Understanding Hormones During Menopause | Dr. Mary Jane Minkin

Join Alloy’s Co-founder Anne Fulenwider with Dr. Mary Jane Minkin for a conversation on the top things you need to know about menopause and hormones, including two of our favorites, estrogen and progesterone.

Dr. Minkin is a clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, and has been in private practice in New Haven (CT) for more than 40 years. She is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, and she practices at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She earned her medical degree from Yale Medical School and her undergraduate degree from Brown University. She did both her internship and residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, the former in internal medicine, the latter in obstetrics and gynecology.

She is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG), and has been a North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner (NCMP) since 2002. Dr. Minkin has been Director of the Sexuality, Intimacy and Menopause clinic in the Division of Gynecological Oncology, in the Smilow cancer center at Yale New Haven Hospital since 2008. She has also been Director of the Yale Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (YOGS) since its inception in 2006.

02:00 - Explanation of menopause
03:19 - Explanation of perimenopause
04:30 - Discussing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in peri/menopause
09:30 - Why birth control is commonly prescribed for perimenopause
13:20 - Average age of menopause & life expectancy 100 years ago
15:00 - MHT is effective for menopause symptom relief
16:40 - MHT helps prevent osteoporosis
18:30 - Estrogen is cardio-protective
22:20 - Discussing dementia
25:58 - Discussing the different forms of MHT
31:24 - Vaginal Estrogen can help treat Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause
34:50 - When to take progesterone
35:40 - Why pellets are not recommended
37:20 - Importance of FDA-approved and bioidentical MHT
39:20 - Studies show women taking bioidentical estrogen and micronized progesterone have no increased risk of breast cancer
44:00 - If you're only using vaginal estradiol cream, you don't need to take progesterone
44:35 - Discussing when to start MHT
48:22 - Alongside your doctor, you can take MHT forever
53:09 - Discussing when to change your MHT dose over time
57:00 - Maintaining mental health in menopause


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