One-size-fits-all solutions for health and wellness are a thing of the past now. Filipinas have come a long way to realizing and embracing the unique builds of their minds, bodies, even their aspirations and priorities in life.
Challenges related to women’s health and fitness are to each her own. Current healthcare systems and common wellness practices ought to develop in more ways possible to service and help women meet their evolving and exclusive health demands. In the commencement of women’s month, here are practices to consider and digital tools that can be customized and convenient to you, to better and sustain your health this season and beyond.
Personalize your diet and fitness goals
You might have heard of trendy fitspiration workout and diet plans to stay healthy and fit. But how sure are you that it suits your unique physique’s needs and capacity? What works for one individual may not for another, more so for women.
Oprah Daily said hormones influence feelings of hunger and fullness, metabolism and body fat levels that overall affect women’s lifestyle.[1] Hormone levels differ by age and reproductive or menstrual condition. Filipinas can pursue the latest intermittent fasting, ketogenic diet and calorie-counting trends to achieve their body goals, however, these should be done along with a consultation from your nutritionist or personal health providers. Approaches to your diet have to be an efficient and targeted program to achieve better and healthier results.
There are also high-tech fitness gadgets that can personalize and support your health and fitness journey, especially for female-body types. These gizmos can monitor one’s activity levels and notify workout, eating and water drinking schedules, overall helping users sustain personal diet and fitness programs.
Maximize women-focused tools and services
Thanks to technological advancements in modern society, gone are the days when women manually tracked and tested themselves for health issues. Female-focused virtual tools, in the form of mobile applications, have innovated primarily women’s reproductive, menstrual and sexual health monitoring for awareness and disease prevention. FemTech Analytics forecasted that by 2026, the Asia-Pacific region will see the world’s fastest growth in women’s health apps.[2]
These can be period and pregnancy tracking apps available in android and iOS, which also houses teleconsultations to help women be more knowledgeable about their bodies and conscious of their hormonal status, equipping them to make informed decisions in these aspects of their wellbeing.
Meanwhile, women-centered high-tech facilities are also gaining momentum in the market and are becoming safe spaces for Filipinas to get treatment. These establishments started from serving women and assisting them through common reproductive, sexual or pregnancy issues, and has now developed to holistically address mental health and even dermatological or aesthetic needs of women. You may find a number of facilities, whether government-funded or privately listed, in many regions nationwide, especially accessible within metros in greater Manila areas.
Trust in customized medicines tailored to your specific needs
Forbes magazine revealed that Personalized Healthcare is one of the top trends in the industry this 2023, with emphasis on precision medicines that are tailored to patients based on age, genetics and other risk factors, rather than a generic approach.[3]
For Apotheca Integrative Pharmacy (AIP), pioneer specialty compounding pharmacy in the Philippines, women may require customized dosages or delivery methods for medications related to their reproductive and hormonal health. Better and more targeted management of these can lead to stronger immunity and preventive health.
Through compounding– the science of customizing medications to a patient’s specific needs, medications can be tailored to meet their individual requirements. This process removes problem-causing excipients, adjusts dosage strengths to suit certain patients, such as infants or the elderly, adds flavors for better taste and even creates alternative form factors to make medicines easily ingestible such as lozenges, candies, gels, creams, capsules and liquid.
This month, AIP encourages Filipinas to explore Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) and Weight Loss Management solutions, two of their top categories in service of female patients.
Women who suffer from hormonal imbalances caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) or menopause, common conditions of Filipinas young and old, can turn to hormone replacement therapy to treat their symptoms. BHRT is the process of replicating hormones using natural resources to supplement the body with the hormones it lacks. These can be: Thyroid Hormones Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4) that stimulate body oxygen and energy consumption, increasing basal metabolic rates; Progesterone that increases core temperature during ovulation, relaxes smooth muscle, reduces gall bladder activity, normalizes blood clotting and vascular tone, and assists in thyroid function; Melatonin that improves the circadian rhythm and induces drowsiness for better sleep; Dehydroepiandrosterone or DHEA that strengthens the immune system, slows the natural changes in the body that come with age and provides more energy, improving mood and memory, and building up bone and muscle strength; Pregnenolone that improves energy, vision, memory, clarity of thinking, well-being, and libido, and many others.
AIP also provides prescribed weight management offerings, including clinically proven prescription medication, Phentermine Hydrochloride + Topiramate that is used to treat obesity type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. AIP also offers various nutrients like Methionine that may assist in the breakdown of fats to help to lower cholesterol thereby preventing excess fat buildup in the liver and throughout one’s body’s circulatory system; Inositol that promotes the health of cell structures and nerve synapses in aid of the metabolism of fats, helps reduce blood cholesterol, and participates in the action of serotonin, a neurotransmitter known to control mood and appetite; Choline that supports the liver in its processing and excretion of chemical waste products; and Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B-12) that is has been shown to boost energy and overall metabolic rates, assisting in the burning of stored body fat, detoxifies the body, increase of red blood cell production, maintain a healthy liver, help regulate sleep, mood, appetite and energy, and works synergistically with other nutrients to improve health, and slow aging.
Women in healthcare supporting Filipina patients
AIP has been providing world-class health and pharmaceutical care for custom medication needs for 10 years. In the last three years, AIP’s study showed more than 70 percent of their subscribers are female patients, a significant increase of 72 percent in the number of female patients served from 2021 to 2022. The female patients’ profiles comprise of gen Z adults ages 18 and above at 53 percent, millennials ages 27 to 42 as the largest generational group at 23 percent, followed by Gen X ages 43 to 58 at 20 percent, and Boomers ages 59 to 68 at 4 percent.
AIP’s Managing Director Sofia Lista also harps on supporting women empowerment in the industry which is evident in their operations. “Many women work in the field of pharmaceutical compounding as pharmacists, technicians, or researchers, and their contributions are vital to advancing the field and improving patient care. In AIP, 66 percent of the workforce are women and hold leadership positions. Let’s celebrate the important role that women play in healthcare and medicine,” says Lista.
AIP works with female doctors who specialize in women’s health– gynecology, endocrinology and dermatology. It advocates for the pharmacy triad or finding accountability with doctors, patients and pharmacists to provide superior pharmaceutical care, strengthening patient confidence and compliance. Visit apotheca.com.ph to know more about their offerings, and follow AIP’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn channels.
