Curated Resources
Information for your health
Nga Korero Hauora
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Below you will find resources selected by the ERH Associates team to be relevant to hormone and reproductive health in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Women* & teen Girls*
GAHT & VSCs**
meN* & teEN bOYS*
Medical Professionals
**Gender-Affirming therapy and variations of sexual characteristics
Note: See link in the footer for disclaimers/terms of use
ERH Associates does not benefit financially from affiliations with any of the externally linked resources
Stages of life
Women's* health resources
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
PMS and PMDD
Contraceptive Options
*Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea and Women's health in sport
Vulval and vaginal resources
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
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*Women's health
Menopause
The Australasian Menopause Society (AMS) provides educational material and resources on mid-life and the menopause for the benefit of *women (see the consumer section) and their health professionals.
The International Menopause Society (IMS) has produced the Patient Information Leaflet to help women to better understand brain fog and memory changes in menopause and how this can be managed and treated.
Video series
Website
General Information
Brain Fog
In this TED talk neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi shares findings from her research, how decreasing hormonal levels affect brain aging and shares simple lifestyle changes you can make to support lifelong brain health.
Don't Sweat It by Nicky Pellegrino and This Changes Everything by Niki Bezzant are two reader-friendly and in-depth books about menopause by New Zealand authors. Don't Sweat It features interviews with ERH Endocrinologists Dr Stella Milsom and Dr Sasha Nair and This Changes Everything featuring an interview with Dr Megan Ogilvie. Below is a link to a review of both books by book editor Catherine Woulfe for The Spinoff.
ERH Associates does not benefit financially from online book sales.
A small limited number of autographed books are available for purchase from our clinical rooms
Want to be walked through everything you need to know to be prepared to navigate and thrive in perimenopause and menopause in-depth and in one place? We are developing an App-based course to do just this!
Find out more here:
Empowered Menopause Course
by
Professor Gerard Conway is internationally recognised as an expert in endocrine and reproductive Health. He wrote this essential book, Polycistic Ovary Syndrome: Your Medical Handbook.
Several of the ERH Associates team have had the benefit of learning from him as clinical and research fellows at University College of London Hospital.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
(PCOS)
ERH Associates does not benefit financially from book sales
Publishers site linked, but also available from other vendors. ERH Associates does not benefit financially from book sales
(National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome, UK) is a charitable organisation providing information advice and support to PMS sufferers and their families.
Their resources include a young persons guide to PMS and helpful guideline prepared by Mr Nick Panay, Gynaecologist and Chairman of NAPS, for health professionals and people who suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
Website
Guidelines
Young Persons Guide
(PMS and PMDD)
Premenstrual Stress and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
A symptom diary (ideally 3 months before treatment and 3 months on a given treatment) is important for diagnosing PMS or PMDD and differentiating these from premenstrual exacerbation (worsening) of various symptoms, as well as monitoring a response to treatment and for side effects.
You can keep a diary, record symptoms on a calendar or use an App. A tick-box chart like this allows you to quickly record your symptoms and get a visual representation of how your symptoms change over the months.
PMS Symptom Tracker
The International Association For Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD) has a mission to inspire hope and end suffering for those affected by premenstrual disorders through peer support, education, research and advocacy and provides resources for the public and health professionals.
Contraception
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa provides a range of services including sexual health and reproductive health information, clinical services, education, training and research.
Their page on Contraceptive Choices provides a good summary of the options available in New Zealand, to help you choose the contraception that's best for you.
Contraception in perimenopause
Summary of Options
INFORMATION SHEET
General Information
Contraception is important during perimenopause particularly as this is a time when ovulation is unpredictable. The main considerations are that oestrogen-containing contraceptive pills are not recommended over the age of 50 due to vascular risks -progestogen-only and non-hormonal treatments can be used in this age group.
This AMS information sheet is written for health professionals, but may be of help to the interested reader.
Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea and *Women's' Health in Sport
WHISPA is a High Performance Sport NZ initiative designed to support the health, wellbeing and performance of female athletes. The WHISPA initiative brings together technical experts from a range of specialties to facilitate the education, research and best practice approaches to supporting women in sport.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has partnered with specialist medical practitioners, high performance athletes and high performance coaches to design a suite of online learning modules for athletes, parents, coaches and medical practitioners.
Website
Stress on the body can cause the menstrual periods to become infrequent, which we call Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea and is associated with low oestrogen levels.
Causes can include malabsorption or chronic disease such as coeliac disease or not eating enough food for your activity level (sometimes referred to as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) in athletes).
When persistent, this can lead to a number of symptoms and complications related to low oestrogen such as low bone density and reduced physical performance.
Here are some resources to help *female athletes (also applicable to dancers) learn about to stay healthy and performing at your best.
Website
The booklet uses illustrations to describe variation in appearance in order to normalise vulva appearance and details the changes which happen at puberty and beyond
Womens Health Victoria noted an increase in genital cosmetic surgery and reasoned that this may because many people have no idea what healthy vulva actually look like. Like any other part of the body, vulvas come in all shapes and sizes.
