|
Sign up for my newsletter today and read two of my books for FREE!
|
|
|
An A-Z Woman's Guide to Vibrant Health
Menopause
Menopause means one year with no menstrual period. Peri-menopause is the 10
to 15 years before menopause and everything after the periods have stopped for
one year is post menopause. The average age of menopause is 52 years. At
menopause the ovaries have stopped producing eggs and there is no possibility
of pregnancy. Smoking, medication, surgery (oophorectomy), radiation and
autoimmune disease that affects the ovaries can trigger premature menopause.
Menopause is not a disease, but rather is a natural milestone in every woman’s life.
Symptoms
On average, 70-80 percent of women will experience mild to moderate symptoms,
while 10-15 percent will suffer with severe symptoms and may require hospitalization.
The most obvious symptom is the cessation of menses. Symptoms
include anxiety, hot flashes and night sweats, problems with sleep, vaginal
itching (with or without discharge) brain fog, memory problems, mood swings,
irritability, depression, migraine headaches, new environmental allergies and
food sensitivities, weight gain, urinary incontinence (aggravated by coughing,
sneezing or laughing), recurring urinary tract or vaginal infections. Increased
risk of heart disease and bone loss are also associated with menopause in
susceptible women. See Osteoporosis and Heart Disease for more information on
how to prevent and treat these serious conditions.
Causes
Menopause is a natural phase in a woman’s life. When our ovaries stop producing
estrogen, our adrenal glands are supposed to kick in and provide us with the
estrogen we need. Our fat cells also produce estrogen and so does the uterus.
Then our liver processes and packages those hormones and the thyroid hormones
play a role. What makes the difference between a woman who has no symptoms
at menopause and the woman who suffers with a multitude of the symptoms
mentioned above? Women with exhausted adrenals, low levels of thyroid
hormones and a congested liver will have terrible menopause symptoms
compared to women with a healthy liver, thyroid and adrenals. (See Adrenal
Exhaustion and Thyroid for more information.) Low levels of thyroid hormones
cause extreme hot flashes and night sweats, vaginal dryness and flooding, irregular periods. Exhausted adrenals promote insomnia whereby you go to bed and fall asleep just fine, but wake up three hours later and are unable to return
to sleep.
Most women have been taught they are estrogen deficient, yet we are overloaded
with toxic environmental estrogens that contribute to our hormonal
problems and increase our risk of breast and ovarian cancer at menopause.
(See Breast Cancer for more information on xenoestrogens)
HRT Concerns:
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has hit its demographic
sweet spot—with the largest number of baby boomers turning 45 in
2004, expected sales will be in the multi-billions. HRT was originally
developed to halt the symptoms of menopause, but doctors also prescribed
HRT to prevent cardiovascular disease and bone loss, keep teenage girls
from growing too tall, relieve depression, reduce urinary incontinence, stop
colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease and to keep us young forever. It
became the panacea for all sorts of women’s conditions and was touted as the
“fountain of youth” even though the safety of HRT was still being heavily
debated. No randomized, controlled clinical trials were ever conducted to
verify that HRT should be used for all those conditions, and its safety in
healthy women was never proven. In July 2002, the Women’s Health
Initiative study, a clinical trial designed to determine if HRT was beneficial
to healthy women, was halted five years and two months into the study due
to serious safety concerns. This study, which was supposed to last eight
years, involved 16,608 healthy, postmenopausal women (meaning they had
stopped their periods for 12 months), who were at low risk for heart disease.
The women received 0.625mg of equine (horse) estrogen (Premarin) along
with 2.5 mg of synthetic progestins for 5.2 years. Premarin (made by Wyeth-
Ayerst) contains estradiol plus at least two or more horse estrogens, such as
equilin and equilenin. The study concluded that the combination of estrogen
and progestins posed a significant health risk to women and that any
benefits from HRT were not worth the side effects. The study found a 41 percent
increase in the risk of stroke, a 29 percent increase in the risk of heart
attack, a doubled risk of blood clots, a 22 percent increase in cardiovascular
disease and a 26 percent increase in the risk of invasive breast cancer.
Later in 2003, scientists reported that women who took the combination of
estrogen and progestins also developed such dense breast tissue that it was
extremely difficult to detect breast cancer on a mammogram. Those women
also had higher rates of adult-onset asthma. Worse yet, women taking these
hormones were found to have double the risk of developing dementia. But
the estrogen-only arm of the WHI study was still allowed to continue until
2004, when they halted it due to increased risk of stroke, dementia and mild
brain damage. Hopefully, women will pay attention to these results and
avoid HRT. Less than 10 percent of all menopausal women will need some
type of hormones for extreme, uncontrollable hot flashes and night sweats;
the rest can use natural herbs, vitamins, minerals and lifestyle changes.
