Thirty-six million women in the Uni...

Thirty-six million women in the United States have already experienced "the change," or menopause. With herculean leaps in life expectancy from one side of to the other the course of this hundred menopause no longer signals the start of ancient age, but rather the start of a recent era.

The average American woman lives a third of her life after menopause, which usually begins at about age 50 However, it is not rare for pre-menopausal symptoms to start occurring, with increasing oftenness about seven to 10 years before.

Medically, menopause is caused as the ovaries, from one side of to the other time, produce less and les estrogen Without estrogen to stimulate ovulation, the menstrual periods cease. Many women are relieved to descry the end of monthly bloating, irritability, and other symptoms of premenstrual syndrome that follow pack-and-parcel with the menstrual revolution of time In turn, the natural proces of menopause also ensues with its share of symptoms.

Each woman will experience menopause slightly differently. near are plagued with a merry-go-round of choleric flashes, headaches, muscle aches, weight gain, humor swings, vaginal dryness, and hair loss; while a not many may scarcely notice the transition.

Hormone replacement therapy v phytoestrogen therapy

Many women are pertain toed with good reason, about the health risks of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) the commonly prescribed treatment for easing menopausal symptoms. Consequently sole about 30 percent of menopausal women pick out to take estrogen.

Other women may want to use HRT moreover have medical conditions that are incompatible with the hormones, so as unexplained uterine bleeding, liver disease, or past or not past nor future breast cancer. In addition, a certain number of women who may experience extra risks with HRT are those with a history of migraines, gallbladder disease, or uterine cancer.

As its name implies, hormone replacement therapy works on increasing the body's estrogen flats with exogenous estrogen. Estrogens from plants work onward this same principle, but without the dangerous side powers of HRT.

Natural plant estrogen called phytoestrogens, can fulfill many of the parts of a woman's own estrogen Researchers first became interested in phytoestrogens for menopausal symptom relief after noting that scarcely any Japanese women experience the symptoms synonymous with "American" menopause.

Could the lack of menopause symptoms lie in dietary differences between the countries? As it uses out, the typical Japanese diet is extremely high in phytoestrogens from soy (It would appear to be that researchers were on the right track with the diet theory.)

To proof the hypothesis, Australian researchers compared the ability of different phytoestrogens to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. A clump of 58 menopausal women, who endureed from 14 or more passionate flashes a week, added united of two types of phytoestrogens to their daily diets for three month At the cessation of the study, the women experienced 25-40 percent fewer excitable flashes as a result of the phytoestrogen supplements

Herbal phytoestrogens are a welcome choice

One unique plant source of phytoestrogens is black cohosh A standardized extract from the rhizome of Cimicifuga racemosa, the scientific name for black cohosh has been used prosperously for over 40 years in European countries, either as a stand-alone menopause treatment or in conjunction with HRT

German scientists, comparing the meanings of several synthetic estrogens with black cohosh extract in 60 women with hysterectomies, which surgically induces menopause, place all of the therapies to be equally effective. This confirms that black cohosh is at least as effective as synthetic estrogen Other research highlights the lack of side imports or risks from supplementing with black cohosh

REFERENCES

Adlercreutz, H et al. "Dietary Phytoestrogens and the Menopause in Japan," Lancet 339:1233 1992

Duker EM et al. "Effect of Extracts from Cimicifuga racemosa forward Gonadotropin Release in Menopausal Women and Ovariectomized Rats," Planta Medica 57(5):420-424 October 1991

Lehmann-Willenbrock, E et al. "Clinical and Endocrinologic Studies of the Treatment of Ovarian Insufficiency Manifestations Following Hysterectomy with Intact Adnexa," Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie 110(10):611-618 1988

Murkies, A.L. et al. "Dietary Flour Supplementation Decreases Post-menopausal of high temperature Flashes: Effect of Soy and Wheat," Maturitas 21(3):189-195 April 1995

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