Barbara “Barbie” Taylor M.D., a retired obstetrician/gynecologist in Houston, has always dedicated her life to helping women, first during her time as a gynecologist, and now as her second career as “Menopause Taylor” educating women in various mediums about menopause.

Taylor attended Rice University in 1977 for undergraduate studies and then went to Baylor College of Medicine. She did her residency at Baylor in obstetrics and gynecology, and then eventually opened her own practice in the Texas Medical Center, which she ran until 2001. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, so she retired and sold her practice.

“I pursued my passion of menopause because it is so overlooked. This helps me to help women and not ignore the fact that I have to take care of my own body too,” Taylor said.

Taylor believes that even though menopause is basically just puberty in reverse, no one talks about it enough.

“Obstetrics and infertility get more attention, and menopause is something that is a forgotten part of the life cycle for women. We keep living longer and longer, and we are spending about a third of our lives as menopausal women and yet people don’t talk about it. Women are falling through the cracks. They really aren’t learning facts and taking the time to equipt them with a tool kit to manage their lives,” Taylor said.

Taylor has created nearly 100 videos about menopause on her YouTube channel, Menopause Taylor, which cover a range of topics from misconceptions, hormones, health and fitness. She also wrote a book, Menopause: Your Management Your Way … Now And For The Rest Of Your Life She also holds two-day seminars (which can also be purchased on DVD) and does one-on-one consultations.

“I’m not trying to promote any one thing, any one product, but women should be able to know who they are and each women should be able to do what they want. She doesn’t need fear and misconception,” Taylor said.

Taylor continued, “I am also working on a mini version of the book and I am working on some apps. I am doing everything I can to give women everything they need, whether they want an in-depth or short version. My goal is to provide every educational resource possible.

Taylor considers herself to be a goofball, and will use the familiar to teach the unfamiliar to make it fun and understandable. Her aim is to explain medical lingo into layman’s terminology. For instance, to explain the different types of hormones that a woman has, she uses the story of the three bears.

“Testosterone is papa bears. Estrogen is the mama bear’s and progesterone is the baby bear’s hormone. Progesterone is a very misleading thing. Progesterone is only there because you get pregnant. People are laughing when I explain this, but they also don’t forget it,” Taylor said.

According to Taylor, the main thing about menopause is that women lose estrogen, but people tend to think of it as a miserable and hard time of life. Women just need to be prepared for it.

“You need to do something to replace or compensate the estrogen. There are many different ways to do that, but the understanding of the need to do that is huge,” Taylor explains. “There is a time frame that is critical. When your body loses estrogen, it starts aging. If you don’t do something early, your body can go through so much aging that it can’t handle the replacement. It’s like a long-time vegan trying to digest meat.”

Taylor hopes to turn women’s negatives into positives and make the rest of their lives “the best of their lives.”

“I knew I wanted to be a surgeon when I was five and loved every second. I never expected to have to retire early from severe arthritis. I was determined to overcome it and make sure I wasn’t in a wheelchair. I have done for these women what I did with my arthritis. I want to revolutionize the way women think about menopause. People should feel comfortable with it and embrace it,” Taylor said.

Information about Menopause Taylor, links to her YouTube videos and her books and DVDs, can be found online at https://menopausetaylor.me.

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bellaire/news/article/Retired-doctor-Barbara-Taylor-educates-women-on-12455748.php