News from: COLUMBIA-PRESBYTERIAN MEDICAL CENTER
For immediate release
Contact: Ruth Flaherty, 212/305-5587
CENTER FOR MENOPAUSE, HORMONAL DISORDERS, AND WOMEN'S HEALTH OPENS AT COLUMBIA-PRESBYTERIAN
NEW YORK, N.Y., MAY 9, 1997 -- Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center has announced the opening of the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders, and Women's Health, the first of its kind in the metropolitan area.
"There is a great need for a center like this," says Center director Michele P. Warren, MD, who is Professor of Medicine and of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia-Presbyterian. "Although there are several women's health centers in New York City, they are focused on the well woman. But women often need treatment beyond routine obstetrical and gynecological care."
In fact, most women will have a serious hormonal problem during their lifetime, reports Dr. Warren. Hormonal disorders are common during menopause, when levels of progesterone and estrogen begin to drop. Such changes can lead to vaginal and urinary infections, hot flashes, and loss of bone density (which increases susceptibility to bone fractures).
But hormonal problems can arise at any age. Between 10 to 15 percent of adolescents and young women are affected by polycystic ovary syndrome, in which cysts grow within the ovaries and upset the balance of hormones. In addition, many younger women suffer menstrual irregularities, often because of excessive stress, exercise or dieting.
Nevertheless, many women do not receive adequate treatment for hormonal problems, asserts Dr. Warren. For example, while polycystic ovary syndrome is incurable, it can be controlled with hormone treatments. "But this disease is often not treated aggressively, and women suffer unnecessarily," she says.
Menopausal and postmenopausal women are also undertreated, Dr. Warren believes. "Hormone replacement therapy can prevent or delay problems that these women may have later in life, including osteoporosis, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and even depression and dental degeneration," she says. However, many women do not take replacement hormones or stop taking them because of side effects such as bleeding and migraines. "But there are ways to adjust the medications or to treat these problems. And for those patients who cannot tolerate, or are not candidates for, conventional therapy, new hormones or alternative therapies are available. The problem is that many doctors do not have this kind of expertise, or they don't take the time that is necessary to manage these patients," Dr. Warren explains.
The Center also specializes in the treatment of urinary incontinence, a problem that affects almost all women by the time they turn 75. "Women are reluctant to talk about it, and even more reluctant to seek help," says Dr. Warren. But there are effective treatments, including medication, exercise, and minimally invasive surgery. "We must get people to realize that there are solutions other than wearing diapers," she says. The incontinence program, headed by Eileen F. DeMarco, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will have a full diagnostic program.
The Center's staff includes a number of specialists in minimally invasive surgery, including Harry Reich, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology, a leader in the development of advanced laparoscopic procedures, in particular, laparoscopic hysterectomies. When hysterectomies are performed laparoscopically, patients recover in as little as two days, as opposed to six weeks with conventional surgery.
A variety of counseling and psychiatric services is available at the Center, including a support group in Spanish and English for parents who have lost an infant up to one year of age, a subsequent pregnancy support group, and a support group for women who care for an aging parent. The Center also offers information and emotional guidance for people who have lost a family member or friend to breast cancer or ovarian cancer, for women addressing mid-life problems, and for women coping with menopause.
Although the Center's focus is on hormonal disorders, it offers a full range of obstetrical and gynecological services, including diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the reproductive tract and of high-risk pregnancy, cancer screening, genetic counseling, and ultrasonography. Fertility problems are handled in an adjunct fertility center.
The Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders, and Women's Health is located in Manhattan at Columbia-Presbyterian/Eastside, 16 East 60th Street.
# # #
RSS