Woman To Woman: Health Issues Explored

By Dottie Evans

It was a packed house on Monday evening, January 26, as more than 30 women gathered in the Monsignor Conroy Room at St Rose School to hear a well-known and respected speaker Mary Ellen May, MD, OB/GYN of The Candlewood Center for Women’s Health.

“Dr May has practiced 18 years in the greater Danbury area and is much beloved by her patients,” said Sally O’Neil during her introduction, and many in the audience who were or had been Dr May’s patients nodded their heads in agreement.

“She is someone you definitely feel you can talk to about anything,” Ms O’Neil added.

That feeling of trust might have been part of the reason why so many came out that cold night for the monthly health session sponsored by St Rose of Lima Parish Nurse Ministry. The topic, “Health Care Issues and the Maturing Woman,” was a timely and relevant one.

“I have trouble with names, but keeping people healthy my mission. It’s Christian work and prayer helps,” Dr May said and she began her talk by explaining what a doctor usually looks for during a patient’s introductory visit.

“Blood pressure, urine, weight, and family history of breast and ovarian cancer. We look at behavior regarding smoking, drinking, calcium intake, exercise –– all the things you do to stay healthy.”

Regular visits to a doctor’s office are necessary, she said, especially in today’s world where a consumer hears “so many conflicting stories.”

Women’s Mortality Figures

“Cardiovascular disease is still the greatest cause of mortality,” Dr May said, as she ran down the list of morbidity figures.

The yearly rates of death for women from the following causes were, cardiovascular: 500,000/year; coronary artery disease: 250,000/year; lung cancer: 50,000/year; breast cancer: 45,000/year; colon cancer: 29,000/year; ovarian cancer: 13,000/year; endometrial cancer: 10,000/year; and cervical cancer: 4,400/year.

“We’re holding our own with breast cancer. Ovarian cancer is the most difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are so subtle. Endometrial cancer is very treatable and presents early with unexplained bleeding.

“We’re also making inroads with cardiovascular disease by checking cholesterol. If the blood pressure is getting higher as we age, if there is diabetes, or evidence of insulin insensitivity, we look at those things, too.”

As for colon cancer, Dr May told her audience to get the test by age 50.

“It’s not a bad test!” she stated.

Considering breast cancer, Dr May said, “we look at heredity.”

“The age at which a woman has her first child seems to be somewhat protective. Risk peaks between the ages of 40 to 49 when lack of estrogen kicks in.”

She mentioned many other risk factors including environmental, genetic, and personal factors that might predispose a woman to get breast cancer.

“It’s all about weighing the risks and benefits,” regarding the choice to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) she added, though recent studies have definitely scared many women off the treatment.

Osteoporosis: A Silent Disease

“Osteoporosis does not show its face until you’ve had a fracture. Yet between the ages of 50 and 90, the risk of this disease increases 50-fold,” Dr May said.

Fully forty percent of women over 50 will experience a fracture from osteoporosis, and 250,000 women per year suffer hip fractures. Mortality from this disease can be as high as 20 percent, because when a woman breaks a hip, she may stop functioning.

Peripheral tests for osteoporosis include the Heal ultrasound test, and getting a bone density scan, which provides a baseline score against which future scans can be compared.

“In screening for osteoporosis, we look hard at smokers who drink a lot among women who are past the age of menopause. The bone is living tissue and it is constantly being remodeled in a constant breakdown and buildup cycle. After menopause, there is more resorption of calcium into the system. So we must correct our habits, add calcium and do bone-resistant exercises,” Dr May concluded.

“One of the best osteoporosis medicines –– estrogen –– has gone by the wayside after the study of two summers ago,” she added.

“There are other things we can take. Evista, which is a designer estrogen that slows bone loss, is one. Another medication, Fosamax, should raise calcium levels in the bone by two percent a year.”

Be aware that caffeine and sodas interfere with calcium absorption, she noted. Eat soy chips with calcium, Total cereal, yogurt, and take calcium and Vitamin D supplements. Drink orange juice with calcium added.

“These can help,” Dr May said.

What Happens During Menopause

A lot of things go on in a woman’s life around the time of menopause. Stress, children growing up, parents growing older, a career change, a husband’s midlife crisis, change in hormones.

“You lose sleep, or you don’t sleep. You get hot flashes,” Dr May said, and the challenge is how to have a successful, happy, and functioning life during this difficult time.

How long menopause actually lasts is “probably longer than you would have thought,” she noted.

Perimenopause may begin at age 40. The onset of full menopause may be at age 50, and there may be two years or so of intermittent bleeding and transition before the process is fully underway.

“And it’s not over until two full years past your last period,” Dr May said.

“There is no standardization in herbal medicines,” she said, cautioning women who turn to herbal supplements for relief, “but soy and black cohash seem to help with milder symptoms.”

“Certain things –– like feeling more tired, wrinkles, aching joints –– are going to happen. There is no fountain of youth. But we do know about things that can help. Like drinking hot milk before bedtime, daily exercise, practicing yoga, taking medications like Tylenol PM or Ambien in moderation.”

As for urinary frequency, this too, can be treated.

“Something seems to happen to the urethra due to lack of estrogen. The bladder becomes more irritable and goes into spasms resulting in the need to get up frequently at night. Of all our body systems, I think the urinary tract is built the worst for women,” Dr May said.

“Boehringer-Ingelheim, just down the road, is developing a new drug to treat urinary frequency. I can’t wait to get it. I’m on the phone with them at least once a week to see if it’s available yet.”