Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr. Monica Valenzuela, board certified obstetrician gynecologist and one of the founders of Care for Womens Medical Group. Thank you so much for being with us today, Dr. Valenzuela.
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
Thank you, Yvette. Thanks for having me.
Yvette Walker
When you were practicing as an OBGYN, you made the choice to pursue the area of medicine that treats women on the other side of their child bearing years. What encouraged you to do that and what has resulted from it?
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
Sure, in my residency, we generally took care of pregnancy. And then I started seeing patients who were coming in complaining of hot flashes and night sweats and insomnia and anxiety. And I had no idea what to do with these women. So I was seeing these patients over and over again every day, and I was upset that I couldn't take care of them. And I kind of made it a mission for me to figure out menopause, because we live about 30 years of our life in menopause, and they should be good, you know, we should have a vibrant time of our life. And so that's where I'm at at this point and kind of where I started.
Yvette Walker
Well, I'm in agreement we should absolutely have the best years of our life on the other side of childbearing years. But in addition to that, there are some cultural barriers that exist within the Latino community that we were talking about in terms of what our grandmothers, our tias, our mothers, have shared with us, if anything. What do some of those cultural barriers look like?
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
Well, this is something that I see often because, you know, I'm Latina, and so I do get a lot of Latina patients, and they come in and they're like, you know, my mom never talked to me about this, and when I asked her about it, she said, Oh, that didn't happen to me. And I always say, everybody goes through menopause, nobody escapes it. She may not have had symptoms. You know, when it comes to women's health, reproduction, menopause, pap smears, mammograms, I think that that is a cultural thing that we just do not talk about. And it's not just in the Latino community. I see it in lots of different communities. I think that education is getting better, but I still think that it's something that is a little bit taboo.
Yvette Walker
What exists to allow women to experience a higher quality of life for patients that are going through perimenopause and menopause?
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
We're really lucky, because we are starting to have more and more data, more and more research, more and more evidence that hormone therapy is very safe for the majority of people. There's a myriad of options. There's gel, there's pills, there's spray, there's a patch, there's vaginal rings. So there's a lot of different options, and I think that everybody's going to have a little bit different combination of medication based on their treatment plans.
Yvette Walker
Aside from medication, are there lifestyle changes that can assist with the transition as well?
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
Yes, absolutely. What we're doing every day is so important, it's almost more important than the medication, because the medication is definitely going to help support and get rid of symptoms. But as far as longevity, as we start to lose muscle, we start to decrease our metabolism, and that's why we gain weight in menopause and perimenopause. And so making sure that you're exercising, making sure that you're strength training, because we don't want to lose that muscle. We want to try to build that muscle, and we can continue to do the things that we want to do as we get older, because we do have a lot of evidence that it helps with cognition and helps prevent dementia. What you're eating is really important. You know, are you eating a good diet? Are you focusing on your macronutrients? Are you looking at how much protein you're eating, because we want to support that muscle. Increasing your fiber is also recommended, and making sure that we're not eating a lot of processed food. And then the third thing that I like to emphasize is sleep. You want to try to stay off of a screen two hours before, so no blue light two hours before, trying not to eat two hours before you go to sleep, because it helps you go to sleep easier and sleep better.
Yvette Walker
For women that are listening, what is the best way to connect with you, Dr. Valenzuela?
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
I recently launched my social media presence, which patients have been asking me to do for a while. It's Dr. V's Menopause Minute on Instagram, and I will be posting education about menopause. It's evidence based and tips and tricks on how to get through this phase of life the best way we can and so that's a way to connect with me. Another way to connect with me is through my practice. I am one of the doctors at Care for Women's Medical Group. We have offices in Eastvale, Chino Hills, upland and Rancho, and you can reach us through our website at cfwmg.com. Our phone number is on the website, so that's probably the easiest way.
Yvette Walker
Thank you for sharing this wealth of insight, knowledge, tips and actionable items, as I mentioned, to really start to experience our best quality of life now and beyond our childbearing years.
Dr. Monica Valenzuela
Well, thank you so much for having me.
Yvette Walker
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices, you can find this story and others on our website, at kvcrnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media, and is funded by generous support from San Antonio Regional Hospital. Here for life. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
