Menopause Expert Advocates Prevention Not Cure For Symptoms

As an integrated body-mind menopause expert, with over 22 years of expertise in women’s health, Joy Wisdom is a professional women’s health specialist and menopause expert with a personal, professional passion for women’s health and wellbeing.

Joy’s journey includes navigating endometriosis, fibroids, and a hysterectomy at 33, which to her exposed widespread apathy and gaps in women’s health education. Recognising the need for deeper solutions, she developed the revolutionary D.A.R.E Therapy (Dissolve and Resolve Emotions), an approach which addresses hidden factors such as behaviour, emotion, and genetic transference, providing faster, holistic solutions for body-mind-emotional, health challenges. Joy believes that going through menopause highlights all aspects of personal health.

Having launched the Joy Wisdom Trust in 2020, a not-for-profit designed to educate and support women with women’s health issues, Joy is now on a mission to highlight the lack of women’s health and maternal support in today’s society.

Belle About Town spoke to Joy about her unique approach which combines her extensive professional knowledge of cranio sacral therapy, reflexology and nutrition and stress management, as well as years of clinical experience, to find out more about her approach to the realities of menopause, and why every woman should think about menoproofing from an early age. Here’s what she told us…

New approaches to self-care in menopause.

Joy advocates new approaches to self-care in menopause. She says: “Menopause is not the same all the way through. For instance, we are unique in oestrogen stores we hold. Some women hold abundant stores, (which provides a slower decline), while others hold less, faster hormonal decline.

“Hormones offer protection from health risks – for instance, oestrogen offers a protective role for heart in pre-menopausal years— it relaxes the arteries and promotes good cholesterol. As oestrogen declines, however, there is an increased risk of cardiovascular, high cholesterol, hypertension may occur, logically reduced oestrogen stores shows risks sooner. This can explain why some women do or don’t experience heart health risks.

“When we acknowledge our body goes through highs and lows, in peri and menopausal stages, we understand the physical needs to adjust to surges, declines happening daily, even hourly. Menopause/elder-menopause may bring various health risks such as osteoporosis, stroke, heart issues, outcomes from hormone reduction. Bone issues may form. Joint aches pains are revealed. The parathyroid regulates calcium, which contributes to new bone formation. Good parathyroid action removes old bone cells, and this is just one aspect of hormonal protection cause and effects.”

Joy says we need to change our outlook with preventative education and has developed new approaches with her D.I.V.A Meno-proof Method. (Diet, Iron, Vitamins, Agua, plus more!), and she encourages women from their teens, into their 20s, 30s and 40s to be educated to ‘Meno-proof’ their life. She says: “Women need to understand how to manage their journey of menopause, because with advanced guidance and support, they can.

Menopause expert

Joy’s extensive professional experience shows all things menopause can be a big surprise for many women who are unaware and unprepared for this natural event.

It is believed the 10-15% of all premenopausal women may live with underlying endometriosis symptoms, some without symptoms while others live with inflammation, pain and heavy bleeding, adding health complications prior to menopause. Their quality of life is reduced, underlying harsh long-term impacts that remain, rippling to family, personal relationships.

From professional experience, menopause expert Joy says the other surprise is the longevity of menopause. Many women are led to believe five years of perimenopause and it is over… think again, ladies!

The general focus when confronting the symptoms of menopause is hormones, yet Joy says the real underlying domino cause/effect is to the whole-body malfunction. Although logical when explained, she says: “There seems to be a blind spot around investigating historical body-mind-hormonal malfunction formed from menstrual issues before perimenopause, pre-determining poor system function, chronic outcomes. For example, gynaecological disorders, endometriosis resulting through lack of hormonal understanding, early correction and prevention.”

Joy told Belle About Town she is “astonished” that “in this day and age no prevention exists for women with female health issues”. In the UK 48% of perimenopausal women find menopause a challenging experience. They don’t understand what is happening, and “muddle along on their own, feeling helpless, unheard and under supported”.

She says: “Women are individual in their hormonal state. Unaware at perimenopause if they have a good hormonal, biochemical support or not. Women should not be expected to be a menopause expert, it is about education.”

“Every woman will go through menopause. However, the better prepared, body-system-strength, energy reserve, adrenal, biochemical fitness, the smoother the ride,” says Joy.

“A hot water bottle or pain killer is often prescribed for menstrual issues. That isn’t solving anything. When we understand about hormonal imbalances and biochemical internal decline, the prescription does little for the improvement of health.”

Supplement support

Zinc and magnesium stores in the body can rapidly decline under physical and mental stress. Half of a woman’s magnesium stores can be lost with one menstruation cycle, Joy tells us. She says: “Longer menstrual issues deliver lower levels of nutrients found. This leads to a domino effect compounding nutrient, mineral and iron loss, possibly leading to anaemia. So feeling under par, listless, having poor concentration, foggy brain, low mood and fatigue, can all be related to low iron levels. And guess what? Iron, with trace minerals, provides an effective metabolism of oestrogen. Inadequate iron stores influence our neurotransmitters.

Do nothing, nothing changes.

When a women is affected by low mood and energy, the ripple effect impacts and compromises everything – career, relationships, economics, even vulnerabilities in children such as anxiety, within the family unit.

Joy insists change will only come with prevention in women’s health issues and is urging the NHS to take a preventative approach to menopause issues by supporting women to menoproof themselves from their teens.

She says: “Ignorance leads to poor quality of life, and the sooner mainstream healthcare recognises early signs and understands need of prevention, the better. We can change the situation for future generations, our daughters and granddaughters, enabling them to live smoother menstrual, menopause journeys.

“Wisdom and education provide answers, empowering women to control their own future. A new era of menoproof prevention brings a new zest for Life. Meno-freedom well deserved!”