Midlife Women’s Wellness and Primary Care

Whatever your stage of midlife, our integrated health experts can help you build a strong foundation to address every aspect of your physical and mental health as you age.

At the Center for Women’s Integrated Health, our primary care physicians help women ages 40 to 65+ achieve the best health possible now and in the years ahead. Here, you can expect detailed health recommendations and guidance that reflect your longevity goals.

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Optimizing Women’s Health in Midlife and Beyond

If you have new or worsening symptoms in midlife – like weight gain or fatigue – but can’t find answers, you’re not alone. Many women like you have “normal” lab tests that don’t explain their health concerns. Our primary care doctors have the diagnostic expertise to help you find answers and a path forward.

Because we focus on your total health and wellness, we approach primary care differently. We offer personalized screening, prevention and treatment plans that go beyond what many other primary care providers offer. By taking a more strategic approach, we aim to extend your longevity for many decades to come.

Chronic Disease Prevention and Care

As primary care physicians, we can provide expert guidance and support to help you prevent and manage chronic conditions that can appear in midlife or later on.

We offer personalized prevention and treatment strategies for conditions such as:

• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other immunodeficiency diseases
• Inflammatory diseases like lupus
• Sleep disorders like insomnia
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis
• Pain
• Stress

If you’re managing a chronic condition along with midlife health concerns, we can provide the advice you need. When symptoms overlap, your primary care doctor can offer insights and medication management to help reduce the risk of side effects that affect your quality of life.

With our emphasis on women’s health and wellness, we also focus on disease prevention through annual women's wellness exams and lifestyle counseling.

Heart Disease

Estrogen has a protective effect on women’s hearts, but you lose this benefit as your estrogen levels decline with age. Our primary care doctors can help you identify and reduce your risks of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in women.

Heart risk assessments include testing and monitoring for:

• Advanced lipid markers such as:
  • ApoB (apolipoprotein B, a protein in “bad” cholesterol)
  • LDL-P (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol particles in blood)
  • Lipoprotein(a) (a cholesterol in blood that is mostly inherited)
• Blood pressure
• Inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein

Diabetes

Estrogen helps the body use insulin to manage your blood sugar, which explains why your risk for type 2 diabetes increases with midlife hormone changes. Whether you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes, we can design a personalized plan for you.

Diabetes prevention and management services include:

• Comprehensive diabetes and prediabetes screenings (A1C and fasting glucose)
• Insulin resistance assessment
• Kidney function screenings
• Skin and foot exams

Osteoporosis

Your body builds most of your bone mass until about age 30, when your bone density starts to decline. During perimenopause and early menopause, this process speeds up, which can lead to osteoporosis (weak bones). To help protect your bones over the long term, we offer advanced osteoporosis tests and personalized treatments.

Bone health services include:

• Early baseline and ongoing DEXA (bone density) scans
• Vitamin D and calcium level assessments
• Fracture risk assessment (FRAX) scores
• Medications and support with lifestyle changes to prevent bone loss

Weight Management

You may notice changes in your body composition that occur as estrogen declines in midlife. If you’re concerned about your weight, your primary care physician can help you take the first step.

We’ll assess your weight and other factors that could contribute to your body changes. If you want to lose weight, we can refer you to our weight loss specialists for personalized guidance and support.

Tests to understand issues affecting your weight include:

• Full thyroid panels that test for:
  • Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
  • Free T4 (the thyroid hormone thyroxine)
  • Free T3 (the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine)
• Metabolic marker tracking that tests for:
  • Total cholesterol
  • LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol)
  • HDL (high-density lipoprotein, or “good” cholesterol)
  • Triglycerides (fat in your blood)

Nutrition Counseling

What you eat can have a significant impact on your health risks in midlife and beyond. Our primary care team offers personalized dietary guidance to help you reach your goals, which may include:

• Weight loss
• Stronger bones
• Lower risks of heart disease, cancer or other diseases

Nutrition counseling may include:

• Dietary assessments
• Personalized nutrition coaching to increase fiber, protein and other nutrients
• Advice to reduce dietary triggers for midlife concerns like hot flashes and insomnia
• Referrals to dietitians when needed

Behavioral Health

It’s common to have mood swings and other mental health concerns, which can occur on their own or because of menopause or other midlife conditions. Your primary care physician can diagnose these issues and recommend strategies to help you feel better.

Behavioral health services include:

• Assessments for depression and anxiety
• Stress management and support
• Medications to reduce your symptoms
• Referrals to therapy services

Midlife Gynecologic Health

Perimenopause and menopause may bring health challenges that include changes to your sexual health at midlife.

As your primary care providers, we’re here to discuss your concerns and connect you with a certified menopause specialist at UChicago Medicine when needed.

Injuries and Illnesses

While we focus on women’s health concerns in midlife, you also can rely on us for your routine primary care. This means your primary care doctor has expertise in managing injuries and acute illnesses as well as all your broader health needs during this phase of life.

Injury and illness care includes:

• Acute care for concerns such as:
  • Colds
  • Flu
  • Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
  • Sprains and minor injuries
• Preventive health care like shingles and pneumonia immunizations and referrals for cancer screenings such as:
  • Pap and human papillomavirus (HPV) tests
  • Mammograms
  • Colonoscopies
  • Lung cancer, if you’re a current or former smoker

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