A New Approach to an Old Problem

by Cathy Oats

The co-founder of Wellness International Network describes why she is very wary of artifical horomone replacement. Fortunately, with our feminine health supplements, there are choices.

Starting at puberty, that precious little daughter who always smiled sweetly and tried to please in every way - suddenly SCREAMS out at you, RUNS down the hall, SLAMS the door, and doesn't come out for three years!"

Sound familiar? If you have daughters, you may have already experienced this, as increasing hormone levels incite all types of erratic behavior to take place. Unlike men, who have only one hormone to contend with - testosterone - women have two powerful governing hormones estrogen and progesterone - that sometimes cause women to envy men and mothers to wish they had sons only!

PMS

The most common hormone-related problem experienced by younger women today is premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or what I "lovingly" refer to as Pardon My Screaming. Caused by rising levels of estrogen and progesterone (that start to elevate at mid-cycle and reach maximum levels immediately pre-menstrually), this condition makes its presence felt in many ways to some 10 to 14 million women between the ages of 15 and 45. For some women, PMS can mean irritability, backache, headache and generalized tension. For others, it appears as depression or decreased energy. Sex drive is altered. Abdominal bloating and swelling of fingers and toes are also symptoms of PMS. And the emotional symptoms many women experience the week or two before menstruation caused one woman to say recently, "That's the time I spank the kids, yell at my husband, live on tranquilizers and can't stand myself!"

In the past, the medical community considered many of these complaints as "minor," with the implication that it was "all in a woman's head." Today's thinking, however, takes PMS seriously, and routinely treats these symptoms with numerous drugs to reduce anxiety, eliminate fluid retention, relieve headaches and manage cramps. However, little attention has been paid to how lifestyle change and nutritional supplements can more safely control all of these symptoms by working naturally to balance hormone levels.

In many ways, menopause is a mirror image of what happens to a woman in puberty. Just as estrogen levels gradually rise in childhood, so they begin to decline some 25 years later, starting in the early 30s. The effects of the decline are rarely noticeable - except in decreasing fertility - until the early 40s, when women enter a transitional period called perimenopause (or pre-menopause). The uncomfortable symptoms associated with this time of life - hot flashes, anxiety, depression - are connected to lowered hormonal output, but are not experienced by all women. So menopause, while occurring universally, is still very much a personal occurrence.

A fact that needs to be considered is that menopause occurs at a time when the effects of the natural biological aging process are beginning to appear. As a result, a lifetime of poor health habits (smoking, alcohol, caffeine, sedentary living, poor diet) may result in an early menopause with a variety of physiological and psychological symptoms.

However, supplements, herbs and moderation in lifestyle are all things women can use to regulate the changes that naturally occur in mid-life. Plant extracts, which have been used as folk remedies for thousands of years for the natural plant estrogens - known as phyto-estrogens - also help regulate these changes. The use of phyto-estrogens is important, especially since today we know these natural substances cause an increase in the body's levels of safe estrogen, yet reduce levels of the most toxic form of estrogen. Plant estrogens are versatile medicines. If a woman's body levels are high, estrogenic plant extracts offer protection by displacing more powerful estrogens, and thus help bring down her body's overall estrogen levels while also stimulating more of the safe form. If her body's levels are low, they simply supplement her natural estrogen. Older women - particularly those in their 60s and 70s - have found that the use of these plant extracts have helped to rejuvenate their bodies' diminished hormonal reserves. They have helped many women for millennia & and they could certainly help you.

Is It Hot In Here?

As estrogen levels drop during perimenopause, the fluctuation can drive a poor woman (and her family) crazy! Described by one woman as a "blow torch aimed right at your face," hot flashes are caused by an overactivity of the hypothalamus, the body's thermostat.

My experience included headaches and waking up in the middle of the night with hot flashes so severe that I would kick the covers off the bed with wild abandon! Poor Ralph would bolt upright in the bed - thinking God knows what - only to discover that I was the problem! Muttering to himself, he would grab the covers tightly, turn away, and more than once say, "Would you please go back to sleep and leave my covers alone?!"

