Menopausal-Natural-Support-for-Menopause

Natural Support for Menopause

Menopause is defined as he period of natural cessation of menstruation, usually occurring between the ages of 40 and 55. In other words, menopause is a single event: a woman’s last period of menstruation. When two years have passed without a menstrual period, a woman can be quite sure that no more will occur. The time of change around menopause, however, can last several years. The time before is often referred to as “perimenopause” or “premenopause,” and the time after as “postmenopause.” This time is marked by a drastic loss in estrogen, or what is commonly referee to as the “female hormone.” This loss can have certain effect on the body. That’s because estrogen isn’t simply a hormone related to reproduction. It affects at least 300 of the body’s systems.1 Consequently, it is beneficial to maintain normal levels of this hormone.

The Female Reproductive System and Hormones
During a woman’s natural menstrual cycle, there is a step-by-step process that normally occurs:

1) The follicle, or “cellular housing of the egg,” begins to mature.

2) As it matures, the follicle produces hormones, primarily estrogen, in large amounts.

3) The follicle continues to mature until it releases an egg into the Fallopian tubes.

4) The egg travels down to the uterus, where it awaits fertilization.

5) While the egg continues on its journey, the follicle – now re-formed into what is known as the corpus luteum – continues to produce estrogen and other hormones, like progesterone.

6) If the egg is not fertilized, the secretion of estrogen and progesterone cease, and the lining of the uterus is starved and begins to drop away. Eventually it is shed and flushed out with blood.

Hormones are like tiny messengers that travel throughout the body affecting different organs and tissues.2 Estrogen and progesterone are the two main hormones produced during each menstrual cycle. Once released by the follicle, they travel around in the bloodstream looking for places where they can “link up” with estrogen “receptors.” These receptors are usually on the surface of cells in sensitive tissues like the breast. Once “linked up,” these hormones set about their job of regulating certain body systems.3

What Happens at Menopause?
Once perimenopause (the time before menopause) starts, estrogen levels drastically decrease – by almost 75%. During this time, the ovaries gradually lose their ability to release an egg into the Fallopian tubes. Though the follicle continues to form, the release of the egg and the development of the corpus luteum that secretes the hormones increasingly fails to occur.3 Thus hormone levels drop.

Why menopause happens remains somewhat of a mystery to researchers. It is known that when a young girl is born, she carries with her all the eggs she will ever produce. Therefore, some scientists believe that menopause marks the dwindling of these eggs in the ovaries.

Whatever the reason, this slowing down of the reproductive systems occurs slowly. Menstrual periods may no longer be regular, but they will still occur, on and off, at different intervals. By the time the last menstruation period actually takes place, only a few follicles remain and the ovaries have become smaller. However, they are by no means useless: they continue to produce hormones that are important for well-being, bone health, and skin suppleness.3

1 Furman C.S., Turning Point (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

2 ”DHEA, Pregenolone…Hormone Hype Heats up; But What Do We Really Know?” Environmental Nutrition 20 (September, 1997).

3 Cutler W.B., Garcia C-R., Edwards D.A., Menopause: A Guide for Women and the Men Who Love Them (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1983).

4 Sirtori C.R., Agradi E., Conti F., Mantero O., Gatti E., “Soybean-protein Diet in the Treatment of Type-II Hyperlipoproteinanemia,” Lacet 5 (1977), 275-277.

5 “Soy in A.M. May Relieve Sweats in P.M.,” Environmental Nutrition (February 1977).

6 “Scientists Spotlight Phytoestrogens for Better Health,” Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter 12 (February, 1995).

7 Warnecke, “Influencing Menopausal Symptoms with a Phytotherapeutic Agent,” Med. Welt. 36 (1985), 871-4.

8 Stoll W., “Phytopharmacon Influences Atrophic Vaginal Epithelium. Double-Blind Study: Cimicifuga vs. Estrogenic substances,” Therapeuticum 1 (1987), 23-31.

9 Yoshiro K., “The Physiological Actions of Tang-Kuei and Cnidium,” Bull. Oriental Healing Arts Inst. USA 10 (1985), 269-78.

10 Harada M., Suzuki M., Ozaki Y., “Effect of Japanese Angelica root and Peony root on Uterine Contraction in the Rabbit in Situ,” J. Pharm. Dyn. 7 (1989), 304-11.