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Learn About Female Health
Eating | Female Health | Absoultue Vitality

How can we support female health at Absoulute Vitality?

At our New Jersey Absoulute Vitality office, we would like to offer women a respite from their busy lives where they can relax in an ambient atmosphere and speak with a female doctor, nurses, health coach, and estheticians about their health and beauty needs and address their wellness from a holistic approach. We also offer convenient virtual services for women out of state (NY, SC, DC, MA, and AK) or who simply prefer to see our clinicians from the comfort of their homes. Our office does not have a gynecologist, therefore, women are strongly urged to have an entrusted OB/GYN doctor of their own.

At Absoulute Vitality we will dedicate time to learning everything about you to understand where your problems stem from. We will employ a variety of diagnostic strategies including but not limited to comprehensive blood work (various hormone levels- thyroid, adrenal/cortisol, reproductive, insulin, etc), nutrients, functions of your immune system, metabolism, etc), various advanced/functional tests including toxicities, gut function, food sensitivities, hormonal and autoimmune tests to assess your whole body because despite popular belief, not all female problems stem from hormones.

  • A whole-body approach: your personalized treatment plan includes gut health optimization, supplements, help with sleep, stress reduction, movement, and nutrition— because female hormones may be impacted by all of these factors, and not all female issues stem from hormone imbalances.
  • Advanced testing for deeper insight: we prescribe tests to check for not only hormone production, but also hormone metabolism and breakdown, inflammatory, immune, and autoimmune disorders. If needed based on your history, we can run tests to determine your gut health since it greatly impacts your hormones, too.
  • Hormonal screening: we make sure our patients perform their hormone testing at the appropriate time in their cycles, test not only blood but other body fluids such as urine and saliva because blood is not always the most reliable method. We utilize panels test that show not only how much of each hormone your body makes and what your hormone balance looks like at any given moment but also how effectively your body gets rid of those hormones. This process is called detoxification and is vital for female health because if the detoxification process is dampened, improper metabolites may cause DNA damage leading to cancers and other complications.
  • Personalized, ongoing support: our clinical care team is led by Dr. Kalika who will be available to support you during the visits as well as between the visits via email, certified functional health coach to support you through the challenges of lifestyle changes and help you come up and implement routines necessary to make those changes long-lasting if not permanent and Zhanna Anash, our experienced Registered Nurse with decades of clinical experience.

*Dr. Kalika uses bioidentical/natural hormones only to balance your endocrine/reproductive system b/c synthetic hormones pose a greater risk to female health.

We can help our female patients achieve a better understanding and balance for the following symptoms:

  • Estrogen dominance
  • Weight imbalance
  • PCOS
  • Decreased sex drive
  • Fibroids/endometriosis
  • Amenorrhea/lack of menstruation
  • Anxiety
  • Depression/mood swings/irritability
  • Fatigue/low energy
  • Brain fog/difficulty concentrating
  • Insomnia

Am I “Hormonal?

Female sex hormones—estrogen and progesterone—are the most familiar ones to all and are believed to have the most significant impact on a woman’s health. From menarche to pregnancy to breastfeeding, to menopause, we sometimes tend to blame our hormones for every symptom that makes us feel out of balance. But our bodies produce and utilize a variety of other hormones that affect every aspect of our health — from our metabolism and energy level, cognition, mood, and stress management to weight control, and every other function of our organ systems. We at Absoulute Vitality will do our best to help you sort out if and which hormones are out of balance.

Meet Your Hormones…

1. Estrogen

Estrogens are a group of steroid sex hormones that play an important role in the normal sexual and reproductive development in women (to a lesser degree in men, as well). There are three main estrogens: Estrione, Estradiol, and Estriol. They are mostly made in the ovaries, but also in a small amount in fat cells and adrenals. They play an important role in regulating the menstrual cycle in women of reproductive age as well as maintaining various functions in pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.

There are estrogen receptors found in every tissue in our body so estrogen exerts an effect on each organ where receptors are found, such as the reproductive and urinary tract, the heart and blood vessels, bones, breasts, skin, hair, mucous membranes, pelvic muscles, and the brain. Many organ systems, including the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular systems, and brain are affected by estrogen. For example, it protects against Alzheimer’s disease by stimulating the production of certain enzymes, increases metabolic rate, improves insulin sensitivity, helps maintain muscle, builds and maintains bone, improves sleep, and keeps your skin youthful longer.

