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Health Information
What is Menopause?
Menopause
is a natural part of life for women, that time when there is a permanent stop
to the menstrual cycle. The average time for menopause in the USA is in the
early 50s, but can really occur any time from age 40 to 60. Menopause can be
natural, or can be brought on surgically at any age when the ovaries are
removed. This usually happens with a hysterectomy, or with cancer treatment.
Every women is different with respect to the timing of natural menopause and
the length of time is takes to get there.
Perimenopause refers to
the time before menopause when the hormone levels begin to decline, the
menstrual periods may become irregular, and fertility is reduced.
Perimenopause may come before actual menopause by as much as 2-8 years, the
average being about 4 years. Smoking is known to accelerate the transition
phase by 2 years, as it speeds the aging process in general.
Symptoms of Menopause
There are many symptoms
associated with the change in hormone levels. The list is pretty long, some
you are probably familiar with, maybe others you are not.
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Hot flashes and night sweats--probably the most
common symptoms
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Difficulty with sleep--falling asleep, waking up
frequently
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Mood swings, depression, anxiety
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Memory impairment, less ability to concentrate
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Weight gain, insulin resistance, blood sugar may
be borderline high
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Breast tenderness, or breast cysts
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Dry skin, skin changes, return of acne, facial
hair growth, thinning hair
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Vaginal dryness, thinning of vaginal tissues,
loss of sex drive
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Development of urinary incontinence
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Joint Stiffness and development of arthritis
symptoms
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Development of allergies, or worsening of
current allergies
Treatment
for Menopause
Nearly 30% of
menopausal women are still taking hormones, commonly given to relieve the side
effects and to gain symptom relief from the list of symptoms above. For so
many years doctors gave hormonal treatments in the form of either estrogen or
a combination of estrogen and progesterone without much thought. But then came
the Womens Health Initiative (WHI). Unfortunately the study revealed definite
increased risk of developing endometrial (uterus) cancer, breast cancer,
venous blood clots, and probably a risk of stroke and heart attacks.
There was also question as to
whether the use of HRT could be linked to gallbladder disease, ovarian cancer,
colon cancer and even possibly an increased incidence of memory loss and
dementia. Some of these risks were directly linked to the time HRT therapy was
taken. In other words, the longer you take HRT therapy the higher the risk.
What About Natural
Therapy Alternatives?
It's important to try
and bring balance back to your body, even though it is struggling to cope with
the hormone changes. Exercise and proper diet (such as a diet high in soy)
along with natural supplements are important. Also several naturally occurring
plant extracts have been shown to help with the symptoms of menopause and
present a natural alternative to hormone replacement therapy:
Black Cohosh--studies in
Germany have shown a decrease both in the number and level of menopausal
symptoms.
RedClover--rich in
phytoestrogens, these little molecules can be extracted from plants such as
soy and have a similar structure to estrogen but lack the side effects of
estrogen itself.
Flaxseed--contains a
substance with weak estrogen-like activity.
Soy Isoflavones--also
contain molecules with similar structure to estrogen but without side effects.
Unicity offers Wild
Yam Cream that delivers wild yam and soy extracts that naturally help
balance the female reproductive cycle. This may be helpful in the
perimenopausal woman.
Talk you your doctor if you are
in that 30% of women who are still taking hormones. It may take several months
to wean yourself off the hormones. Over time the symptoms will lessen, but how
long the symptoms last and how severe the symptoms are will differ from woman
to woman.
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