Tread Carefully with HRT

Not so long ago, the belief that giving post menopausal women estrogen would help prevent heart disease was well publicised.

Now, however, the findings are that giving supplemental estrogen actually increases the risk of heart disease (along with the risk of stroke, breast cancer, blood clots in the legs, and dementia).

So in fact no woman should still be taking hormones to lower her risk of heart attack or stroke.

Even though hormones do have benefits in some people, generally, however, the risks outweigh the benefits.

The Women’s Health Initiative found that the increased risk of heart attack and blood clots began as early as the first year of hormone use. That means most women who use hormones to control symptoms do face some heart risk (as well as an increased risk of breast cancer).

If you do need to take estrogen for severe menopause related problems, then try and use the pills for no more than three years unless your severe symptoms are persistent and your endocrinologist advises you to do so.

Tread Carefully with HRT...

Menopause Related Sleep Problems

Two New Studies Analyze Menopause-Related Sleep Problems: "Two studies in the July 1 issue of the journal Sleep analyze menopausal sleep problems, finding that complaints may differ according to the stage of menopausal transition and the ethnicity of the woman, and identifying risk factors that may predict sleep problems at any stage of menopause.

A multi-ethnic study of more than 3,000 women shows that the odds of having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep increase through the menopausal transition. In contrast, the odds of having early-morning awakenings decrease from late perimenopause to postmenopause."

The study also found ethnic differences in the self-reported sleep problems. Caucasian women had higher rates of difficulty staying asleep, while Hispanics had lower rates of both difficulty staying asleep and early-morning awakenings. No ethnic differences were observed for trouble falling asleep.

Risk factors for poor sleep quality were hot flashes, depressive symptoms and lower levels of the hormone inhibin B, which declines quickly in the early menopausal transition. Sleep quality was not predicted, however, by menopausal status.

Findings were inconclusive regarding the potential benefits of hormonal therapy.

Vaginal dryness caused by menopause

Vaginal dryness during the menopause is usually caused by falling oestrogen levels. A lack of vitamin E can contribute to this.

Some medications, such as antihistamines, can also dry out your mucous membranes, including those in the vaginal wall.

Try taking 200-400i.u of vitamin E daily and using a good water based lubricant when needed.

HRT and Blood Clots

New Research on HRT indicates that there is an increased risk of getting a blood clot in postmenopausal women

Women who are overweight or have a genetic pre-disposition to blood clots should avoid HRT pills, but skin patches seem to be safer, says a systematic review and meta-analysis by French Scientists.
This was perhaps due to the different way oestrogen is absorbed into the blood stream, they suggested.
But as the authors themselves say, this needs to be confirmed with more research

However, the authors warned that the results should be treated with caution as the data is from observational studies and need to be confirmed with more research.

No trials have yet investigated the effects of oestrogen patches on the risk of blood clots.

When is a Hot Flash not a Hot Flash?

When is a hot flash or flush not a hot flash?

Falling oestrogen levels can precipitate hot flashes, night sweats etc, but another less thought of factor, is high histamine levels.

Histamine can become a problem if you are stressed, are smoking, eating foods that don't agree with you or drinking too much alcohol. It can also be a problem if your diet is predominantly made up of highly processed or junk foods.
Although in my case, I have found that it to be genetic, as I tend to suffer from allergies, which my mum does too.

If your skin is sensitive and you react violently to bites or stings, or get prickly heat, you are likely to have high levels of histamine.
So you never know, if you do have high histamine levels, your hot flashes may have nothing to do with your hormones!

Taking nettle either as tea or a tincture can help as can a low dose of vitamin C taken upto 6 times daily. These are natural antihistamines.

Also, it goes without saying, take care of your diet, drink plenty of water, and minimise your caffeine intake.