Today, I realize those uncomfortable symptoms were the cumulative effects of long-term nutritional deficiencies and lifestyle habits that began in my teens and continued into my 40s - habits that caused my body to prematurely enter menopause. How can I make such a strong statement? Because I no longer experience any of these symptoms. The knowledge I share with you is, therefore, "first-hand knowledge" - which can empower you to make positive changes in your life.

You see, we all have a great deal of control over how we will respond to menopause - and the best way is by preparing early. For a long time medicine has only offered women two choices: accept the symptoms and risks, or rely on drug and hormone treatment. But there are natural alternatives. Why not give attention to proper diet, exercise, nutritional supplementation and lifestyle changes, so that this time of life - the transition into mid-life (or what we at WIN call "mid-youth") - is a time of great freedom and renewed energy. As Margaret Mead put it, "The most creative force in the world is the menopausal woman with zest." Keeping our bodies in biochemical balance is a lifetime adventure that will assure that our passage through each stage of life is filled with zest. The time to prepare is now.

The Estrogen Dilemma

What you need to understand is that in the 1950s most women who asked for help with menopausal symptoms like hot flashes were told that the condition was all in their heads. It was only when the pharmaceutical companies had a drug to treat these symptoms did hormone therapy come to the forefront.

It was in the mid '60s, that the landmark book, Feminine Forever by Robert A. Wilson, M.D., introduced the estrogen deficiency theory. Announcing the news to all womankind, he wrote, "For the first time in history women may share the promise of tomorrow as biological equals of men & thanks to hormone therapy, they may look forward to prolonged well-being and extended youth."

"Estrogen," he went on to say, "was indeed the closest thing in modern medicine to an elixir of youth." So it is no doubt that Wilson - inspired by monies received from drug companies - did wonders for the sale of Premarin"! (an estrogen made from Pregnant Mare's Urine, thus the name).¹

However, what today's women should know is that, like every other magic potion, this one has a dark side. To gain the full benefits of estrogen, a woman must take this medication not only at menopause but also for decades afterward. It means a lifetime of drug taking (with women having monthly bleeding at 60) and possible side effects that include increased risk of several forms of cancer and other malignancies. For instance, a study of 240,000 women by the American Cancer Society found that those who took estrogen for at least six years had a 40 percent increased rate of fatal ovarian cancer. For those taking estrogen for 11 or more years, the increase jumped to 70 percent!

Even with the documented dangers, in 1992 alone, over 10 million American women were on estrogen replacement therapy, making estrogen a billion dollar business. And as baby boomers continue to reach menopause - 25 million more in this decade - the numbers of people on estrogen replacement therapy will skyrocket!

For those of you, like myself, that find something fundamentally disturbing about turning a natural event like menopause into a disease that demands decades of medication, why not examine natural alternatives? That's what I did. Years ago I made the decision I would not go on estrogen unless a bone density test showed a high risk of osteoporosis & And even if it did, I still might not to do it. Why? Because I believe we are blessed by nature with the safest and most potent designer chemicals - nutrients that can help balance and complement hormone levels - found not in a lab, but from the abundance of the earth.

So you won't find me taking Premarin"! or Provera" - synthetic progestins that cause many women to become irritable, ill-tempered, and emotionally unstable but which are still the most widely prescribed combination drugs for hormone replacement therapy.(2) ... After all, my latest bloodwork proves it all. Dr. Leslie Jacobs told this 50-year-ole' lady recently, "Cathy, you better be careful ... You could get PREGNANT. Your hormone levels are of a woman in her early 30s!" Bet you aren't surprised to know that Ralph and I both doubled up on "Sleep-Tite" that night!

(1)There is much controversy over the way this drug is manufactured, according to the animal activist group, Friends of Animals. To collect the active ingredient for Premarin", mares are kept pregnant nearly their entire lives and are confined to stalls so small they are unable to turn around during seven of their 11 months of pregnancy. Once born, their newborns are slaughtered as "unwanted-by-products of the manufacturing process." This slaughter claimed over 75,000 horses in 1993. In addition, while this estrogen is natural for horses, it is not necessarily so for humans and can cause numerous side effects.

(2)Studies show healthy women given DHEA orally rapidly convert it to estrogen, causing a 300-500 percent temporary increase in levels. Additionally, testosterone levels are increased.