I opened the clinic in October 2018 because I believed there was a real need for a specialist facility that focused not just on female health, but on the overall wellbeing of women; especially those facing significant hormonal changes. Hormones have such a huge impact on a woman’s life journey so for me it was important to create a 360-degree approach to women’s physical and emotional health.
I am the eldest of six sisters and I have a daughter myself, so I have always been interested in helping women to proactively manage their health. And I am passionate about supporting my patients through the perimenopause and the menopause because for far too long the medical world has dismissed the changes women face in midlife.
The aim of the clinic is to take a more holistic and individual approach to every element of women’s health. Overall, I wanted to create a boutique facility where a woman can feel instantly at ease. I guess my approach is conversational as I try and fi nd out exactly what my patients are experiencing, which is why I send them questionnaires before their consultations, and I off er relaxed, unhurried 45-minute appointments.
These sessions are supportive and educational, and cover everything from the physical changes a patient is experiencing right through to assessing her psychological welfare. As part of this process, we will also discuss any supplements, medications, and other treatments that might be suitable too.
I offer virtual consultations which have become increasingly popular throughout the pandemic, and the clinic has a very international reach with patients from as far afield as Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, South Africa and the United States, as well as other parts of Europe.
No matter where my patients are in the world, the ethos of the clinic is to give women back their power and I always try and do a full wellness assessment for each patient first, which includes making sure they are up to date with their mammograms and smear tests and could involve arranging blood tests to check if they are anaemic or their hormones are out of sync, before then focusing on specific health issues and treatment plans. The women I see in my clinic tend to be busy and high-powered, and often, they want someone else to come up with a plan, which when it comes to their health, is exactly what I do, as well as providing them with positive lifestyle solutions and extensive after care.
The Harper Clinic offers services to women of all ages who are dealing with hormonal issues such as the menopause, the perimenopause, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It also offers advice on weight management and emotional eating. Later this year, there will be a nutritionist in place, and the clinic will be offering patients a revolutionary non-surgical body-sculpting and muscle-toning procedure that uses focused electromagnetic energy to help women to manage those stubborn pockets of fat in their bodies.
In terms of other pioneering procedures, the clinic currently provides Femilift – a painless, quick and minimally invasive laser treatment that regenerates the collagen fibres in the vagina. Over time, childbirth and hormonal changes can lead to involuntary urine leakages, vaginal dryness and infections. But this painless outpatient procedure can reduce bladder leaks and increase laxity and sexual satisfaction.
Today, the average age for women to experience the menopause is 51, whereas most women live well into their eighties. I desperately want to show my patients that midlife isn’t the end of life – as in many ways, it’s simply a new beginning. And I’d really like to be the doctor who can ‘join the dots up’ for women and encourage them to take charge of both their physical and mental health.
The narrative of the midlife woman tends to be a rather negative one – as she is portrayed as angry, hormonal, and overwhelmed. The menopause has been seen in the past as something a woman had to get through, but to me that seemed unfair, as I didn’t feel that women were getting the help they deserved, and so many were emerging from their midlife years feeling unnecessarily old, grey, and utterly exhausted. Rather than just helping women in the here and now, the clinic’s mission is to enable them to protect their health in the future, and to reduce their risks of dementia, cardiovascular problems, and other big health issues.
So many women feel lost and confused as there is so much more to the menopause than hot flushes and mood swings. They might be suffering from joint pain, which is a little known but common symptom, as are anxiety and insomnia. The women I see are also feeling uncharacteristically irritable, they are hypersensitive and are struggling to control their emotions.
Other symptoms they experience are hair loss and vaginal atrophy, due to hormonal changes; they can suddenly feel like their skin has become old and saggy, their mood might be rather flat, and they might be experiencing a loss of libido. Women of this age also tend to encounter brain fog, forgetfulness, and a sudden lack of confidence. Sadly, the menopause can have a huge impact on women’s lives, and I see patients who are leaving the workplace because they can no longer deal with their stressful jobs, and their relationships might also be suffering as they feel so out of control.
Personally, I am very pro HRT, although I recognise it doesn’t work for every woman. It has received quite a bad press in recent years because of its association with increased breast cancer risk, but HRT significantly reduces a woman’s chances of developing heart disease, dementia, and osteoporosis. It is important to remember that five times the number of women now die from heart disease than breast cancer, so in most cases the protective powers of the oestrogen have a positive long-term impact on a woman’s health.
HRT hugely improves all the symptoms of the menopause, and with each patient, I will look closely at their concerns and risks, and I will talk these through with each woman first. I would like to stress that HRT doesn’t have to be a binary approach. If, for instance, a woman wants to try HRT out for six months to see how it goes, I am more than happy to support her through that process.
I honestly think that obesity is one of the biggest health risks facing women today. Research shows that 60 per cent of midlife women in the UK are now either obese or overweight; they are also becoming increasingly sedentary. I think we need to ask why this is happening; is it to do with hormone imbalances, mental health problems or exhaustion?
The reason why I believe we need to be tacking obesity in women of this age is because being overweight is a significant risk factor for dementia and cardiovascular disease, both of which can present significant health problems for women as they get older.
