The East Hampton Star

To Your Health
Menopause Matters
By James N. Dillard, M.D.,

(October 21, 2010)  What events mark the milestones of a life? The birthdays that end with a zero, graduations, a wedding day, the birth of a child, or the loss of a parent? Each of us will mark the passage of time in our own unique ways. Yet for women, there is an essential passage that each one must make in her middle years.

During her 40s, a woman’s sex hormones begin to fluctuate. The eggs that were the most sensitive to stimulating hormones have already been shed from the ovaries. Higher levels of these hormones are now required to make the same amount of estrogen, and so the natural estrogen levels will fall.

Gradually, the menstrual cycle, which has followed the phases of the moon for decades, will become irregular, missing a month here or there. Eighty percent of women will feel warm skin flushes and night sweats. Some will have trouble sleeping and others will experience mood swings and gloominess. But many women will barely notice a thing.

Menopause, also referred to as the “change of life,” is defined as having no period for 12 months, and so its demarcation is a retrospective process. The average age for menopause in the United States is 51 years old, but there is tremendous individual variation.

Cigarette smoking is one of the few things that lowers the age of menopause. A smoker is likely to begin menopause two years earlier than nonsmokers. Autoimmune disorders, chromosomal abnormalities, thyroid problems, and ovarian damage or removal can cause early menopause (less than 40 years old).

A woman in her mid-40s may feel “a bit off” from time to time, but she will not recognize that her mild symptoms come from being perimenopausal. It can actually be a great relief to have a friend or doctor correctly ascribe her symptoms to normal hormonal changes.

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Wow – a doctor talking about the menstrual cycle following the phases of the moon makes my day!  Who would have thought….hmmm maybe he is reading this blog!

Read the complete article and related information at Menopause Matters

eHow

By an eHow Contributor

Uterine fibroids are hard growths that occur in the muscle tissue of the uterus, particularly in women between the ages of 35 and 45. Often fibroids cause little or no symptoms; however, as they grow they may cause excess bleeding, cramping and pain in surrounding organs. Traditional medicine often treats fibroids with hysterectomy; however, you can shrink and even eliminate fibroids with gentle natural medicines.

• Make a healing natural medicine tea to help shrink uterine fibroids. Combine 1 tsp. burdock root, 1 tsp. cramp bark, 1 tsp. motherwort leaves, 1 tsp. wild yam rhizome, 1/2 tsp. prickly ash bark, 1/2 tsp. cleavers leaves, 1/2 tsp. mullein leaves, 1/2 tsp. ginger rhizome and 1 quart water. Bring the herbs and water to a boil, cover and remove from heat allowing the mixture to steep for at least 20 minutes. Drink at least 2 cups of this tea daily.

• Take vitex (chasteberry) tincture daily, a common natural medicine used in the treatment of uterine fibroids and other conditions of the female reproductive organs. Vitex can shrink small fibroids in as little as two months; however best results are seen over long-term use. Take 25 drops of vitex tincture 3 times a day.

Read more:

Read the complete article and related information at How to Treat Uterine Fibroids With Natural Medicine

Sunday, October 24, 2010 by: Dr. David Jockers, citizen journalist

NaturalNews

Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumor growths in or on the muscular wall of the womb. They typically affect about 20% of women over age of 30. Current research has shown that fibroid tumors are a symptom of estrogen dominance and can be prevented or even reversed through healthy lifestyle.

Fibroids are easiest to treat when they are small but they are also very hard to detect at this stage. Very small fibroids rarely produce any symptoms and most do not know they have them. As fibroids grow larger they cause menstrual bleeding to increase. This can become very painful especially during menstruation. Eventually, they can press on surrounding organs like the bladder and kidneys. This can become very serious and may require surgery.

Depending on the severity of the fibroids many doctors can remove only the fibroids and keep the uterus intact. This does not always solve the problem. About half of the women who keep their uterus find that their fibroids grow back. Fibroids are responsible for about one-third of all hysterectomies.
Women with fibroids are often estrogen dominant and have low progesterone levels. Stabilizing estrogen/progesterone levels can cause fibroids to shrink and dissolve all together. This is likely due to progesterone’s ability to help speed up the clearance of estrogen from tissue.

The major cause of estrogen dominance in our current society comes from the overuse of chemicals & preservatives. Xenoestrogens are artificially made compounds produced by industry. These differ chemically from archiestrogens (naturally occurring) produced by living organisms.

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Read the complete article and related information at Natural Solutions Help Uterine Fibroids

The Huffington Post

People are very upset about this, and for good reason. Female infants in China who have been fed formula have been growing breasts.

According to the official Chinese Daily newspaper, medical tests performed on the babies found levels of estrogens circulating in their bloodstreams that are as high as those found in most adult women. These babies are between four and 15 months old. And the evidence is overwhelming that the milk formula they have been fed is responsible.

Synutra, the company that makes the baby formula consumed by these babies, says it’s not their fault. They insist that “no man-made hormones or any illegal substances were added during the production of the milk powder.”

Then what is the source of the hormones? A Chinese dairy association says the hormones could have entered the food chain when farmers reared the cows. “Since a regulation forbidding the use of hormones to cultivate livestock has yet to be drawn up in China,” says Wang Dingmian, the former chairman of the dairy association in the southern province of Guangdo, “it would be lying to say nobody uses it.” Bovine growth hormones are used in China, as they are in the U.S., to promote greater milk production.

Read the complete article and related information at Female Infants Growing Breasts: Another Disaster From Hormones in Milk Production

AJC Momania

Atlanta
12:32 am August 12, 2010, by Theresa Walsh Giarrusso

A new study finds that girls are more likely to start developing breasts by age 7 or 8 today as opposed to a later age in the past, according to the journal Pediatrics.

