Menopause -- far from being a dread...

Menopause -- far from being a dreaded end -- is viewed by more than 50 percent of all women of menopausal age as heralding a of recent origin and fulfilling, stage of life, according to research released at the chiefly recent annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). As the NAMS executive director Wulf Utian, MD PhD noted, "these findings reveal, in my experience, a real change in attitudes about menopause."

The natural proces of menopause follows with its share of symptoms, many of which can be traced back to hormonal changes. about symptoms, such as vaginal drynes inference from the lack of estrogen Others, of that kind as hot flashes, are caused by the agency of more complex hormonal changes.

Bolstering hormone on a levels naturally

Many menopausal women view hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with a skeptical vigilance Consequently, less than half of women eligible for HRT have taken it or are commonly taking it. Instead, the reflection released by NAMS shows that a majority of women are turning to natural diet and lifestyle therapies to manage their menopause symptoms -- and 10 percent of women use plant estrogen (such as those in black cohosh and soy)

Natural plant estrogen (also called phytoestrogens) act, in many ways, analogously to synthetic estrogen therapy. single in kind of the early tip-offs to the potential benefits of phytoestrogens was the observation on researchers that very few Japanese women are plagued from menopausal symptoms.

As Herman Adlercreutz, MD of the Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, pointed public in a letter to the prestigious British journal Lancet: "High of the same heights of isoflavonoid [phytoestrogens] may partly explain on what account hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms are to such a degree infrequent in Japanese women."

Adding trust to this theory, Australian researchers compared the ability of different phytoestrogens to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. A.L. Murkies and colleagues randomly -- divided into couple groups -- 58 menopausal women who pocketed from 14 hot flashes or more for week. Each set of women had diets supplyed with either wheat flour (which contains phytoestrogens called enterolactones) or soy flour, daily, for three month The wheat flour issueed in 25 percent fewer burning flashes while the soy flour reduc heated flashes by an impressive 40 percent

Although it remains to be abundantly investigated, some researchers suggest that a high intake of soy nutriments may be an alternative to estrogen replacement therapy. The phytoestrogens in soy may provide one of the health benefits of estrogen or, at least, bring to requirements for synthetic estrogens.

Black cohosh researched in menopausal women

Another source of phytoestrogens is the herb black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa). The use of black cohosh as a menopause treatment (either as a stand-alone treatment or in conjunction with HRT) can be traced back more than 40 years in Europe

According to a consideration of 60 women with menopause triggered at a hysterectomy, black cohosh extract was as effective as several synthetic estrogen for addressing menopause-related symptoms. Of course, black cohosh has the added advantage of not having the health risks or side events of synthetic estrogens. Research in the pair animals and menopausal women confirms the value of the phytoestrogens in black cohosh for relieving oppressive flashes and other symptoms of menopause.

Black cohosh can be taken for up to six month and then it should be discontinued temporarily. It is cautious for women taking estrogen therapy to ask advice of a licensed healthcare practitioner before using black cohosh

REFERENCES

Adlercreutz, H et al. "Dietary phyto-estrogens and the menopause in Japan," Lancet 339:1233 1992

Duker EM et al. "Effect of extracts from Cimicifuga racemosa onward gonadotropin release in menopausal women and ovariectomized rats," Planta Medica 57(5):420-424; 1991

Murkies, A.L., et al. "Dietary flour supplementation decreases post-menopausal choleric flushes: Effect of soy and wheat," Maturitas 21(3):189-195 1995

Victoria Dolby is a health and nutrition writer who lives in Oregon. She takes a comprehensive took at the history and health benefits of fresh tea in The Green Tea part (Avery, 1998). Ask your retailer to call (800) 548-5757

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