here to help you take control of your health and limit or quit these things entirely. 

Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk for things like osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more.  In some cases, it may make the most sense for you to quit, depending on your risk factors. However, if you still want to enjoy the occasional glass of wine, keep in mind that most health experts recommend drinking less than one drink a day to reduce some of the risks.

Caffeine can also cause some negative effects for your health, so it may be time to limit your caffeine intake. It can make it hard to stay hydrated, because it’s a diuretic. It can also affect how much stress hormone your body releases, which can increase blood pressure, heart rate, and many other things. Caffeine can also interfere with your sleep schedule and make it hard to get enough sleep at night. So, if you’re having issues with these things, it may be time to cut back. 

Smoking also has major health effects at any age, increasing your risk for heart disease, lung cancer, and so much more. If you’re a smoker, no time is better than the present for quitting. We can help you come up with strategies to help you quit!

Regular Women’s Health Care Visits

In addition to making healthy lifestyle changes, it’s also important to schedule regular appointments at our women’s health clinic. Routine appointments are important for helping with early detection of health conditions, screening for risks, and developing an overall plan to help you stay healthy!

Screenings You Need 

Health screenings help us have a conversation about your risks and overall health. Health screenings after menopause might include:

• Blood Pressure: In most cases we do this every visit. 
• Breast Cancer: Many women do monthly self-exams to find abnormal signs in their breasts. We also recommend a mammogram every one to two years for most women. 
• Pap Test: Many women don’t realize they still need pap tests after menopause, but we generally recommend getting one every one to three years to help detect signs of cervical cancer.
• Cholesterol: For most women, we do a cholesterol test to screen for high cholesterol at least every five years. This may be more frequent if your cholesterol levels are high or you have other risks.
• Colon Cancer: Health experts recommend colon cancer screenings between ages 50 and 75. There are many different options, ranging from stool tests to colonoscopies. Each type has different benefits and drawbacks, so which you choose depends on your risk factors and preferences. 
• Blood Sugar: For most women, you’ll need a blood sugar test every three years to test for diabetes. It may be more often if you have certain risks. This is a fasting blood test we perform at our women’s health clinic to look at how much sugar is in your blood. 
• Bone Density Scans: Bone density scans look for issues with bone density that could lead to osteoporosis or fractures. If you’re over 50 with a history of adult fractures or you’re under 65 with certain risk factors, we may recommend a bone density test. 

Also, it’s important to talk about vaccines and keep seeing other providers like dentists and eye doctors.

Quality, Empowering Women’s Health Care at HerKare

At HerKare, our team is here to help you address your health today! We take time to listen, to understand, and then to help you start feeling better. Whether you want to talk about personalized preventative health strategies or need help getting to the bottom of your symptoms, we’re here to help. Make an appointment today!