North American Menopause Society Meeting 2016

Last week, I attended the annual North American Menopause Society meeting in Orlando, Florida. This organization is the premier educational Society focused on midlife women’s health. What made our annual meeting especially exciting this year was Hurricane Matthew! I arrived on Monday evening and departed on Saturday morning. Hurricane Matthew started his approach on Tues evening, chased all the local coastal Floridians inland by Wed evening and landed on our hotel early Friday morning. This story has a happy ending. The meeting continued every day without a hitch, despite the fact that all the trees began to pitch.

Here are the top 5 things I learned at the North American Menopause Society Meeting 2016.

1. The North American Menopause Society Position Statement on Hormone Therapy

For all of you who are still frightened and confused regarding the use of hormone therapy for the treatment of menopause symptoms, visit www.menopause.org to learn the absolute latest and most accurate scientific position on this topic.

2. The North American Menopause Society Position Statement on Non-hormonal Management of menopause symptoms.

So many of you want to try non-hormonal approaches for the treatment of menopause symptoms. There’s nothing wrong with that. Check out the new Video Series that was just posted on this topic with Dr. Pauline Maki.

3. Should women consider the use of fractional CO2 laser for the treatment of vaginal dryness in menopause?

Many of you have heard of a new laser technology called MonaLisa Touch that is being touted as the next best thing since I don’t know what for the treatment of vaginal dryness. After learning about the limited scientific data on this very expensive, non-FDA-approved treatment that essentially causes tiny ablations to the vaginal tissue, my opinion is that there are better, safer FDA-approved options out there. Don’t waste your hard earned money.

4. NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner credential (NCMP)

There’s a good reason why so many of you are frustrated with the fact that your obstetrician/gynecologist does not have all the answers to your midlife questions. It turns out that there are only about 1200 credentialed experts in the US. But you can find one in your neck of the woods by visiting www.menopause.org and putting in your zip code. Out will pop the names of experts nearest to you. Frustration begone!

5. The North American Menopause Society Resources for Women

So many of you spend too much time surfing the internet trying to figure out the best website for information on perimenopause and menopause. Just surf yourself over to www.menopause.org and click on the Resources For Women tab. That’s where you’ll find the best information to further your understanding on midlife women’s health. In fact, if you click on book reviews, you will read a review of my new book, Menopause Confidential: A Doctor Reveals the Secrets To Thriving Through Midlife. I won’t spoil it for you. I’ll just say that the experts have spoken!

So as I bring this to a close, I would just like to tease you with my next blog called Hooray For Colonoscopy!

Are you dealing with any of these issues? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.