December 02, 2025

Recognizing Perimenopause with Louisville, KY

Perimenopause is the beginning of the end of ovarian function in women. And it is a slow, gradual decline of the production of estrogen. It can last from two to ten years. It is on average about four years prior to menopause.

Menopause is actually defined by the date at which you've gone twelve months without a menstrual cycle. There are many remedies actually for perimenopause and menopause symptoms. One of the most effective would be hormone therapy. This can be in the form of estradiol or estrogen as well as progesterone, depending on whether they have a uterus or not.

There's also many non hormonal treatments. There are also lifestyle changes and nutrition changes that we can make to better alleviate symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. I encourage women to go to their healthcare professional and describe these symptoms. Most often, physicians can make diagnoses based on their clinical symptoms and talking to the patients and really listening to the patients.

One of my favorite parts of my jobs is actually educating women on what they're going through physiologically, emotionally, mentally as they go through perimenopause and menopause. And there are many things we can do as far as educating our patients and help them feel as good as they can while they go through this inevitable transition in life.

Recognizing Perimenopause with Louisville, KY Healthtalk Transcript

Jennifer Ford, MD, OB/GYN
Baptist Health Louisville

Jennifer Ford, MD:

Perimenopause is the beginning of the end of ovarian function in women. It is a slow, gradual decline in the production of estrogen. It can last from two to 10 years. It is on average about four years prior to menopause. Menopause is defined by the date at which you've gone 12 months without a menstrual cycle.

There are many remedies for perimenopause and menopause symptoms. One of the most effective [is] hormone therapy, which can be in the form of estradiol or estrogen, as well as progesterone, depending on whether the [patient] has a uterus or not. There are also many nonhormonal treatments. There are also lifestyle and nutrition changes that we can make to better alleviate symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.

I encourage women to go to their healthcare professional and describe these symptoms. Most often, physicians can make diagnoses based on their clinical symptoms, talking to their patients, and listening to their patients.

One of my favorite parts of my job is educating women on what they're going through physiologically, emotionally and mentally as they go through perimenopause and menopause. There are many things we can do as far as educating our patients and helping them feel as good as they can while they go through this inevitable transition in life.

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