Symptoms of low estrogen include:

  • Irregular or absent menstruation
  • Depression/anxiety/mood swings/irritability/apathy
  • Hot flashes and/or night sweats
  • Brain fog and/or fatigue
  • Brittle bones/osteoporosis
  • Vaginal dryness, soreness, or atrophy
  • Sore and/or swollen breasts
  • Painful sex
  • Headaches
  • Lack of sexual desire or difficulty achieving orgasm
  • MENOPAUSE is a state of very low estrogen

2. Progesterone

  • Steroid female sex hormone
  • Also present and functional in males
  • Involved in the menstrual cycle, implantation, and development of an embryo in the uterus as well as maintenance of pregnancy
  • Improves vasomotor symptoms in menopause (night sweats and hot flashes)
  • Has anti-inflammatory properties
  • Promotes immunity
  • Has a positive effect on sleep
  • Balances estrogen
  • Supports breasts: protects against breast cancer and fibrocystic breast disease
  • Supports uterus: protects against endometrial cancer
  • Stimulates bone building, protects against osteoporosis
  • Helps maintain libido/sexual desire
  • Enhances the action of thyroid hormones
  • Increases metabolic rate so helps keep weight steady
  • Helps use fat for energy
  • Helps maintain bladder function
  • Stimulates the brain’s GABA receptors creating a calming, feel-good effect on the body
  • Helps prevent anxiety, irritability, and mood swings
  • Natural antidepressant
  • Protects against mental decline, helps with memory
  • Helps the body use and eliminate fats so lowers LDL
  • Increases scalp hair
  • Improves heavy and/or painful menstrual bleeding
  • Can help with premenstrual headaches and/or migraines
  • Acts as a diuretic (pushes excess water out of the body)
  • Relaxes smooth muscle of the gut aiding in digestion
  • In summary, supports healthy bones, breast, heart, liver, and brain tissue in women

3. Cortisol

  • A steroid hormone called “fight or flight hormone”
  • Produced by our adrenal glands and in small amounts in other tissues
  • It helps our body respond to stress and inflammation
  • Cortisol is released into the blood in a diurnal rhythm, meaning that it is the highest in the morning, about 30-60 min after we wake up, and then slowly tapers down, normally becoming its lowest at bedtime to allow for restful sleep
  • A high level of it gives us energy in the morning, and a low level in the evening allows up to fall and stay asleep
  • Increases blood sugar levels
  • Increases blood pressure
  • Regulates metabolism
  • Influences memory formation
  • Controls salt and water balance

4. DHEA

DHEA – is a hormone made mostly by the adrenal gland but also a little bit in the skin and brain

  • Precursor hormone for the production of testosterone and estrogen
  • Its production declines with age starting in the late 20s
  • Stress may also impact your DHEA levels
  • Increases lean body mass and muscle strength
  • Activates immune function
  • Improves sleep
  • Increases feeling of wellness
  • Decreases joint soreness
  • Increases insulin sensitivity
  • Decreases triglycerides
  • Decreases risk of cardiovascular disease
  • Elevates growth hormone levels
  • Has a positive effect on memory
  • In women, improves sexual satisfaction

5. Testosterone

  • Not just a male hormone, exerts some important effects on women, as well
  • Produced mostly by the adrenals but a little bit by the ovaries in women
  • Plays a role in sexual function, libido
  • Supports muscle strength and body composition
  • Positive effect on mood
  • Positive effect on bone mass

6. Thyroid Hormone

  • Equally vital in men and women
  • Not a single hormone but a group of hormones produced and released by the thyroid gland located in the front of your neck under the voice box
  • Regulates our basal metabolic rate

Body functions it impacts:

  • Metabolism- how our body utilizes energy
  • Regulates heart rate
  • Regulates breathing
  • Regulates body temperature
  • Regulates digestion
  • Regulates brain development and mental activity
  • Skin and bone maintenance
  • Regulates weight
  • Optimizes fertility
  • Optimizes DHEA production
Workout | Female Health | Absoultue Vitality

Hormones:
Natural vs Synthetic

Menopause is a state of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone deficiency. A decline in levels of these hormones might lead to impairment in most important bodily functions, for example, memory and cognition, cardiovascular system, energy and metabolism, skin, hair and bone, and mental health. The dilemma aging women are facing today is that despite dwindling levels of hormones, they may still benefit from anti-aging and health effects these hormones exert on their bodies, and in today’s world, we all WANT to feel and look more youthful and do it in a safer and more natural way.

Hormones are called natural or bioidentical if they are exact duplicates of what your body makes. In other words, the molecular structure of a natural hormone is identical to that of the hormones made by your body. This is an important distinction because the hormones typically prescribed by your doctor are not natural; some of them are completely man-made and are found nowhere in nature, and others, notably Premarin, are made from the urine of pregnant mares. Hormones do very complex and specific jobs in the body by fitting into the part of your cells called receptors, much the same way that a key fits into a lock. Once the hormone is in the receptor, it gives the cell instructions. If the molecular structure is different, even by one atom, the instructions given to the cell are different. Hormones that aren’t natural to your body give instructions that can be harmful. There is a plethora of evidence that bioidentical hormones, usually made of plants such as yam, are safe and don’t exert a major risk of cancers and other side effects implicated in the use of synthetic hormones.