PRESCRIPTION FOR MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS
|
|
|
|
|
Multivitamins with minerals; (contains no iron)
FemmEssentials or MultiEssentials for women |
|
| As directed. For complete formula recommendations see Appendix A |
|
| Ensures adequate nutrient status |
|
| |
|
| Vitamin B6 60 mg daily (pyridoxal-5-phosphate or pyridoxine) along with a B-complex |
|
| Supports nervous system, required for metabolism and immune function, reduces PMS symptoms |
|
| |
|
| Vitamin C with bioflavonoids (particularly hesperidin) 600 mg per day, 100 mg citrus bioflavonoids |
|
| Decreases the number of hot flashes; hesperidin, a biohesperidin) flavonoid, also reduces night leg cramps |
|
| |
|
| Vitamin E 200 IU daily (d-alpha tocopherol with mixed tocopherols) |
|
| Reduces hot flashes and improves mood. If needed, use vaginal lubricants containing natural vitamin E (d-alpha, not dl-alpha). |
|
| |
|
| Calcium with Magnesium citrate 1000 mg calcium; 500 mg magnesium daily |
| | Reduces leg cramps and restless legs, helps prevent constipation, osteoporosis, supports proper cardiovascular function |
|
|
|
|
| Eliminates excess toxic and cancer-causing estrogens | |
|
| Ginkgo biloba (standardized to 24%) |
|
| 40 mg three times per day |
|
| Supports cognitive function; improves circulation to hands and feet |
|
|
|
Two capsules at breakfast and two capsules at bedtime containing:
Chaste tree (Vitex) 320 mg |
|
Supports proper hormone secretion; reduces PMS symptoms; controls hot flashes. |
|
| |
| |
| Balances estrogen activity; tones uterus; reduces spasms; beneficial for cardiovascular system |
|
| |
| |
| Reduces depression, insomnia, vaginal dryness and hot flashes; nonestrogenic, found safe for those with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer |
|
| |
| |
| Stops hot flashes and night sweats; stops night leg cramps |
|
| |
| |
| Relieves hot flashes; supports pituitary function and promotes endorphin release by the hypothalamus, thereby improving mood. Lowers triglycerides and total cholesterol |
|
|
| | 50-100 mg three times per day taken at breakfast, dinner and bedtime |
|
| Increases serotonin levels; reduces anxiety, muscle pain; improves sleep and early morning stiffness Enhances mood;
controls appetite |
|
|
| |
|
|
| | 1000 mg three times per day |
|
| Relieves breast pain; may alleviate hot flashes |
|
|
| |
| Alleviates depression. Do not take in addition to antidepressant medications without first consulting your doctor | |
|
| |
| To enhance libido and improve vaginal dryness | |
|
HEALTH TIPS TO ENHANCE HEALING
- Take MenoSense containing black cohosh, dong quai, vitex, gamma
oryzanol and hesperidin to reduce night sweats, hot flashes, vaginal dryness,
heavy erratic periods, mood swings, weight gain and sleep disturbances.
- Eat a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower,
cabbage and kale). You should have at least two half-cup servings
per day. Cruciferous vegetables contain Indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane,
important nutrients for maintaining balanced hormones in our liver while
reducing our risk of breast cancer. Add flax seeds, fennel, chickpeas, lentils
and soy to your diet for their hormone-balancing action.
- Walk briskly and swing your arms. Walking briskly every day for 30 minutes
cuts hot flashes by 50 percent, while improving your heart and bone health
at the same time. If you are having trouble sleeping, take 100 mg of 5HTP
three times a day (breakfast, dinner and before bed) to improve your mood
and aid restful sleep.
- Eat breakfast every day. Over 40 percent of women do not eat breakfast.
Research has shown that women who skip breakfast are at higher risk of
heart disease than those who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast often. Eating
a protein-rich breakfast ensures that you have adequate amino acids to
make the mood-enhancing and sleep-inducing serotonin.
- Reduce the stress in your life. Have a massage at least once a month. Start
looking after yourself. Do one thing you love to do at least once a day. Tell
your loved ones you “need” extra love, attention and help. It is OK to ask.
- Address any underlying thyroid and adrenal imbalance or gut dysbiosis like
Candida albicans and be sure to cleanse and support the function of the
liver and colon.
- Ask your doctor for a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan to
check your bone density. DEXA is the gold standard for determining
osteoporosis.
- Enjoy sexual intercourse twice a week to prevent vaginal atrophy and to
maintain high levels of immune function.
- Look at menopause as a beginning rather than an end. Try things that you
have always wanted to do but had no time for when you were raising
young children and building your career.
- Read my book, coauthored with Dr. Karen Jensen, ND, called No More
HRT: Menopause Treat the Cause for in-depth information on menopause.
|
|
|
|
