For women of a certain age, there is one burning question: to replace or not to replace? I’m talking hormones, of course. Do you submit to the hot flushes, thickening waistline, thinning hair and loss of vitality? Or do you resist, via HRT, and risk the consequences which, depending on the study you believe, could be anything from cancer to heart disease.
It’s a hard one, since there are so many factors to take into consideration. Some women appear largely unaffected; some develop only mild symptoms; others find their quality of life severely diminished. For those, the lure of HRT is, despite the health warnings, very tempting.
But it’s not just menopausal women who struggle with rogue hormones – I have an underactive thyroid and first-hand experience of how a stalling endocrine system can really mess up your prospects. For years I struggled to find a specialist capable not only of understanding my weight gain, hair loss, joint problems, lack of concentration, extreme tiredness, mood swings and more, but also of treating me in a resourceful, cognitive fashion.
I came to Dr Marion Gluck via two recommendations. Initially sceptical (after all, I had seen my fair share of egregious experts in high-backed leather chairs), I nevertheless decided to give her a go. Women’s health is her passion. Pregnancy, post-pregnancy, menopause – these are her areas of expertise.
Unlike many in her line of work, Gluck makes no outlandish claims, and errs very much on the side of caution. She would never advocate anything unnatural or on the edges of science – for example, she is extremely sceptical about the increasing use of hormones by the anti-ageing industry. What she does believe in, however, is optimising her patients’ hormone levels – and, in doing so, transforming their quality of life.
Her speciality is individually tailored bio-identical (as opposed to synthetic) hormones. After an examination, she packs you off for a series of blood tests, the idea being that she builds up a picture of your particular hormonal quirks. Then she will prescribe accordingly, and in the most measured doses possible. The process is ongoing: you may have to have your levels checked every three to six months, since the picture is a constantly shifting one.
Nearly a year on, she has changed my life. With manageable expense, she has tweaked my sluggish system back to relative efficiency. I look and feel immeasurably better. I have more energy, both physical and mental; I have lost weight; and my mood swings have at least become predictable enough to manage. I am, if you can believe such a thing, almost normal. Which is, in itself, quite extraordinary.
020-7402 4674; www.drmariongluck.com
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