best health DECEMBER | JANUARY 2018 F23getting enough sleep, drinking enough water
and sitting down when it’s time to eat.
BH: Do you think stress is the
biggest issue that women come to
you with as patients? Is that sort
of the crux of everything?
SC: That and hormones – the two go
together. Women’s hormones go out of whack
due to stress. Take menopause, for example:
We’re meant to go through menopause – it’s a
natural part of life. But when women have a
lot of symptoms or difficulty dealing with
menopause, nine times out of 10 it’s because
they’re also leading high-stress lives.
BH: We kind of ignore the stress
or feel like “Well, that’s just my
life. It’s stressful – whatever. I can
deal with it.” But we really should
be paying attention to it, right?
SC: We should be paying attention, and I
ask my patients, “Do you have 15 minutes a
day?” We’re not asking for five hours a day;
we’re looking at those small steps you can
take every single day that – trust me – will
have a huge impact at the end of a year.
BH: What are you suggesting that
people do in those 15 minutes?
SC: Use those minutes to get connected and
be present. Put away your phone, find a room
or space where you can be on your own and
just try to connect. When people get con-
nected, they understand their symptoms a
little more because they’re in tune. We often
ignore symptoms until they get louder and
are screaming at us, but if people pay atten-
tion to the subtle, small signs, they can
address an issue before it becomes a big,
chronic issue.