Can You Go Through The Menopause At 28?

Yes, you can...Katy Hayward had hot flashes and irregular periods, but when she couldn't get pregnant, the doctors reassured her that she was in 'peak health'.
She insisted on seeing a specialist and at just 28, was told she had gone into early menopause.

In fact 1 woman in 1,000 goes through early menopause while still under 30 years old, 1 in a 100 whilst under 40 and 5 in a 100 when they are under 45.

Because of the loss of estrogen this condition causes, early menopause in women can lead to an increase in bone loss and fractures and more chance of having a stroke and heart attack.

Dr Beth Cartwright, from the Menopause Research Unit at Guy's Hospital London hopes to make things better for women like Katy, by undertaking a study, as there is so little known about the condition that they do not even know the best treatment regime.

If you're interested in taking part in this study, contact Dr Beth Cartwright, Menopause Research Unit at Guy's Hospital on 020 7188 3024 or email her at beth.cartwrightatkcl.ac.uk, replacing the at with @.

HRT Increases Risk of Dementia

Even though many women feel that their memory is no longer as sharp as it was before the menopause, apparently that is not the case.
Researchers say the myth of memory loss during menopause is a perception some women have because as they went through menopause, they felt their memory wasn't as sharp as it had been before.
Demantia, which is an age related condition can however affect women as they grow older.
It was believed at one time that hormone replacement therapy could prevent this.
Studies suggesting that hormone replacement therapy might protect against dementia strengthened that belief. However, a large study later found that in older women, hormone replacement therapy not only didn't help protect women from dementia, but could actually increase the risk.

Menopause Can Cause Temporary Loss of Memory and Learning Ability

A new study has revealed that women going through the menopause do suffer from temporary loss of memory and learning ability.

For a four-year period, researchers studied 2,362 women, who were between the ages of 42 and 52 had at least one menstrual period in the three months before the study started.

This is the largest study of its kind to date and has been published in the May 26, 2009 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The women were given three tests:
* verbal memory
* working memory
* a test that measured the speed at which they processed information.

Scientists tested the women throughout four stages of the menopause transition:
- premenopausal (no change in menstrual periods)
- early perimenopausal (menstrual irregularity but no "gaps" of 3 months)
- late perimenopausal (having no period for three to 11 months)
- postmenopausal (no period for 12 months).

The study found that processing speed improved with repeated testing during premenopause, early perimenopause and postmenopause, but that scores during late perimenopause did not show the same degree of improvement.

'Female Viagra'?

When a testosterone patch for women was launched in 2007, it was hailed by the media as the 'female Viagra'. It aimed to boost the libido or sex drive of women who'd had their menopause brought on by a hysterectomy. But now, an independent drug guide has recommended that women avoid the patches, saying that the benefits are limited and the long-term safety uncertain.

An independent medicine guide has reviewed the research on testosterone patches for women, and says they shouldn't be recommended to treat a low libido. Although the research shows some benefits for carefully selected women, the improvement is small, with dummy patches working almost as well. Short-term side effects from testosterone patches are common, and the long-term safety is unknown.

The report also points out that the diagnosis of low sexual desire is subjective and can involve several factors, including relationships and lifestyle.

Source: Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, published by the BMJ Group.

Feeling Depressed.....

I haven't posted for a while, because I've been feeling really down lately.
I can't take any of the herbs for menopause as I'm allergic to them, but have been using high doses of vitamins and theanine to manage the menopause.
But I guess it's the combination of the long winter this year, a couple of colds and an ear infection that have ground me down.

I've also been feeling sorry for myself, and so much want to find the woman that I was again. I just seem to have lost that spark.

So, I have decided to take St John's Wort in the hope that it will give me that extra helping hand to pull myself out of this.
I started taking it a couple of weeks ago and will keep you informed of it's efficacy.
Apparently it takes about six weeks to work it's magic!

I will try and put up a description and how to take it etc on my Natural Menopause site when I'm up to it.

Bon Courage to all those going through the same thing.....

natural menopause