An Exclusive Interview with Cheryl Ladd
By Mike Bundrant
It is always a pleasure to discover yet another person of prominence in our society who is choosing to do something worthwhile with her name and reputation. Many of us know of Cheryl Ladd from her role as Chris Monroe in the television drama Charlie’s Angels. Since that time Cheryl has maintained a thriving career as an actor, with numerous roles in television, movies and on Broadway.
Somehow she has also finds time to promote worthy causes, such as Menopause, which we discuss in this exclusive interview. Please enjoy a portion of our conversation…..
HT: I’ve seen the website, www.talkingtoyourdoctor.com. Why did you decide to be a spokesperson for it?
Cheryl Ladd: I think just saying the word “menopause” freaks out a lot of women…and that’s got to stop. There are so many issues for women around this time in life – not just menopause – but around the time of menopause genetic triggers come into play.
Typically around this time blood pressure rises or cholesterol goes up. Bone loss becomes an issue. These health concerns surrounding this time of our life can also take place. By going to your doctor and getting an assessment of where we are...getting bone density tests and monitoring cholesterol and blood pressure…these are important to maintain a healthy life for years to come.
HT: I didn’t know that things like Osteoporosis were even a factor at all around the time of menopause.
Cheryl Ladd: I didn’t either…
HT: Until you discovered you had it, right?
Cheryl Ladd: Yes. I thought I was doing everything perfectly well. I was eating right. I was exercising. I was taking calcium. I was just doing everything I thought I needed to do to take care of myself and it wasn’t enough.
HT: Thus the importance of going in for an assessment.
Cheryl Ladd: You know what’s really important also – and I think our website demonstrates this – is that this is not a “once size fits all” issue. Each person’s genetic background and lifestyle are unique. What worked for your girlfriend or your mother may not be what will work for you.
HT: Why do you suppose women have a hard time talking to their doctor about menopause? I know that’s a complex question. And there has even been a decrease in the percentage of women who are willing to talk to their doctors about menopause.
Cheryl Ladd: I think there was a big scare about hormone replacement. Women weren’t given the whole story and many of them were left thinking that maybe their doctor might give them something that could hurt them and they began to be confused and afraid.
When I sat down with my doctor, I asked him to review the research with me so I totally understood what was happening and what we should do. Then we worked out a program that would work for me.
In general I think women, because of our “youth” culture, are just uncomfortable thinking that they might be menopausal. It means they are growing older. We’re in such a youth-oriented culture. Just facing it is tough. Sometimes we’d rather be in denial.
It’s really interesting that 50-100 years ago there wasn't a lot of information about menopause available because women didn’t actually live but 8-10 years on average past menopause. Now women are living 30 and 40 years past menopause….and certainly 25 and 30 years past it. I so want women to live those years in a healthy and vibrant way…able to do what they want to do. So this is a kind of new area in women’s health, this post-menopausal life that we are now going to be living for. These are some good years!
HT: If I’m correct in my memory, my mother, got the “it’s all in your head” message when she approached him about menopause. This was 15 years ago. I wonder how much of that attitude has changed with doctors today…
Cheryl Ladd: Well, there are 40 million women of menopausal age today in our nation. Many of them have the resources they need to really pursue good health and get the information they need.
And it is an amazing thing in our culture that so little of this has been talked about. We’ve been locked away for so long in this sort of weird closet of embarrassment that even the doctors don’t have the information they need. So we’re really attempting to do something about that with talkingtoyourdoctor.com and I think it is essential.
Both for the doctors – who are facing 40 million women, many of whom are coming to them and wanting good solutions. So the doctors really need to prepare themselves.
HT: Can you talk about the role of diet and exercise? How important have these been to you?
Cheryl Ladd: They’ve been enormously important. Statistically, if you look at people who are obese and the amount of complications that come with that – diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure….eating well and exercising is extremely important to reduce the risk of these diseases. It isn’t a magic bullet that will keep you from having any health issues, but it really helps you maintain general health.
HT: You mentioned on your website that you are much more personally disciplined now than you were years ago….
Cheryl Ladd: Yes I am. And I also don’t believe that we can’t have some of the things we want. I like to use this analogy. I love cinnamon rolls…and I eat two of them every year. I make it a really specially occasion….on my birthday I’ll have a big ole cinammon role dripping with butter. And, you know, that’s it! But you can’t live a rule that's says “no cinnamon roles ever”! So I have them a couple of times per year and make it a really special time.
HT: Can you say a little bit about why you were personally motivated to speak out about menopause?
Cheryl Ladd: Because I was suffering. The more I found out about it the more I discovered there are lot of women going through the same thing I was. It is really confusing. It really puts a strain on good marriages because husbands are going, “What on earth is the matter with you?” Many women don’t understand that they really are behaving differently…being cranky, not sleeping and all of these terrible symptoms that come. Before long your husband isn’t sleeping either and both of you are cranky and it really puts a strain on the relationship.
My poor husband couldn't say a thing to me about it or I'd sit an cry for 2 hours. And half my brain was going, “This is ridiculous! What are you crying about?” But I still couldn’t stop. They are very real, these menopausal symptoms. It can be a very difficult transition period in your life if you don’t have good information available to you. You don’t understand what is going. Your husband doesn’t understand. You have no one to talk to......you really need someone to help you through it. And like I said, one size doesn’t fit all.
HT: So the objective of the movement you started is…..?
Cheryl Ladd: To raise awareness of this issue and encourage people to talk to their doctor. That’s all. We aren’t recommending a specific treatment because for some women, hormonal treatment will be the perfect answer. For some people it will not. The individual person needs to find out for herself.
HT: I imagine it is essential for women to really square themselves with the issue and say, “OK, this is what is going on….”
Cheryl Ladd: That’s why our online assessment tool is so helpful. Women can go online and take a survey of their symptoms to find out how they may relate to menopause. I personally suffered for over a year before my husband finally said, “Honey, we’ve got to go to the doctor because something is going on with you. You’re just not yourself”.
HT: And I wonder how long he was noticing what was going on before mentioning it!
Cheryl Ladd: Well, bless his heart. You can imagine how brave he was to say anything at the time because of my tendency to cry for two hours at the slightest provocation!
Menopause is such a natural occurrence. Every woman who was able to have a child is going to go through menopause. You have no choice. You will be there one day! And there are major issues to face – we women have a lot of plumbing! But it is normal and natural to go through this change. That doesn’t necessarily make it easy, however.
HT: Any last words for readers of Healthy Times?
Cheryl Ladd: Be fearless. Be the captain of your own ship…
Cheryl Ladd is a actress with a long list of television, movie and Broadway credits. See more about menopause www.talkingtoyourdoctor.com