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your life.
Your energy, memory and vitality.
A woman with her health has a thousand wishes.
A woman without her health has only one.
For women, menopause marks the natural decline of female hormone production. Clinically, menopause is defined as twelve consecutive months without a menstrual period. However, hormonal changes often begin years earlier.
During perimenopause—commonly starting in the late 30s to early 40s—estrogen and progesterone levels may fluctuate and gradually decline. These changes can lead to symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, memory changes, mood shifts, and reduced libido.
It’s simple and fast. Learn more about your current Menopause Health Status.
Begin by clicking the Menopause button below.
Once you complete your FREE “PHONE PRE-ASSESSMENT REVIEW” with a clinical staff member,
Some suggest that menopause should simply be endured as part of “aging gracefully.” For the small percentage of women who experience few symptoms, this approach may be acceptable. But for most women, menopause brings disruptive and frustrating changes, including:
There is nothing graceful about feeling diminished or disconnected from life. For women who want to remain vibrant and engaged, and not fade away from the joys of life, there are safe, effective options available—without harsh drugs.
The Advanced Health and Vitality Center was created to help women address hormonal changes with thoughtful, personalized medical care.
Our medical director, Alyse M. Hamilton, MD, is a highly trained physician who understands menopause both professionally and personally. After experiencing early menopausal symptoms herself—including loss of energy, memory, and vitality—Dr. Hamilton sought advanced training to better understand and safely treat these changes.
“As a physician, I believed my medical training in internal and
emergency medicine and guidance from my gynecologist would be enough to carry
me through menopause. I could not have been more wrong.”
— Dr. Alyse Hamilton
Dr. Hamilton chose to complete two years of advanced training in Integrative Metabolic and Functional Medicine through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), followed by board certification as a Diplomate. Her training focuses on the safe and effective rebalancing of:
Dr. Hamilton became her own first patient—an experience that shaped her confidence in this approach and her commitment to patient safety.
Today she says, “I feel balanced and twenty years younger.”
Bioidentical hormones are chemically identical to the hormones your body naturally produces, most commonly estradiol and progesterone. They are available in different forms including customized formulations prepared by licensed compounding pharmacies, when medically appropriate.
Many women use BHRT to help relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disruption, mood changes, and low libido.
In your search for symptom relief, safety must also be addressed.
Not all estrogens are the same. In his book, Safe Estrogen, Dr. Edward Connelly explains your three primary estrogens:
All three estrogens can help with symptom relief but not all three are the safest. Of these three, Estriol is considered the gentlest and safest. It is often used in combination with estradiol (together called Bi-Est) to effectively reduce your symptoms while prioritizing your safety.
Likewise, there are two forms of progesterone. The hormone called “progesterone” is actually “bioidentical.” It is molecularly identical to the hormone you produce in your own body. This version not only helps with improving mood, bone health and skin health it is also considered more protective for a woman.
The other version is known as “progestin” or “medroxyprogesterone.” This is the pharmaceutical version of progesterone.
In 2005, a major, long-term study known as the “Women’s Health Initiative” tested modified estrogen (Premarin®) against a combination of the modified estrogen plus modified progesterone (progestin). Together they are called Prempro®. In postmenopausal women the study demonstrated increased rates of heart attacks, strokes and cancers in both groups. While these results are still debated, some believe that even though these versions of hormones can reduce menopausal symptoms, they may not protect a woman from cardiovascular events and cancers as natural hormones are believed to do.
Dr. Hamilton prefers to use bioidentical estrogens and progesterone.
Estrogen Molecule
When estrogen is taken through your mouth, it will travel to your liver. There, several different chemicals known as metabolites will be created. Two of those metabolites (16 OH-1 and 4 OH) tend to be more associated with breast cancer.
On the other hand, two other metabolites, 2 OH and 16-OH 2, made from Estriol are considered protective for a woman. To avoid what is known as the “first pass” effect through the liver, Integrative Metabolic physicians prefer to offer safer routes of delivery of estrogen, such as creams or troches (dissolved under the tongue) that go directly into your blood stream.
Hormones are powerful chemical messengers vital for overall health. However, they can create unwanted situations. For example, too much estrogen in a man can result in feminization, fatigue and weight gain. Too much testosterone in a woman can impact her voice, her hair, and begin to make her more masculine. Too much or too little of any hormone can result in furthering negative symptoms or even result in serious health problems. Your hormones may also continue to fluctuate over time and need to be adjusted and rebalanced periodically.
For both your optimal results and safety, periodic hormone testing and physician reviews promote the safe and effective use of your bioidentical replacement therapy.
Women experience thyroid dysfunction—particularly hypothyroidism—far more often than men. Often, thyroid symptoms overlap and compound menopause symptoms, including:
Integrative metabolic physicians use comprehensive thyroid testing with up to eight tests, far beyond the basic TSH and T4 levels many physicians use. This allows for full assessment of thyroid function and the ability to identify autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s disease.
Reclaiming a well-balanced and functioning thyroid often takes close medical supervision and guidance to achieve but it is well worth it.
Your healthy thyroid gland is a most positive health asset, especially during and after menopause.
Restoring thyroid balance can significantly improve your quality of life during and after menopause.
Your adrenal glands help regulate your body’s responses to stress. In addition to everyday stresses from work, family and life itself, during menopause, prolonged stress, anxiety, and fatigue can further strain your adrenal glands, and reduce your resilience and energy.
Saliva-based adrenal testing—performed over a 24-hour cycle—allows us to offer a more accurate assessment of how well your adrenals are functioning. Proper rebalancing with natural substances such as adaptogens can improve your stress tolerance, energy levels, and your immune health.
There are three areas that set the Advanced Health and Vitality Center apart:
Expertise and Experience
Our medical director, Alyse Hamilton, MD., is not only a highly trained, trusted and experienced medical doctor…. She’s been in your shoes!
She knows what it feels like to go through many of the negative effects of menopause and then safely and effectively overcome them.
Dr. Alyse knows what perimenopause and menopause feel like.
She gets it!
Proven Protocols
Our protocols for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) and all other medical services we provide are based on safe, effective and proven procedures. In addition, for your safety, you are regularly monitored via our ongoing communication systems and periodic testing to assure that your hormones are maintained at safe and effective levels, and any issues or side effects are addressed immediately.
Trusted Products and pharmaceuticals.
We take great care in selecting licensed compounding pharmacies (CPs) for you that are highly experienced and trusted to provide positive patient service.
In addition, we avoid offering you certain items such as oral estrogens or synthetic progesterone to assure your safety.
We were honored to be endorsed by the late Suzanne Somers, a passionate advocate for women’s hormonal health. Her endorsement reflected our shared commitment to informed, safe, and empowering care for women.
We invite you to begin with a FREE phone pre-assessment, where a member of our clinical team will review your symptoms and discuss potential next steps.
Fill out the form below, complete your free hormonal pre-assessment phone review, and we will place $50.00 on your account.
It’s simple and fast. Learn more about your current Menopause Health Status.
Begin by clicking the Menopause button below.
Once you complete your FREE “PHONE PRE-ASSESSMENT REVIEW” with a clinical staff member,
Reclaim your energy, memory, and vitality.
Alyse M. Hamilton, MD
Medical Director
Advanced Health and Vitality Center
Advanced Health and Vitality Center, LLC
7201 West 78th Street, Suite 200
Bloomington, MN 55439
Phone:
(952) 922-8005
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