Symptoms / Experience Changes

Stride to Wellness: A Community Movement and Knowledge Exchange

On November 8, 2023, the CeMCOR team hosted a community event at the Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) store in Vancouver. The event included a run/walk led by Filsan Abdiaman, founder of Project Love Run, followed by a participatory design workshop involving community members, researchers, and facilitators. This workshop, a unique initiative by CeMCOR to strengthen…
Video: Older Women’s Fracture Prevention-The Importance of Bone Formation

Women’s bone health is closely related to the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone. We have known for decades that estrogen prevents bone loss (called resorption). Our current osteoporosis medicines primarily work like estrogen and prevent bone loss—that includes all the bisphosphonates and the antibody drug called Denosumab. But bone remodeling (or renovation) involves both removing…
Healing the Menstrual Cycle in PCOS

It is difficult living with PCOS or Anovulatory Androgen Excess (AAE) Current understanding PCOS is difficult to treat and can never be cured “The Pill”, combined hormonal contraceptives (CHC) of high estrogen/progestin is our best currently available and scientifically proven PCOS therapy Metformin is an important and safe medicine that acts to make insulin work…
New PCOS Therapy Article Written for Clue by Dr. Jerilynn Prior

Illustration by Emma Günther Dr. Jerilynn Prior has written an article on PCOS Therapy for women for the period tracking app, Clue. In this article, she challenges the common treatment approaches to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and makes the case for a science-backed alternative centered on restoring ovulation. Drawing from decades of clinical research and…
Frequently Asked Questions about Anovulatory Androgen (AAE, or PCOS)

Frequently Asked Questions about Anovulatory Androgen (AAE, or PCOS) Are women with AAE estrogen deficient since they often have skipped periods or amenorrhea? You would think so, since many women with far-apart periods do have low estrogen levels. But surprisingly, estrogen levels are normal or high in women with AAE. Estrogen levels are at least…
The ABCs of Osteoporosis Prevention for Men with Prostate Cancer on Testosterone-Lowering Treatment

The development of prostate cancer is sufficiently frightening without also worrying about a broken bone. Those men whose prostate tumours grow in response to male hormones (like testosterone [T]) are usually treated with “androgen depletion/ablation” meaning a medicine that lowers testosterone and/or decrease its actions. Why is this an osteoporosis risk? Because testosterone both normally…
How Can I Tell I Am in Perimenopause?

What’s going on? Why can’t I sleep normally, why am I so grumpy or suddenly anxious, why am I abruptly hot and sweaty? Could I be in perimenopause? CeMCOR believes that if: —our experiences have changed (see the Table of characteristic changes) —our hormone levels have changed (scientific evidence says that perimenopausal estrogen levels are…
Depo-Provera Use and Bone Health

New science decreases concerns even about use in teenagers by Drs. Azita Goshtasebi & Jerilynn C. Prior Many teenagers and women of all ages around the world use a three monthly injection of medroxyprogesterone for contraception. This long-acting and highly effective birth control method is officially called DepoProvera® but for simplicity here we will call…
Progesterone for Hot Flashes: NAMS eConsult

Hot flushes/flashes and night sweats have conventionally been considered to be caused by estrogen deficiency and thus their major treatment is estrogen. Dr Jerilynn Prior was invited in November 2013 by the editors of the online blog (eConsult) for the North American Menopause Society to write about progesterone treatment of hot flashes. Here is the article: “Progesterone…
Perimenopause Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior answers FAQ’s from Perimenopausal Women 1. My doctor has prescribed Clonidine 50mg and Prometrium 100mg daily to treat my hot flushes. Should I start both? In general, it is important to do ‘one at a time’ when trying out medications or any intervention for a symptom or a problem. If you…