MENOPAUSE
by Lawrence Wilson, MD
© October 2011, The Center For Development
Menopause is the cessation of the menstrual period in women. It occurs when the female hormone
levels drop below a critical value needed to produce the normal cycle of
ovulation and menstruation. It is
not due to running out of eggs, as some authorities claim.
It occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 in many women. At times, it occurs much earlier. This is a sign of ill health in almost all
cases. Occasionally it is due to stress,
such as deficient diets, vegetarian diets, or too much exercise.
Menopause is not a disease and should not cause symptoms. If a woman has symptoms, they can be
corrected with a nutritional balancing program in most cases rather easily and
quickly. DO NOT USE hormone
replacement therapy or products such as Amberen. These are toxic and somewhat dangerous
in all cases. These remedies are
discussed in more detail below.
MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS
Menopause should occur without difficulties if the adrenal and
thyroid glands function normally. In
fact, it should be a time of great joy, ease and even relief for women who have
been concerned with unwanted pregnancy or perhaps plagued by symptoms related
to premenstrual tension, heavy menstrual bleeding, or other symptoms.
However, if the adrenal and thyroid glands are not functioning
well, many women experience hot flashes, fatigue, irritability, depression and
perhaps some vaginal dryness at menopause. Also, their risk for osteoporosis and some cancers increases.
None of these symptoms or diseases are inevitable, and they can
all be handled without using toxic or dangerous hormones, drugs, or herbal
products such as Amberen, black cohosh,
and other herbal products.
CAUSES OF MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS
The hormonal theory. One way to understand menopausal
symptoms is that imbalances in the thyroid and adrenal glands interact with
lowered hormone levels. This
occurs most often when the ovaries cease producing the same amount of ovarian
hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.
Normally,
the adrenal glands should increase or balance the lower ovarian production and
there should be no symptoms. If
they do not do this, then symptoms arise.
Said differently, the inappropriate responses of the adrenal and
thyroid glands to the changes in the ovarian hormones are what cause the vast
majority of menopausal symptoms.
This
means that correcting thyroid and adrenal imbalances can go a long way to
preventing and correcting menopausal symptoms.
The stress theory. A second way to look
at menopausal symptoms is that a hormonal change causes added stress on the
body. The womanÕs glandular system
can react by having occasional ÔflashesÕ of adrenal activity, which are most
annoying, though they are not harmful as far as medical science knows. This might be called the stress theory
of menopause, which is also essentially correct.
THE ADRENALS AND MENOPAUSE
The adrenal glands, perched on top the kidneys, produce small
quantities of both male and female sex hormones. At the menopause, the adrenal glands should produce adequate
estrogens, progesterone and other needed hormones in the correct balance and
amounts to avoid symptoms that can occur when ovarian hormone production of
these hormones diminishes.
However, many women today have a condition that is termed adrenal
insufficiency. This is basically underactivity of the adrenal glands. These womenÕs adrenals do not respond
correctly to the new need for sex hormones in response to diminished ovarian
hormone secretion. Click
here for an article on Adrenal Burnout Syndrome.
Briefly, the causes of weakened adrenals include stress of any
kind, nutritional deficiencies and almost always a buildup of toxic substances. These include toxic metals and perhaps
environmental chemicals in the adrenal glands themselves and/or in the
pituitary gland, which regulates the adrenal glands, signaling them when and
how much of its hormones to secrete.
At times, an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system is at fault
as well. This can cause the
adrenals to malfunction, secreting either too much or too little or the
incorrect balance of hormones.
This brings us to the other vital gland involved in menopause symptoms.
THE THYROID GLAND AND MENOPAUSE
The thyroid gland is the other piece of the puzzle that frequently
is involved in menopausal symptoms.
This is not to say there are not other causes, which are covered later. However, thyroid imbalances are very
common and definitely affect female hormone regulation in the body. Click here for an article
about Thyroid Disease And Its Healing.
The thyroid produces thyroxine, a
powerful hormone that affect the burning of sugar or glucose in the body and in
so doing regulates the rate of metabolism, body temperature and much more. It is such as critical hormone that
many people are given thyroid hormone replacement when they feel tired, cold,
short of breath or have thin, brittle or falling hair. Low thyroid activity can also cause
weight gain, a sallow complexion and many more problems for a person.
CAUSES OF THYROID IMBALANCE
Thyroid difficulties are extremely common and almost universal due
to iodine deficiency, in part due to the presence of iodine antagonists in the
environment such as fluorides, chlorine compounds and bromides in baked goods
such as breads.
I find that diagnostic names such as hypothyroidism, HashimotoÕs thyroiditis or others are less important than figuring out
and correcting the biochemical imbalances affecting the thyroid gland.
The gland is either toxic, depleted of vital nutrients like
iodine, or affected by tumors, or is not functioning correctly due to pituitary
gland problems. This gland, often
called the master gland, secretes TSH or thyroid
stimulating hormone. This hormone
directs the thyroid to secrete its hormone in the proper amount.
