Is this the secret to Sheila ki jawaani?

Youre about to lead a presentation that can make or break your career but you canrsquot shake off the brain fog mdash that feeling of walking about in a mental haze unable to focus or remember things You go home and between the anxiety night sweats and joint pain you can barely sleep You wake up with a foggy mind yet again along with fatigue and depression from months of this endless cycle If yoursquore a woman in your mid30s and up and this sounds familiar you might be going through perimenopauseThe good news Therersquos a way to beat it A couple of months ago authorChef Shilarna Vaze got Instagram buzzing about perimenopause when she uploaded a reel sharing her own struggle with it and how she had just discovered something that could help mdash bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or bioHRT oestrogen andor progesteroneldquoI was telling a friend from the US about my perimenopause symptoms I couldnrsquot sleep I was sweating like crazy I had extreme brain fog and my shoulder hurtrdquo Chef Vaze tells us ldquoShe told me she had been on bioHRT for 10 years and had zero perimenopause symptoms Another friend from Bali said the same thing So why hadnrsquot I heard of bioHRT in IndiardquoBioHRT is chemically identical to the hormones your body makes Thanks to its molecular composition not only is it easy to administer as a gel that you can massage into your skin but it also sidesteps the risks that were associated with synthetic hormones in the early 2000s such as breast cancer and liver damage It is now available in India but can only be purchased upon prescription from a doctor Two months into her bioHRT journey we reach out to Vaze again to ask if itrsquos been helping her ldquoMy hot flashes have reduced anxiety and shoulder pain have lessened Irsquom also sleeping much better nowrdquo shares the chef who splits her time between Goa and MumbaiWhat stuck with her though was how helpless she had felt before discovering bioHRT and why most Indian women seemed to never have heard of it So she posted about it ldquonever expecting it to go viral like that there were so many women asking about it in the commentsrdquoVaze pointed those women in the direction of Malabar Hillbased Rachel Kurien founder of the WhatsApp forum Menopausal Mates where about 1000 women have found answers to their questions about menopause To join visit httpsshorturlat04Oei Kurien also the founder of Rachelrsquos Reflexology Clinic on Nepean Sea Road has been on bioHRT way longer mdash two years and counting It has helped immensely with her symptoms some of which were quite severe ldquoI had constant hot flashes I was just dripping sweat I was always apologising for it and had to keep a change of clothes and cold towels with merdquo she recalls ldquoBioidentical HRT was a gamechanger Within a couple of weeks my quality of life went up exponentially The hot flashes night sweats the low mood and symptoms from Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause GUSM all got better A year after I started HRT and weights I went for a follow up for my osteopenia low bone density and my parameters had improved toordquoWhen Kurien had first started her bioHRT journey it wasnrsquot available at Indian drugstores ldquoI was told there was no demand for it here The problem is the lack of awareness mdash if women donrsquot know that what theyrsquore experiencing is a result of menopause theyrsquore not empowered to ask for helprdquo she says adding that she has been able to source the drug in India since the last six monthsA 2023 study by Elda Health stated that nearly 15 crore Indian women are suffering from perimenopause and menopause and 98 per cent of them largely visit gynaecologists for heavy bleeding or vaginal discharge issues while hot flashes depression and sexual health concerns are brushed aside as ldquonormalrdquoldquoThis is a global phenomenonrdquo says Dr Sukhpreet Patel MD Obstetrics and gynaecology from India and Masters in Public Health from the UK ldquoWomen are told lsquoThis will passrsquo But before it passes what will it take away from yourdquoDr Sukhpreet PatelThe doctor from Breach Candy who now practises as an HCARegistered Health and Nutrition Counsellor in Vancouver Canada highlights that it can be years before hormonal levels finally stabiliseShe explains ldquoYears before you hit menopause oestrogenrsquos protection starts to fade Our tendency to develop high blood pressure and diabetes goes up we tend to get higher levels of bad cholesterols It reduces bone density making older women more prone to fractures GUSM continues to cause recurrent urinary tract infections and painful sex These are 5055yearold women are you telling them they will live to 80 and never have sex againrdquoDr Patel uses FDAapproved bioHRT and prescribes it to her patients and encourages women to insist on relief from their symptoms along with preventative care when they go to their doctor She cautions however that bioHRT ldquois not a magic pill You will still have to go to the gym and lift weights you still have to eat healthy and sleep on timerdquo She warns patients to stick to FDAapproved formulations and not trust compounded versions claimed to be produced from ldquonaturalrdquo sourcesAnd what about the claims that HRT is linked to breast cancer with a Womenrsquos Health Initiative study flagging a higher risk with it Dr Patel says that this claim has since come under a lot of criticism as the studyrsquos findings were blown out of proportion ldquoRecent studies demonstrate that the progesterone in bioHRT is safer in this regard Besides the availability of transdermal oestrogen gels sprays patches make it a much safer option with regards to development of clots and strokerdquo she emphasisesWhat it can do is set women up for better health in their later years ldquoIt reduces the chance of fractures by 30 per cent reduces the risk of colorectal and uterine endometrial cancer and may improve heart health in women under the age of 60 and within 10 years of menopauserdquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params