State-of-art Menopause Clinic launched at Max Super Speciality Hospital Mohali

Mohali, October 18, 2013: On World Menopause Day today, Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH) here launched a state-of-art Menopause Clinic . The clinic is designed to offer comprehensive services for the care of women in their midlife. Dedicated to addressing the specific needs and challenges faced by women during menopause, this advanced preventive health clinic will offer menopausal patients state of art screenings as well as personalized medicine therapies, life style recommendations and counselling. The clinic will be the first dedicated menopause clinic in tricity to offer holistic care for menopausal women.

The clinic was inaugurated by Dr Seema Sharma, Senior Consultant, Obstetrics & Gynaecology at MSSH along with Dr Neelam Aggarwal, Vice President,  IMS & Professor PGI Chandigarh. Among others Dr Preeti Jindal, Sr Consultant, Dr Seema Wadhwa, Sr consultant, Gynaecology, MSSH, Dr Navneet Kohli,  Secretary Chandigarh Chapter,  Indian Menopausal Society & Associate Professor, GHMC-32 , Dr Poonam Goel,  Professor Gynaecology, GMCH-32 & Ex Secretary General IMS, Dr Rashmi Bagga,  Additional Professor,  PGI were also presented at the occasion.

The clinic will offer holistic care to menopausal women. The clinic is an interdisciplinary program with an objective to manage women with complex premenopausal and menopausal health concerns .Common problems addressed in the clinic included hot flushes, sleep disturbances, urogenital symptoms, hormonal migraines and mood disturbances. Preventive care strategies involving life style modification for diseases of the heart, osteoporosis and weight management will also be covered in this clinic. It will also offer unique affordable screening programme for cancers such as cervical, breast, ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancers. It will include PAP smear ,liquid based cytology, HPV DNA testing ,Tumor markers ,colposcopy, hysteroscopy, CT Scan, MRI and Laparoscopic Gynaecology services as well.

Speaking during occasion Dr Seema Sharma said that Menopause was caused by the natural declining function of the ovaries, which gradually produced lower levels of the hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. This caused the total serum levels of these hormones to decline in the woman’s body. Decreasing levels of estrogen caused many of the long-term health problems, such as osteoporosis, hypothyroidism and heart disease that could occur after menopause, she asserted.

Cautioning menopausal women about health concerns & health risks at their mid life, Dr Seema said that the estrogen deficiency after menopause and prevalence of metabolic syndrome could increase risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, sleep apnea and certain cancers.  Postmenopausal osteoporosis was an insidious disease characterised by loss of bone mass and increased in fracture rate. Spinal compression fractures were 10 times more common in women than in men over the age of sixty. Age related increase in prevalence of knee osteoarthritis was 1.8 fold higher in women than in men. Other preventable comorbid conditions in ageing women included overweight, arthritis, thyroid disease, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cataract,  depression and anxiety disorders, Dr Seema maintained .

Sharing her concerns about the health of menopausal women, Dr Seema said that the value of regular medical checkups could not be undermined in years beyond 40. One has to watch for diseases of heart, bones, blood lipids, blood pressure, urogenital tract and cancers. Once a year gynaecological check up was strongly recommended. The saying ‘Prevention is better than cure’ justified best after 40, she remarked.  Menopause women required a range of medical counselling.  With our team of experts, women would get a chance to open up and treat menopause as a beginning and have a positive outlook with respect to self image and self esteem, said Dr Seema adding it was easier to change the attitude towards aging than fighting with age.

Dr Ashutosh Sood, General Manager- Operations, MSSH said that Menopause was earlier associated only with the elderly. But a recent research highlights that Indian women have shown an increase in the early onset of menopause. As per the survey conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, on an average nearly 4% of Indian women were already menopausal between ages of 29-34 years, one of the lowest thresholds for menopause in the world. The report has revealed that 3.1% of the women are already in menopause by the age of 30-34 and the incidence rises to 8% for the age bracket of 35-39.

Dr Sood further said that we reviewed almost 100 patients every month with the complaints of early menopause. This was a growing health concern which needed to be addressed soon. Concerned with such women related health problems, we have introduced the Menopause Clinic which would be a one-stop Clinic to take care of all menopause related issues of women. Through this Clinic, we wished to urge women to stabilize their health during menopause and strengthen themselves physically and emotionally so that they might face the coming years with equanimity. Being the first of its kind Menopause Clinic in the Tri-city, we hoped that maximum residents would be able to benefit from the specialized services provided at the clinic, Dr Sood informed. www.cityairnews.com