Other thyroid imbalances that are somewhat less common include an
inability to convert T4, a largely inactive hormone, to its active form called
T3 or triiodothyronine. This imbalance is called WilsonÕs Syndrome, and can be
researched on the internet. It is overdiagnosed in our opinion since many times the cause is
once again a toxic or depleted body chemistry. Specifically, selenium and other nutrients are greatly
deficient in this condition and it usually responds to the type of nutritional
therapy that we suggest.
Another cause of thyroid problems that is extremely common is
stress. This is a general term for
excessive physical, mental or emotional activity that overtaxes the gland. When it can no longer respond
correctly, it malfunctions, either secreting too much or too little hormone. These are among the major causes of
thyroid imbalances.
Another cause of thyroid imbalances, touched upon but in need of
elaboration, is mental and emotional stress that affects the thyroid gland in
particular. Women are much more
prone to this stress-related condition than men. Women are, in most cases, not accustomed to expressing
themselves completely. They have
been shut out of the mainstream of society by men and by tradition in many
cases, for generations. As a
result, when faced with a crisis, they often go into a form of ÒoverdriveÓ or a
more technical term is a stress response that severely taxes their thyroid
gland.
When this occurs, and it can happen at any age and usually in
childhood, the thyroid is severely damaged. The problem frequently does not reveal itself on tests until
menopause, when the deficiency of ovarian hormones places added stress on a
womanÕs body.
At this time, the problem Òcatches upÓ with the woman and she
experiences symptoms that are attributed to menopause but are really due to an
underlying thyroid imbalance. The
thyroid problem may or may not be revealed on standard blood tests. However, it is very apparent on
properly interpreted hair mineral analyses and often by symptoms such as a low
body temperature, dry hair and very dry skin at times, fatigue, weight gain in
some cases and perhaps other related conditions.
THE BONES AND MENOPAUSE
Bone
health is impacted by menopausal symptoms. Copper is sometimes involved in this process. Click here
for an article on Copper Toxicity Syndrome. Copper helps fix calcium in the
bones. Without adequate bioavailable copper, calcium may go to the bones, but does
not remain as well as it should.
Another related syndrome we call slow oxidation involves the
bones. Slow oxidizers, as those
with sluggish adrenals and thyroid activity are termed, often have biounavailable calcium and magnesium because the body
cannot keep these minerals in solution in the blood and they precipitate or
collect in the soft tissues instead.
The body then robs the bones of calcium to place more calcium into the
blood. This is also explained more
in another article on this website, Osteoporosis.
Lead
can also enter the bones and weaken them and this is the case in many, many
women. Like the fatigue and stress
feelings, the bone problems often begin to show up at the time of menopause or
afterwards. At this time, the
hormone system is under more stress and begins to malfunction more obviously. Click here for a more extensive article
on Osteoporosis in general.
PREVENTING SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE
The standard medical treatment for menopausal symptoms is
estrogen, preferably accompanied by progesterone. A synthetic estrogen is used in some common preparations,
although studies show little benefit and much danger in these synthetic or semisynthetic prescriptions. Common products are Premarin and
others. Breast cancer has
decreased as less of the synthetics are being used.
Progestins, not natural progesterone,
may be given along with the estrogen.
An example of this drug is Provera. This treatment is not too effective and
may be quite toxic for some women.
It also does not address the causes at all and further disrupts the
natural hormone balance. Therefore
I cannot recommend it very much.
An alternative used by many holistic doctors is the use of all
natural, bio-identical hormones.
This is a little better, but still quite toxic,
does not address causes at all, and definitely upsets the natural hormone
balance further because it does not address the causes outlined above. Another option is herbal products such as Amberen and many others. This product is also toxic and destructive.
The best solution is to address the causes listed above. The finest way I know of to do this is
with nutritional balancing science.
You can read much more about this approach on this website. We may use symptomatic remedies along
with a nutritional balancing programs for a short time, if needed, and these
are listed later in this article. I have never needed to recommend hormones, however, or any
herbal products for more than a few months. Then the symptoms go away on their own.
Nutritional balancing is the only approach I am aware of that
considers the lifestyle, diet, nutritional supplement needs, detoxification,
balancing the minerals, spiritual issues and more in approaching
menopause. This utilizes a
properly performed hair mineral analysis.
I train practitioners in this and they are listed on this website as
well under hair
analysis practitioners.
We find that in most cases, menopausal symptoms are quite easy to
remedy by this method! Natural
vitamins, minerals, lifestyle changes, along with sauna therapy and perhaps
other detoxification procedures are usually quite sufficient to rebuild the
glands enough to stop the most annoying and dangerous of the menopausal
symptoms.
SYMPTOMATIC REMEDIES FOR MENOPAUSE AND LOW BONE DENSITY
I do not use or recommend remedies because they are very rarely needed
if one follow a nutritional balancing program, and they do not address deeper
causes. As a result, they can make
you much worse, even if you get symptomatic relief from them.
