
Dr. Hays has practiced obstetrics and gynecology, and now Functional Medicine, over a career lasting 32 years. In describing the focus of her career at present – she said: “I went into medicine to help people be healthier, but what I found in medicine was a system that was as sick as the people it was treating. Ultimately I realized that my calling was to heal the system as well as the patients. I have three areas that I feel are important enough to put my time, energy and monetary resources into. They are:
- creating a model for integrative care that treats illness upstream before it requires drugs and surgery,
- finding better ways to train physicians, and
- providing better end of life care, essentially, learning to die better
Her practice includes: comprehensive women’s health care, Functional Medicine, non-surgical gynecology and mine-body medicine. Dr. Hays is a founding member of True North.
The Myers Way Episode 34: Hormones with Dr. Bethany Hays
- Can you explain perimenopause and menopause for us?
- Neither of us is an advocate of synthetic hormones, but what are your thoughts about using biodentical progesterone and testosterone during the perimenopausal phase?
- What’s the best delivery system for progesterone – oral, cream, sublingual troche? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?
- What’s the best way to test for hormone levels? Saliva, blood, urine? What are some of the disadvantages and advantages of each test?
- Let’s talk about 2/16 ratio. Can you explain this for us?
- What are symptoms of too much estrogen?
- Many people, myself included, have a problem with their methylation pathways. Can you tell us a little bit more about what we can do to improve our metabolism of estrogen? Are there those of us who need supplementation, even when we are eating a nutritious diet?
- Which tests should someone start with to determine how well they are methylating?
- Do you typically perform a urine test on every patient before you adjust their hormones?
- What are some of your go-to methods when it comes to treating the adrenals?
- Do you use adaptogenic herbs?
- Do you use a compounding pharmacy for the bio-identical hormone gels you use for your patients?
- Do you continue women on hormones after menopause when they are no longer having hot flash symptoms?
- Do you use bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for women with a history of cancer?
- Any recommendations for PCOS?
Lab testing we talk about on the podcast can be found on Youtube here.
Connect with Dr. Bethany Hayes
Website: www.TrueNorthHealthCenter.org