Beyond Health's Vision for Women's Health: Evidence-Driven, Personalized, and Long Overdue

By Dr. Steven Long, DO, MHA, CPT
 Beyond Health | Precision Medicine for High-Performance Living

Women’s health has too often been marginalized, misunderstood, or approached with oversimplified one-size-fits-all solutions. At Beyond Health, we’re changing that. Our model is rooted in comprehensive, evidence-based medicine—designed to support women through every phase of life, particularly as they transition through perimenopause and beyond.

We believe in addressing health through a precise combination of medical therapy, hormone replacement when appropriate, individualized nutrition strategies, and tailored physical training that emphasizes strength, balance, and longevity. This is not aesthetic medicine or band-aid care. This is health redefined for women—intelligently, thoroughly, and unapologetically.

The Fallout of Misinterpreted Science: WHI’s Lingering Harm

It’s impossible to have an honest discussion about midlife women’s health without acknowledging the long shadow cast by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, published in 2002. While well-intentioned, this study has been widely critiqued for methodological limitations and misinterpretations that have cost women two decades of progress in hormone therapy access and understanding.

The WHI enrolled women whose average age was 63—many years past the ideal window to start hormone therapy—and included a high-risk population with significant preexisting conditions. Early press releases highlighted small increases in absolute risk for thrombotic and cardiac events, but failed to communicate the nuance that these risks were not seen in younger, healthier women.

Subsequent analyses—including those by the WHI authors themselves—have confirmed that in healthy women under age 60, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) not only does not increase cardiovascular risk, but may actually be protective in certain contexts (Hodis et al., 2016; Manson et al., 2017). The exaggerated fear sparked by the WHI led to a 79% drop in HRT use in the U.S. between 2002 and 2009, with a measurable negative impact on women’s health outcomes—including increased rates of hip fractures and colon cancer (Sarrel et al., 2013).

The truth is: when started early in the menopausal transition, hormone replacement therapy can be one of the most effective tools in our longevity and quality-of-life arsenal.

The Real Benefits of HRT: Backed by Evidence

Hormone replacement therapy is not just about “treating hot flashes.” It’s a comprehensive intervention that addresses widespread physiological changes that occur during perimenopause and menopause:

• Fracture Risk Reduction: Estrogen preserves bone mineral density. Women who take HRT have a 34% reduced risk of hip fracture compared to non-users (Rossouw et al., 2007).
• Colon Cancer Prevention: Observational data suggest a 37% reduction in colorectal cancer risk with estrogen-progestin therapy (Chlebowski et al., 2004).
• Diabetes Risk Reduction: HRT has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in postmenopausal women (Margolis et al., 2004).
• Cardiovascular Health: The ELITE trial demonstrated that early initiation of estradiol can slow atherosclerosis progression (Hodis et al., 2016).
• Vaginal Estrogen: For genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), vaginal estrogen remains the gold standard, and there is no evidence linking it to increased thrombotic or cardiac risk (The NAMS Position Statement, 2022).

At Beyond Health, we prescribe transdermal or oral bioidentical hormones when appropriate, but also use vaginal estrogen routinely where indicated—without unnecessary worry about systemic risk.

Medication Is Just the Beginning: Sustainable Health Requires a System

Hormones can lay the groundwork, but they are not magic. True transformation comes from systems, and this is where Beyond Health differentiates itself.

1. Medical Management

We start with comprehensive labs and biometric analysis. We interpret data through a preventive lens—not just “is it in range,” but “is it optimal?” We don’t wait for disease—we build function.

2. Nutrition That Works

Our registered dietitians design long-term, evidence-based nutrition plans tailored to your goals and physiology. For many women, this includes personalized macronutrient guidance, gut health support, and meal planning that considers blood sugar regulation, cardiovascular risk, and sarcopenia prevention. And we're cost-conscious—services like Cost Plus Drugs make access to key medications more affordable than ever, which helps us keep your care sustainable.

3. Movement as Medicine

Physical strength and balance are central to long-term independence and vitality. Our physical therapists create tailored exercise programs that emphasize:

• Core strength: for posture, spine support, and injury prevention
• Balance training: critical for fall prevention, especially post-menopause
• Resistance training: to combat sarcopenia, which disproportionately affects women and accelerates after age 50

A 2017 meta-analysis in Osteoporosis International found that resistance training significantly improves bone density and reduces fracture risk in postmenopausal women (Howe et al., 2011). These aren’t just gym workouts—they’re prescriptions for longevity.

Addressing the Gender Gap in Health Outcomes

It’s no secret: women have consistently worse health outcomes than men in key areas such as chronic pain, autoimmune disease, and late-stage diagnoses. This is not a biological inevitability—it’s a reflection of systemic disparity in medical research, access, and seriousness given to women's concerns.

Only 34% of participants in cardiovascular trials historically have been women. Even in 2024, too many women are told their symptoms are “stress” or “normal aging.” At Beyond Health, we listen differently. We treat you as a whole system—not a set of disconnected symptoms.

We’re Redefining Women’s Health

If you’re a woman navigating the frustrating maze of perimenopause, low energy, unwanted weight gain, brain fog, or unexplained aches and fatigue—you are not alone, and you’re not broken. You’re entering a new phase of your physiology, and you deserve a care team that recognizes and respects that transition.

At Beyond Health, our job is to walk with you—through data, expertise, and individualized care plans—into a future where you feel like yourself again, and then some. We reject the outdated narratives and fear-based medicine that have kept women sidelined for decades.

It’s time for a new standard. And it starts with you.

References

• Hodis, H. N., et al. (2016). Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(13), 1221–1231.
• Manson, J. E., et al. (2017). Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Long-term All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA, 318(10), 927–938.
• Sarrel, P. M., et al. (2013). The impact of hormone therapy cessation on cardiovascular disease and mortality in postmenopausal women. American Journal of Public Health, 103(12), 2266–2271.
• Rossouw, J. E., et al. (2007). Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women. JAMA, 288(3), 321–333.
• Chlebowski, R. T., et al. (2004). Estrogen plus progestin and colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women. NEJM, 350(10), 991–1004.
• Margolis, K. L., et al. (2004). Effects of hormone therapy on the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Diabetes Care, 27(6), 1419–1425.
• Howe, T. E., et al. (2011). Exercise for preventing and treating osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (7).
• The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). (2022). Position Statement: Nonoral Hormone Therapy and Cardiovascular Risk.