The Labia Library website is part of a bigger project to help those thinking about genital cosmetic surgery to be well informed and receive care that is safe and evidence-based.
Vulval and vaginal resources
What's is "normal"?
Vulvovaginal changes at perimenopause
booklet
website
Info Sheet
Info Sheet
Menopause can be associated with vulvo-vaginal symptoms such as dryness, itching, pain with intercourse as well as urinary symptoms.
Treatment may include vaginal moisturisers and lubricants and prescription oestrogen cream (see your doctor to discuss what treatment is right for you).
This AMS information sheet is written for health professionals, but may be of help to the interested reader.
Variations in Sexual Characteristics and Gender AFfirming Treatment
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
Gender-Affirming Care
Gender-affirming care
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Variations in Sexual Characteristics
THE NHS (UK) website provides introductory information about what VSCs (Variations in Sexual Development) (sometimes called Differences in Sexual Development or Intersex) is.
The VSC Practical Guide for Parents website is a collaboration between people with lived experience, health professionals and researchers who are wanting to provide support to parents and whanau who have a child with a VSC.
Intersex Aotearoa is an intersex-led non-profit organisation that provides affirmation, advocacy and referral for intersex people and their whānau.
VISIT
website
Website
Information page
Gender-Affirming Treatment
Gender Minorities Aotearoa is a nationwide trangender organisation run by and for transgender people; including binary and non-binary, intersex, and irawhiti takatāpui.
Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) has a page to provide information about public service provision for care for trans people in New Zealand.
website
information page
Mens'* health resources
Low testosterone due to calorie deficit and health in sport
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
Men's health
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Low Testosterone
Low testosterone in men* (male hypogonadism) occurs when the testes don't produce enough testosterone. It can be caused by issues which affect the hypothalamus, pituitary gland or testicles.
The Mayo clinic website includes page providing an overview of male hypogonadism including what symptoms to look for and when to see a doctor.
information page
Axis Sports Medicine provide care to elite athletes and everyday New Zealanders. Articles on RED-S as well as information about how energy availability is calculated are published on their blog The Spin.
Functional Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism and
Relative Energy Deficiency
Akin to functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea in women (when menstrual periods stop due to stress on the body), in men*, stress on the body can cause suppression of the pathway via which the hypothalamus and pituitary glands signal the testes to produce testosterone.
In this way, issues such as chronic disease or not eating enough food for your activity level (sometimes referred to as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) in athletes) can lead to low testosterone and related symptoms as well as long-term complications such as low bone density and reduced physical performance.
REsources for Different StageS Of Life
Bone Health in Older Age
Menopause
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
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information for the public
Puberty/pūhuruhurutanga is a normal part of life. The NZ Family Planning website summarises the changes that happen and what to expect.
information page
The Osteoporosis & fractures section of the Osteoporosis NZ website provides members of the public with information on important aspects of osteoporosis
REsources for MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
Precautions and Contraindications for contraceptives
Preparing patients for prophylactic oophorectomy
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Osteoporosis
Primary Ovarian Insufficiency
PMS/PMDD
Obstetric Medicine
Testosterone Replacement in*Men
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
ERH Associates does not benefit from the sale of this book,
scroll down for
Looking for referral information?
Contact us
FSRH UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UK MEC)
General information
Prescribing information
Monash University Practitoners Toolkit
Handbook of Obstetric Medicine, Catherine Nielson Piercy, 6th Edition (2021)
Managing Women at High Inherited Risk of Ovarian Cancer (Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia) fact sheet for health professionals
Australasian Menopause Society website
Managing the Menopause textbook, 2nd Edition (2020)
Publishers site linked, but also available from other vendors. ERH Associates does not benefit financially from book sales
AMS for Australia
AMS for New Zealand
Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Greentop guidelines (UK)
Looking for a one-stop-shop resource to upskill in menopause management?
For a step by step, walk through evidence-based information to become confident in managing menopause as well as to learn practical tips (not available in formal guidelines!) from the clinical expertise of the ERH Associates Endocrinologists, read about our app-based course Managing Menopause for health practitioners
Managing Women at High Inherited Risk of Ovarian Cancer (Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia)
fact sheet for your patients
Publishers site linked, but also available from other vendors. ERH Associates does not benefit financially from book sales
- For patients and health professionals
- Look for pages from well-known institutions such as the NHS and other internationally recognised hospital institiutions, and international guidelines such as the NICE guidelines.
- Is the website selling anything? Consider why they might want you to read the information – it's always better to find an unbiased source that isn't selling a product.
- Check the date of the article. If its' really old, it might not be relevant, or there might be newer research with showing new information.
Haven't found what you need?
Make a request
Tips for finding reliable information
We will continue to add to our curated resources over time. You can send content requests/suggestions to our virtual suggestion box by emailing endo@fa.co.nz.
In the subject line of your email, write "Topics for website".