Dr. Jessica Shepherd

So when we lose estrogen, we have an increase in inflammation and that inflammation causes our neurons to have hardened plaques, which lead later down the line because the course of how it builds and how it shows up is as much as 30 years. So that's why you start to see women having dementia in their 70s and 80s, but the process started back in their 50s. Why? Because of estrogen decline. Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This is one of the biggest questions now that we see in hormone replacement therapy and perimenopause. What we used to do, and this is again when I was training, which was about 15, 18 years ago, is that we would wait till women reached menopause. It's like they almost had to prove it. They would come in in buckets of sweat and I would be like, well, when was your last period?

This is one of the biggest questions now that we see in hormone replacement therapy and perimenopause. What we used to do, and this is again when I was training, which was about 15, 18 years ago, is that we would wait till women reached menopause. It's like they almost had to prove it. They would come in in buckets of sweat and I would be like, well, when was your last period?

This is one of the biggest questions now that we see in hormone replacement therapy and perimenopause. What we used to do, and this is again when I was training, which was about 15, 18 years ago, is that we would wait till women reached menopause. It's like they almost had to prove it. They would come in in buckets of sweat and I would be like, well, when was your last period?

And they're like, well, it was five months ago. And I'm like, so sorry, can't offer you HRT. We have now gotten into a day and age where we know if your hormones are declining and fluctuating and you're having a symptom, I absolutely should be offering you hormone replacement therapy as something. Why wouldn't we? It's the car analogy again.

And they're like, well, it was five months ago. And I'm like, so sorry, can't offer you HRT. We have now gotten into a day and age where we know if your hormones are declining and fluctuating and you're having a symptom, I absolutely should be offering you hormone replacement therapy as something. Why wouldn't we? It's the car analogy again.

And they're like, well, it was five months ago. And I'm like, so sorry, can't offer you HRT. We have now gotten into a day and age where we know if your hormones are declining and fluctuating and you're having a symptom, I absolutely should be offering you hormone replacement therapy as something. Why wouldn't we? It's the car analogy again.

Why am I going to wait until there's no more car or no more gas in the engine, but I'm still plugging away? Why wouldn't when the indicator comes on, why would I not say, this is a great opportunity for me to get gas? the same thing with hormones. Why are we depleting ourselves?

Why am I going to wait until there's no more car or no more gas in the engine, but I'm still plugging away? Why wouldn't when the indicator comes on, why would I not say, this is a great opportunity for me to get gas? the same thing with hormones. Why are we depleting ourselves?

Why am I going to wait until there's no more car or no more gas in the engine, but I'm still plugging away? Why wouldn't when the indicator comes on, why would I not say, this is a great opportunity for me to get gas? the same thing with hormones. Why are we depleting ourselves?

Why are we allowing women to feel their absolute worst before we will offer them something that is going to help how they feel and their vitality? So what about women who are not candidates for it? What are their options? So their options, so there are actually a lot of options. I would, well, maybe not a lot, but there are options.

Why are we allowing women to feel their absolute worst before we will offer them something that is going to help how they feel and their vitality? So what about women who are not candidates for it? What are their options? So their options, so there are actually a lot of options. I would, well, maybe not a lot, but there are options.

Why are we allowing women to feel their absolute worst before we will offer them something that is going to help how they feel and their vitality? So what about women who are not candidates for it? What are their options? So their options, so there are actually a lot of options. I would, well, maybe not a lot, but there are options.

And so coming from a day and age when there were no options, I think that it's really amazing that we are able to offer that. I think that the list of who cannot take hormone replacement therapy is probably good to go over so that everyone can make sure that if I am or not, I need to know. Great. So this would be someone who has a personal history. right?

And so coming from a day and age when there were no options, I think that it's really amazing that we are able to offer that. I think that the list of who cannot take hormone replacement therapy is probably good to go over so that everyone can make sure that if I am or not, I need to know. Great. So this would be someone who has a personal history. right?

And so coming from a day and age when there were no options, I think that it's really amazing that we are able to offer that. I think that the list of who cannot take hormone replacement therapy is probably good to go over so that everyone can make sure that if I am or not, I need to know. Great. So this would be someone who has a personal history. right?

They themselves have had breast cancer and specifically a hormone receptor positive type of cancer, right? It responds to hormones. So the reason why I kind of doubled down on personal history is that there is a lot around breast cancer when we think I've had a family member, a cousin, an aunt, that doesn't put you in the same category as having a personal history of breast cancer.