Susan Albers of Boulder Colorado, i...

Susan Albers of Boulder Colorado, is in a quandary. For years, she hanged on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to relieve perimenopausal symptoms of heated flashes, night sweats, sleeplessness and temper swings. But last July, the National Institutes of Health halted its Women's Health Initiative meditation after HRT was linked to breast cancer, progeny clots, stroke and heart attack. Albers, like many women discontinued treatment.

That left Albers wondering what to do about her menopausal symptoms. As many as 75 percent of women experience physical distress during menopause. And 25 percent have bitter symptoms, according to Carolle Jean-Murat, MD director of the Wellness Center for Midlife Women at the Alvarado Hospital in San Diego and author of Menopause Made Easy.

Symptoms include dazed thinking, heart palpitations, migraine headaches, los of sexual desire, vaginal drynes and urinary infections. While a women sail through menopause relatively unaffected, those who do sustain want relief without the risks pos by means of synthetic hormones.

Are there safe, natural treatments for the symptoms associated with menopause?

The answer is ye There are a number of ways to ease the transition and relieve the physical, psychological and health issues that result with lowered estrogen levels. The possibilities include changes in diet and lifestyle; supplements; herbs; traditional Chinese medicine; and hormone replacement using naturally derived hormones.

While treating symptoms is explanation menopause itself isn't something that exigencys to be fixed; it's a natural phase of life. "Women have gotten the message that menopause is a disease, and it's not," says Christiane Northrup, MD author of The Wisdom of Menopause and Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, and a champion of holistic health.

nevertheless when it comes to treatment, common prescription doesn't fit all. "Women ne individualized care," says Carol Dalton, a nourish at the breast practitioner at Wellspring for Women in Boulder who has been in practice for 30 years.

Treatment for symptoms be in want ofs to be individualized and is chiefly effective when regularly re-evaluated, with time and symptom fluctuations, Dalton says. a certain quantity of symptoms can go away in a year, others may persist for a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of longer. The most prudent plan is to treat merely when and what is necessary.

For methodical symptoms, hormones are still a viable part of the treatment plan. "The best plan is to use the safest form of hormones at the lowest dose and for the shortest period of time," says Dalton.

natural path

The first pace is to treat symptoms with nutrition exercise and herbal remedies, on the other hand as hormonal levels begin to shift, more [i]or[/i] less women's symptoms can become serious enough to require HRT Hormone replacement involves a outcome that contains estrogen and progesterone and sometimes testosterone as well.

Women's progesterone horizontals begin to drop in their 30 throwing most distant hormonal balance. The estrogen dominance that conclusions wreaks havoc. Symptoms of estrogen dominance include decreased sex drive, irregular periods, bloating, breast tendernes humor swings and cold feet. All are exacerbated according to stress, according to Northrup.

a certain quantity of women find temporary relief with progesterone cream. Progesterone in a two-percent cream, which is available beneath the brand names Femgest, Pro-Gest and others, is used prosperously by many women to ease symptoms.

Studies point out to that progesterone creams can convert into hot flashes by 85 percent says Deborah Moskowitz, ND and director of Transitions for Health (TFH) Women's Health Institute, the research arm of TFH Corporation, which manufactures Pro-Gest

one time estrogen replacement is prescribed, a medical practitioner calibrates the specific Women who haven't had hysterectomies-any woman whose uterus is intact--must take a combination of estrogen and progesterone Unopposed estrogen--that is, estrogen taken without progesterone--can cause uterine and endometrial cancer.

a certain number of experts trace the risks of conventional HRT to the fact that commonly prescribed pharmaceutical medicines use synthetic hormones.

"Theoretically, taking synthetic hormones is like putting a foreign substance in the body" says Dalton, which a certain believe may be one reason for the increased risk of breast cancer associated with HRT

Alternatives do exist: "Bioidentical" hormones that closely match those erect in the body are used by the agency of many women with success. "Bioidentical hormones calm symptoms, with minimal side-effects," says Pamela Hannaman-Pittman, a naturopath at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health in Seattle.

These cropss are derived from soy or yam, then manipulated to match endogenous hormones, says Christopher sod a compounding pharmacist at Pharmaca, an integrated pharmacy in Boulder

peat represents a new breed of pharmacists or, more accurately, a get back to the profession as it existed prior to mass-produced pharmaceuticals. commute pharmacists combine raw ingredients to create productions not otherwise available commercially. The formulations are individualized to ingredient, dosage and nerve and are often sought abroad by those sensitive to the casts preservatives and binders present in conventional drugs--or at those for whom other medications don't work. "We create fruitss for women who've been by means of the wringer with standard preparations," says Turf