Menopause
Menopause is a natural stage of the aging process.
The prevailing attitude of the medical profession toward menopause is that it is an illness. Hot flashes, depression, insomnia, fatigue, or a dry vagina are thought to be due to a slowing down of the ovaries and therefore, are treated with hormone-like drugs.
Menopause Myths
When women seek information about menopause, they often encounter a number of common myths:
- that the ovaries stop functioning and a woman is infertile
- that a woman has an estrogen deficiency and hence a hormone imbalance
- that a woman gains weight and her bones become brittle
- that estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) will correct problems
There is no scientific proof for any of the above suppositions! In fact,
- a healthy woman's ovaries function throughout her life and continue to produce hormones and, less often after menopause, eggs
- a woman frequently has higher estrogen level after her periods cease and there is no ideal balance to be disturbed
- androgens, which influence the libido or interest in sex, continue be produced and, in many women, tend to be higher after menopause
- estrogen replacement therapy can, at best, temporarily mask the symptoms blamed on menopause. At worst, by suppressing ovarian activity, it can cause the ovary to atrophy and also increase a woman's risk of cancer.
Healthy Support
With regard to menopause, doctors never talk about the aging process. Highly regarded hormonal specialists, however, know that the severe symptoms blamed on menopause are due to the aging process or, even more likely, to lack of exercise, an inactive sex life, constant stress, ill health or vitamin deficiencies. We are made to think that it is beyond our power to correct these problems without medication. In truth, efforts made to change diet and to increase exercise are richly rewarded with improved health, more energy, a toned body and elimination of so-called menopause symptoms.
Menopause Facts
Women do ovulate after menopause, but much less frequently than before. Fertility is, after all, dependent upon other factors besides ovulation; particularly the availability of a healthy, fertile partner and an active sex life. In addition, there are hosts of identifiable outside influences, such as cigarettes and alcohol, the Pill, tranquilizers, poor nutrition, poor circulation, a poorly functioning thyroid or liver damage, which can affect the ovaries and hormones adversely.
The symptom most often associated with menopause is the hot flash, which is also symptomatic of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), a condition that affects a significant percentage of the population. A dry vagina, another frequent symptom, is also very common among women who do not have frequent sex. The loss of a sense of well being or depression is a widespread phenomenon among people in their middle years.
Hot flashes, or hot flushes, are uncomfortable, inconvenient and sometimes frightening to many women. A feeling of warmth all over, disorientation, tingling in the hands and feet, insomnia, nervousness, and headaches are sensations that many women experience. Many say that they tend to sweat profusely during and after a hot flash. (Sweating is the body's attempt to cool itself and is a natural reaction to heat.)
While hot flashes are disconcerting, they are not dangerous. Some women choose to live with them until they go away, instead of taking hormone-like drugs, and try instead to do strenuous exercise and to improve their nutrition. Women who have infrequent opportunities for sex have found that masturbating often increases vaginal lubrication. If you have a tendency to have a tender or dry vagina, some home remedies can be soothing and can help make sexual intercourse more comfortable.
Aloe vera gel, yogurt or the kinds of ointments used for diaper rash applied to the skin are often helpful. Unless you have an infection, douching is one the worst things to do - it robs the mucous membranes of any natural lubrication they have. Likewise, using so called, "feminine deodorants," which contain harsh chemicals and alcohols, can intensify a tendency towards dryness. Tight-fitting pants can make matters worse, and encourage infection by preventing air from circulating and adding stress to tender tissues.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
If menopausal symptoms are not caused by lack of estrogen, they why do physicians prescribe estrogen replacement therapy?
- The hormone-like drugs used for ERT are similar to those in the Pill and have no chemical relation to the natural estrogen in a woman's body. They are manufactured from either coal tar or from a concoction of chemicals and mare's urine. They are especially inappropriate for women who have kidney disease, epilepsy, depression or liver disease. Even healthy women who take ERT are subject to a substantially higher risk, almost 15 percent higher, of cancer of the uterine lining. And these drugs actually suppress the activity of the ovaries, thus medically inducing atrophy, a death of sort, of the ovaries.
- Women do notice dramatic changes when they hormone-like drugs. The drugs, "pump up" cell, causing them to retain water. This can make wrinkles less apparent, the mucous membranes of the vagina more supple, and increased cellular activity can create a sense of well being and more energy. These "benefits," however, disappear when you stop taking the drugs.
Additional Resources
Barbara Seaman has written an excellent book, The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women, Exploding the Estrogen Myth.
For answers to you questions about so-called natural hormones, or bio-identcal hormone replacement, see the National Women's Health Network's paper, Natural Hormones at Menopause.
The National Women's Health Network has done extensive research on hormone replacement therapies. You can read many of their articles on the website.
Menopause: Myth and Facts, What Every Woman Should Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy, by Lorraine Rothman, MS with Marcia Wexler, Ph.D. This book debunks some of the myths surrounding menopause, and is available at Progressive Health Services bookstore.
Dr. Susan Lark has an excellent book you can order online, The Estrogen Decision Self Help Book. Dr. Susan Love has devoted herself to extensive research on menopause and breast cancer. Click to go to her website.
News Alerts
On October 21, 2010, The National Women’s Health Network reported that long-term use of menopause HT doubles the risk of dying from breast cancer.