For Nouveau, pro-aging expert Wies Verbeek regularly talks to experts about how you can grow older in a fun way.
It is becoming increasingly clear that heart, head and hormone problems during or around the transition cannot be viewed separately from each other. The reason for three specialists to join forces. ‘You can help women so much better if you work together.’ Yesterday you read the interview with professor dr. Sandra Kooij about the menopause and ADHD. Today: the transition and your heart.
Dr. Janneke Wittekoek is a health scientist and cardiologist, specializing in the female heart.
Why is network H3 so important to you?
‘After ten years of dealing with women with misunderstood heart complaints, I can conclude that about one third of the complaints can be linked to hormonal disruptions and one third to excessive stress.
By that I don’t mean stress from work, moving or divorce, but from misdiagnosed mental illnesses such as ADHD, borderline and depression.
There is a large group of patients who would have been much better off with integrated treatment. It’s all taking too long now before they are properly helped. We need to look much more holistically.
I can provide a cure for heart problems, but if we don’t recognize and treat any underlying stress or additional psychological problems, then it’s mopping with the tap open.
Medications must be tailored and properly coordinated. There is not yet a main heart-hormone clinic, but there will undoubtedly be one.’
How do you envision this combined care?
‘We now first want to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and menopause consultants. Even if a gynaecologist, cardiologist or psychiatrist knows only a little about the connection between head, heart and hormones during menopause, he or she will be more alert and possibly refer the patient. This is much faster than when the patient has to make appointments with different specialists.
These days, I already screen my patients briefly for ADHD. I have a small checklist with questions such as: are you usually forgetful, does ADHD run in your family, do you feel burnt out, how is your resilience, etc. Of course it doesn’t say everything, but you make it negotiable. Making a proper diagnosis is so important. I want to be able to show women the way to the right portal.’
Women in menopause run a greater risk of cardiovascular disease because the production of oestrogens, which protect against stiffening and stiffening of the heart and blood vessels, decreases. Limit your risks by regularly checking your blood pressure, weight, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. You can do this at the doctor’s office, but you can also do it yourself, with tests that you can get at the pharmacy or drugstore.
KNOW YOUR NUMBERS
cholesterol. Follow the 5-3-1 rule. Your total cholesterol must remain below 5, your LDL below 3 and your HDL above 1mmol/l. Blood sugar. Not higher than 5 mml/L. Blood pressure. 120/80 mmHg is good blood pressure. At 140/90, there is high blood pressure and a 34% higher risk of dementia. Pulse. It should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
Speaking tomorrow: Drs. Dorenda van Dijken, gynecologist affiliated with OLVG West in Amsterdam, and chair of the Dutch Menopause Society.
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2023-07-29 08:00:00
#menopause #womans #heart