Being overweight seemed to influence the early breast development. But researchers are also concerned about environmental causes for the earlier development.

From The New York Times:

“Our analysis shows clearly that the white participants entered puberty earlier than we anticipated,” said Dr. Frank M. Biro, the first author of the study and the director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Overweight girls were more likely to have more breast development, the study showed. But Dr. Biro said he did not think weight was the whole story. He said it was possible that environmental chemicals were also playing a role, and added that he and his colleagues were now studying the girls’ hormone levels and lab tests measuring their exposures to various chemicals…”

Dr. Catherine Gordon, a pediatric endocrinologist and specialist in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, said that breast development nor date of first menstruation has changed for white girls of normal weight.

The article went on to say:

“Dozens of studies have been published in the years since. Arguments continue, but many doctors accept the idea that heavier girls often develop earlier. And subsequent studies have also found that black and Hispanic girls mature earlier than whites, even when weight is taken into account. No one knows why. Though breasts may be sprouting earlier, the average age of first menstruation, between 12 and 13, has not really changed.

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Read the complete article and related information at Girls hitting puberty as young as 7, but why?

EmpowHER

Claire Cipoletti

May 5, 2010

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) occurs when there is an endocrine imbalance of reproductive hormones (estrogen, testosterone, LH, FSH). Women with PCOS generally have enlarged ovaries with multiple follicular cysts (fluid-filled sacs) on both or one of the ovaries that produce excess estrogen.

So what happens when there is too much estrogen in the body? The two main female sex hormones are estrogen and progesterone. When there is an increase of estrogen over progesterone it is considered “estrogen dominance.” A balance between the two of these hormones is needed for the egg to appropriately attach to the uterine wall, which is one of the main complications women with PCOS encounter when trying to conceive.

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Read the complete article and related information at Natural Ways to Help Conceive with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Dr. Hotze Blog

In the past I have commented on a curious relationship I had observed between the onset of allergies and changes in a woman’s menstrual cycle. This relationship is no mere coincidence. Once again, estrogen dominance plays a role. Maggie, whose story opened this book, developed allergies after giving birth to her first child. Gail’s allergies emerged in her midthirties, around the time that she began experiencing painful periods and other symptoms of estrogen dominance.

One explanation for the link between estrogen dominance and allergies is that estrogen promotes the release of histamine, the chemical that is responsible for troublesome allergy symptoms such as nasal congestion, watery eyes, coughing, and wheezing.
Another explanation, which I’ll be discussing in greater detail in the next chapter, has to do with the relationship between progesterone and the adrenal hormone cortisol. Cortisol, which is made in the adrenal glands from progesterone, is the body’s natural anti-inflammatory hormone. In fact, synthetic drugs, commonly called “cortisone,” are sometimes prescribed for bronchial asthma, a severe allergic condition, because they mimic the anti-inflammatory action of the body’s own cortisol.

Because cortisol is made by the body from progesterone, a decline in progesterone levels will result in a decline in cortisol levels as well. It is not surprising, then, that new mothers, women in their middle years experiencing anovulatory cycles, and menopausal women whose ovaries are no longer producing progesterone may also have insufficient cortisol and begin experiencing allergies to substances that were previously innocuous to them.

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Read the complete article and related information at Allergies and Estrogen Dominance

OzarksFirst.com

Breast cancer survivors may have one more thing to look out for. And it’s found in most women’s purses.

“We try so hard to give patients lifestyle recommendations and risk-reducing strategies and yet they could go to the grocery store, buy a product and actually be potentially increasing their risk,” points out Dr. Jennifer Klemp, director of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Center.

New research shows that commercial moisturizers, found on most drugstore shelves, can contain estrogen.

And breast cancer survivors are warned to avoid estrogen at all costs. And products that contain estrogen, are not required to post that on the label.

“And so when we did do the testing I was surprised to see approximately one-third of them did contain some form of estrogen steroid,” says Dr. Tom Kupiec, who conducted some of the research.

The FDA claims to have initiated lab work in this area, and are in the process of developing a method to detect the presence of estrogen.  So far, the names of the products that contain estrogen have not been released, but experts advise talking to your doctor.

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Read the complete article and related information at Research Finds Hidden Estrogen in Moisturizers

Better Health Research

By Donna Parker • Feb 8th, 2010

A new study is suggesting that estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may not only lead to estrogen dominance, but also an asthmatic condition in post-menopausal women.

According to findings published in the journal Thorax, HRT may increase the risk of women developing asthma after they go through menopause. Researchers studied 57,664 women who were quizzed on if they were developing asthma symptoms every two years from 1999 to 2002.

It was found that between this time period, a total of 569 women were diagnosed with the disease, which resulted in a 1.15 case prevalence per 1000 women every year. Compared with the women who did not have HRT, women who had the treatment were 21 percent more likely to develop the breathing problem.

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Read the complete article and related information at Could Estrogen Therapy Cause Asthma Development?

Better Health Research

by Donna Parker

November 12, 2009

For those who are dealing with lots of emotional stress, perhaps from estrogen dominance, researchers are finding that dark chocolate may help ease the pain.

A new study in the Journal of Proteome Research is backing up the original idea of the “chocolate cure,” and that in stressful times, dark chocolate may help cure stress.

Because very little evidence dealing with humans and stress levels, the researchers wanted to use human subjects. The study found volunteers who reported to experience high stress and asked them to eat 40 grams of dark chocolate for two weeks. It was found that it helped reduce the stress hormones released in the body.

“The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” the researchers wrote.

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Read the complete article and related information at Stressed? Research Says Grab a Chocolate Bar