However, If you are not ready for a nutritional balancing program,
you may try the following remedies for menopausal symptoms:
1. Drink a lot more water, either distilled or spring water. This has worked for
several women. The probable reason
is that it reduces the stress of not drinking enough water, which is a very
common problem today. Drink at
least 3 quarts of spring or distilled water only, each and every day. Use distilled water for only up to a
year, as after this it will start removing too many essential minerals. At this time, switch to spring water. Do not drink alkaline water or tap
water, preferably.
2. Reduce stress. This stops many cases of hot flashes. Reduce your workload, if possible, or
go to bed much earlier – by 8-9 PM at the latest, every night, and get
10+ hours of sleep, reduce vigorous exercise and generally relax more. This rests the adrenals and the thyroid
and even the ovaries, and is most helpful.
3. Change your diet. Eat much better quality, organic food,
and about 70% cooked vegetables, not salads. Eat animal protein every day and perhaps twice daily. Avoid all wheat products without
exception. Also, avoid all fruit,
fruit juices and all sweet foods and beverages like rice milk, soy milk, almond
milk, Rice Dream, etc. for the
reasons for this regimen, read The Healing
Lifestyle, Fruit-Eating, Raw
Foods, Vegetarian Diets, Fermented Foods, and other articles on this website
about diet.
4. Take 3 to 6 NatureÕw Way or Solaray kelp capsules per day with meals. Each capsule must
contain between 600 and 660 mg of kelp each. Effects may take a few weeks to occur.
5. Thyro-complex. Try steps 1 through 4 above first. However, this is a glandular support product for the
adrenals and thyroid gland from Endomet Labs in
Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
1-800-528-4067 or 1-602-995-1580. If you say Dr. Wilson recommended it for you, you should
receive a 25% discount and you should insist upon it.
Take at least 3 capsules daily. Rarely it will cause some anxiety, in which case you will
need to take less. You may take up
to 9 per day, in 3 divided doses, if needed.
The use of Thyro-complex should be of
short duration until your body balances out or you decide on a more complete
program with one of the practitioners of nutritional balancing science.
6. Boron (3 mg capsules or tablets). Try steps 1 through 5
above before using boron, as it is somewhat toxic. However, it can work well in some cases. This product is found at most health
food stores. Take up to 3 mg of
boron three times daily.
The use of boron should be of short duration until your body
balances out or you decide on a more complete program with one of the practitioners
of nutritional balancing science.
7. Ova-adren. Never begin with this
product. Try it only if the
remedies above are not working well enough. Ova-adren is slightly toxic and is
an herbal formula for women, with a few nutrients as well. It is available from Endomet Labs in Phoenix, Arizona. Take between 1-1-1 and 3-3-3 of these tablets.
The use of Ova-adren should be of short
duration until your body balances out or you decide on a more complete program
with one of the practitioners of nutritional balancing science.
8. Natural progesterone.
This is a hormone, so it is more toxic and will
throw the body somewhat out of balance, so try it only if the remedies above do
not work. A good form of it is a
sub-lingual tablet. Progesterone creams all build up under the skin and
eventually cause problems.
The use of progesterone should be of short duration until your
body balances out or you decide on a more complete program with one of the practitioners
of nutritional balancing science.
For more detail on hot flashes, please read Hot Flashes.
Osteoporosis Remedies. The best approach, by far, is a complete nutritional
balancing program, just as it is for menopausal symptoms. If you have osteoporosis, do not use
remedies. They are not good
enough, in my view, and osteoprorosis can be a
serious condtion that must be reversed with a
nutritional balancing program.
For the prevention of osteoporosis, all women and even men should
take at least 750 mg daily of a good quality calcium and 450 mg of a good
quality calcium daily. In
addition, everyone should drink 10-12 ounces of carrot juice daily, but not
more than this. In addition, I
suggest plenty of cooked, green vegetables daily and some raw dairy products daily
to provide very bioavailable calcium and magnesium. Other excellent sources are bone broth, sardines, and perhaps a small amount of sesame
and/or almond butters that contain excellent quality calcium as well.
Another form of calcium supplement that is very good is called microcrystalline
hydroxyapatite crystals (M.C.H.C.). This is a bone extract that contains a
number of minerals for the bones.
It is available at most health food stores.
In addition, a healthful lifestyle with some exercise, sun
exposure daily for about 20 minutes, an excellent diet and plenty of rest and
sleep are also most helpful. These
are also extremely beneficial for menopausal symptoms, by the way.
Also, I do not like the drugs prescribed for osteoporosis or osteopenia at all!!
These include Fosamax, Boniva,
and ALL the others. They have been
shown to cause jaw bone deterioration and other adverse symptoms.
In our experience, osteoporosis can often be reversed with a
nutritional balancing program.
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