Abstract
Background Medical attention for menopausal women is frequently delivered by health care providers
(general practitioners, gynecologists or homeopathic physicians) who are not specialized
in post-reproductive care. Homeopathy has been used for treating menopausal complaints
for more than two centuries. Therefore, it is important to improve clinical knowledge
in this field among homeopathic physicians. Nowadays, there is a special interest
in the study of menopause-related chronic conditions due to the impact on women's
quality of life. The aim of this review is to address the important key points of
the menopause, clinical assessment, and available tests for evaluating menopausal
women, as well as some general topics regarding homeopathic clinical practice for
menopause.
Methods and Results A literature search regarding menopause and current guidelines and recommendations
was performed. To be practical and concise, the information is presented in the form
of questions and answers. Currently, there is an international classification of woman's
reproductive aging that can be useful for clinical and research purposes in homeopathy.
A comprehensive homeopathic approach is mandatory for evaluating women with a healthy
menopause, but also for those experiencing co-morbidities. In an integrative health
care system, several assessment resources can be incorporated into the homeopathic
consultations. Clinical and laboratory examinations for detecting metabolic disorders
(dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension, among others), mood
disorders, cognitive impairment and osteoporosis are available in many clinical settings.
Screening for gynecological cancers is an international recommendation at this stage.
All data obtained from homeopathic consultations would help to integrate well-documented
case reports. This would give the possibility to generate hypotheses to design high-quality
clinical research.
Conclusion Improving homeopathic clinical practice for menopause is useful for both clinical
and research purposes. The international recommendations for evaluating menopausal
women should be incorporated in homeopathic clinical practice, mainly in clinical
settings where homeopathy is integrated in outpatient services.
Keywords
homeopathic clinical practice - healthy menopause - transition to menopause - post
menopause - homeopathic practitioners - homeopathic physicians
