Most women expect hot flashes and mood shifts around menopause. Fewer are told that oestrogen decline also accelerates bone loss and changes cardiovascular risk — both manageable with early attention.
A baseline bone density scan and lipid profile around perimenopause gives us a reference point, so any change afterward is caught early rather than discovered as a fracture or a cardiac event years later.
Hormone replacement therapy isn't right for everyone, but it's also not the risk it was once made out to be for most healthy women within 10 years of menopause onset. It's worth an honest, individualised conversation rather than a blanket yes or no.
Sleep disruption, joint aches and vaginal dryness are also common and very treatable — you don't have to simply 'push through' any of them.