Streching | Female Health | Absoultue Vitality

Benefits of BHRT (Biest and Progesterone)

BHRT stands for Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (as opposed to HRT which stands for synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy). BHRT is highly effective in the treatment of menopausal symptoms. Research has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular health including:

  • Protect against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries),
  • Maintain lower blood pressure,
  • Raise HDL, decrease LDL, and prevent its oxidation
  • Decrease lipoprotein(a)
  • Keep arteries open/help maintain the elasticity of arteries/dilate small arteries
  • Inhibit platelet stickiness
  • Increase blood flow
  • Decrease the accumulation of plaque in arteries
  • Reduce homocysteine
  • Reduce the overall risk of heart disease by 40 to 50%
Stomach | Digestive Issues | Absoultue Vitality

Cognitive protection includes:

  • Prevent Alzheimer’s disease
  • Help maintain memory
  • Increase reasoning and new ideas
  • Increase concentration
  • Help with fine motor skills
  • Enhance the production of nerve growth factor

Other Benefits include:

  • Prevention of osteoporosis/increase in bone mineral density
  • Promote youthful skin/maintain the amount of collagen in the skin/increase the water content of skin and is responsible for its thickness and softness
  • Improve sexual function/increase sexual interest
  • Improve sleep
  • Improve mood swings, anxiety, and depression
  • Enhance energy
  • Hair health
  • Vaginal health/prevent vaginal atrophy and improve vaginal dryness
  • Improve urinary health/incontinence
  • Help maintain muscle
  • Improve insulin sensitivity
  • Increase metabolic rate
  • Reduce the risk of cataracts & helps prevent glaucoma

How Much Will It Cost Me to Address Women’s Health with Absoulute Vitality?

Once you become a patient of Absoulute Vitality, you will start out with the Discovery Phase which includes two sixty-minute appointments with Dr. Kalika and one sixty-minute visit with the health coach.

The baseline price for your Discovery Phase (including 2 sixty minute appointments with Dr. Kalika and one sixty-minute visit with the health coach) is $900. After the discovery phase is completed, if you decide to proceed with your care at AV, you will be able to choose between an annual membership plan called Absoulute Care with which you will get four thirty minutes follow-up visits with Dr. Kalika and four thirty-minute follow-up visits with your health coach, all evenly spread out throughout the next year. The discounted price for this membership is $1,000, paid upfront. Alternatively, you can purchase visits with Dr. K and your health coach a la carte. For the price, please refer to our price of services section.

*Please note – We are OUT OF NETWORK with all the insurances. FSA is welcome.

Additional Costs

If you have health insurance, your lab work (minus deductible), will most likely be covered. Some of the advanced functional tests have a limited option of insurance coverage, however, most of the testing is out of pocket. Each test has its own price which will be provided to you during your visit.

Some other expenses may include the price of the supplements, compounded medications, optional aesthetic procedures, and IV treatments that we offer. 10% discounts on aesthetic procedures are available for Dr. Kalika’s functional medicine patients.

Why Choose Us?

Sanna Kalika, M.D. is a board-certified Internal Medicine physician who focuses on providing her patients with the most attentive, comprehensive, integrative care. As an internist, Dr. Kalika specializes in diagnosing and treating a range of conditions that affect many organ systems. With over two decades of experience in traditional and integrative medicine and strong interest in functional medicine, Dr. Kalika is able to utilize knowledge from both disciplines of medicine and combine them into one comprehensive approach to DIS-ease. Dr. Kalika has the best interest of her patients in mind and loves to offer patients an active participation in their own care, a true partnership.

Dr. Kalika has extensive experience in working with bioidentical hormones and continuously updates her knowledge of the subject through the courses offered by IFM and A4M. In addition, as a female, also has a deep understanding and empathy for the issues related to female health.

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Schedule Your Consultation

While Absoulute Vitality is located in Manalapan, New Jersey, we see patients from all over the country, as Dr. Kalika is board-certified in multiple states. We welcome patients to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kalika. You can call Absoulute Vitality at 732.302.6060 or use our website to request an appointment. Hours outside of a normal work day might be available if necessary, upon request. We look forward to helping you optimize your health, enabling you to feel healthy, vibrant, and abSOULute!

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What Patients Have to Say

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It has been fantastic to have a physician so dedicated to partnering with me in my health journey.

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Dr. Kalika's approach to functional medicine is not only innovative but incredibly personalized. She took the time to understand my unique situation and crafted a treatment plan that addressed my specific needs.

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Been loving all my visits at Absoulute Vitality! Had multiple service's and have more on my radar!

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Patient Resources

We’re here to help, with a number of patient resources designed to make your experience as comfortable as possible. Read through the materials below, and don’t hesitate to reach out and set up your consultation to learn more about what we can do for you.