According to psychotherapist Sue Brayne, who presented her insights into the lived, felt experiences of women going through menopause in at the British Psychological Society Psychology of Women Section annual conference, menopause shouldn't be seen as a medical problem that needs fixing but as a life-affirming and normal process that women go through.
Little consideration is given to the psychological, emotional, and spiritual changes women go through in this stage of life and no matter how science attempts to 'cure' the menopause, evolution cannot be stopped. When a woman reaches her fifties, she will undergo immense changes. She has to face the death of fertility, the loss of her youth, and to accept that she is no longer able to attract the attention she once did.
I think deep down we all know this, but it is just simpler to use the menopause to explain the changes women face as ultimately the above issues cannot be solved by medication or supplements or any other quick fix, but by each individual woman on her own - not an easy process...
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Menopausal Women Benefit From Green Tea and Tai Chi
According to Dr Chwan-Li Shen, Green Tea and Tai Chi enhance bone health and reduce inflammation in postmenopausal women.
Dr. Chwan-Li (Leslie) Shen is an associate professor and a researcher at the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and has conducted a study focused on postmenopausal women and investigating the potential for green tea to work synergistically with tai chi (an eastern fitness activity) in enhancing bone strength after the menopause.
She carried out a double-blind, placebo-controlled, intervention trial which involved 171 postmenopausal women with an average age of 57 years old, who had weak bones but not full-fledged osteoporosis.
The study lasted for 6 months, during which time blood and urine samples were collected and muscle strength assessed.
The results show that drinking about 4 to 6 cups of steeped green tea daily and doing tai chi, enhanced markers of bone health by the third and sixth month. A similar effect was found for muscle strength after six months. Participants taking tai chi classes also reported significant beneficial effects in quality of life in terms of improving their emotional and mental health.
What she found important was the substantial effect that both the green tea and tai chi had on biological markers of oxidative stress. Because oxidative stress is a main precursor to inflammation, this finding suggests that green tea and tai chi may help reduce the underlying etiology of not only osteoporosis, but other inflammatory diseases as well.
Dr. Shen and colleagues hope to soon complete a more long-term study utilizing more technically savvy measures of bone density.
In the meantime, I for one, will be enjoying my well earned cuppa green tea!
Dr. Chwan-Li (Leslie) Shen is an associate professor and a researcher at the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and has conducted a study focused on postmenopausal women and investigating the potential for green tea to work synergistically with tai chi (an eastern fitness activity) in enhancing bone strength after the menopause.
She carried out a double-blind, placebo-controlled, intervention trial which involved 171 postmenopausal women with an average age of 57 years old, who had weak bones but not full-fledged osteoporosis.
The study lasted for 6 months, during which time blood and urine samples were collected and muscle strength assessed.
The results show that drinking about 4 to 6 cups of steeped green tea daily and doing tai chi, enhanced markers of bone health by the third and sixth month. A similar effect was found for muscle strength after six months. Participants taking tai chi classes also reported significant beneficial effects in quality of life in terms of improving their emotional and mental health.
What she found important was the substantial effect that both the green tea and tai chi had on biological markers of oxidative stress. Because oxidative stress is a main precursor to inflammation, this finding suggests that green tea and tai chi may help reduce the underlying etiology of not only osteoporosis, but other inflammatory diseases as well.
Dr. Shen and colleagues hope to soon complete a more long-term study utilizing more technically savvy measures of bone density.
In the meantime, I for one, will be enjoying my well earned cuppa green tea!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Does Menopause Trigger Hayfever?
Does menopause trigger hayfever? Whilst menopause does not trigger hayfever, some women do experience increased allergies as part of their menopause symptoms and this of course includes hayfever.
As women approach the menopause and their hormonal profile changes, some may begin to experience a heightened sensitivity to allergies that previously had only subtle effects, or new allergies might spring up seemingly out of nowhere.
The stress of menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and depression amongst others can leave you physically and mentally exhausted. This as well as the hormonal changes caused by the menopause can dramatically impair your immune system which in turn leaves you more susceptible to allergies including hayfever.
One trick I find that helps me with hayfever is to smear vaseline into the nostrils before being exposed to pollen etc. This traps the pollen before it has a chance to enter the body and for me, reduces their impact.
As women approach the menopause and their hormonal profile changes, some may begin to experience a heightened sensitivity to allergies that previously had only subtle effects, or new allergies might spring up seemingly out of nowhere.
The stress of menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and depression amongst others can leave you physically and mentally exhausted. This as well as the hormonal changes caused by the menopause can dramatically impair your immune system which in turn leaves you more susceptible to allergies including hayfever.
One trick I find that helps me with hayfever is to smear vaseline into the nostrils before being exposed to pollen etc. This traps the pollen before it has a chance to enter the body and for me, reduces their impact.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hot Flashes Reduced by Picturing Images Associated With Coolness
A study by Baylor University study has shown that women going through the menopause who specifically pictured images associated with coolness during hypnotherapy had a dramatic decrease in hot flashes.
The results appear in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
"This is an interesting finding because it begins to shed light on what is it, specifically, about hypnotic relaxation therapy that reduces the hot flashes," said Dr. Gary Elkins, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, who has conducted several studies on hypnotic relaxation therapy. "The finding may indicate that areas of the brain activated by imagery may be identical to those activated by actual perceived events. Consequently, it may be that while a woman suffering hot flashes imagines a cool place, she also feels cool rather than the heat of a hot flash."
So next time you feel a hot flash coming, picture yourself making a snowman surrounded by lots of wonderful, cooling snow!!
The results appear in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
"This is an interesting finding because it begins to shed light on what is it, specifically, about hypnotic relaxation therapy that reduces the hot flashes," said Dr. Gary Elkins, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, who has conducted several studies on hypnotic relaxation therapy. "The finding may indicate that areas of the brain activated by imagery may be identical to those activated by actual perceived events. Consequently, it may be that while a woman suffering hot flashes imagines a cool place, she also feels cool rather than the heat of a hot flash."
So next time you feel a hot flash coming, picture yourself making a snowman surrounded by lots of wonderful, cooling snow!!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
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 @.
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 @.
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