MENOPAUSE

by Lawrence Wilson, MD

© December 2009, 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.

This 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 most cases or occasionally due to stress, and even too much exercise. This can be corrected with a nutritional balancing program, in our experience.

This article can help you avoid and correct menopausal symptoms in most cases without the use of replacement hormones. Hormone replacement therapy, in my experience, is rarely needed and can be dangerous and costly. Before trying it, consider our natural methods first. Also, click here to read about Hormone Replacement Therapy.

NORMAL MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS

Menopause should occur without difficulties if the adrenal and thyroid glands function normally. However, often women experience hot flashes, fatigue, irritability and vaginal dryness. Other signs and symptoms can rarely include the development of breast lumps, tumors and fibroid uterine tumors.

It should be a time of great joy, ease and even relief for women who have been concerned with unwanted pregnancy, often for years. However, due to impaired body chemistry, too often it causes stress, fatigue and even anguish.

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 woman’s glandular system can react by having occasional ‘flashes’ 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 women’s 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, Hashimoto’s 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 Wilson’s 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 “overdrive” 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 woman’s body.

At this time, the problem “catches up” 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 better, but still does not address causes at all, and definitely upsets the natural hormone balance further because it does not address the causes outlined above. For this reason, I cannot recommend these either, except in rare cases where the glands cannot be rebuilt. These cases occur, but not frequently.
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 these programs, however, if needed, and these are listed later in this article. Hormones are kept as a last resort because the natural products mentioned are usually sufficient.

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, herbs and 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

If you are not ready for a complete nutritional balancing program or are having a lot of difficulty with menopausal symptoms, you may safely try the following remedies:

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. Thyro-complex. This is a glandular support product for the adrenals and thyroid gland from Endomet Labs in Phoenix, AZ. 1-800-528-4067 or 1-602-995-1580. If you say Dr. Wilson recommended it you can ask for a 20% discount at the time of this publication. 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.

4. Several kelp capsules per day with meals. This is an alternative to the Thyro-complex that is a little less costly. Take at least 3 to 6 per day. Wait a week or two at least for effects. It usually does not work as well as Thyro-complex, however.

5. Boron (3 mg capsules or tablets). This is another simple remedy that works quite well in some mild cases. This product is found at most health food stores. Take up to 1-1-1 of these as needed only. Too much boron can be a little toxic, but is helpful for many women in small amounts.

6. Ova-adren. Try this if the remedies above are not helpful enough. This is an herbal formula for women, with a few nutrients as well. This is also available from Endomet Labs. Take between 1-1-1 and 3-3-3 of these tablets.

7. Natural progresterone, preferably in a sub-lingual tablet form, would be best, though some women like the creams. Creams can build up under the skin and eventually cause problems.

This remedy is placed last because in most cases it is not needed and the others should be tried first because all hormones are somewhat toxic and they all will upset the natural feedback system that regulates the hormone balance. This is not helpful in the long run.

Hopefully, progesterone use, if needed, will be of short duration until your body balances out or you decide on a more complete program with us or with one of the doctors we have trained.

Osteoporosis Remedies. The best approach, by far, is a complete nutritional balancing program, just as it is for menopausal symptoms. However, for the prevention of osteoporosis or as a minor remedy, I recommend that all women over about age 50 or so take some microcrystalline hydroxyapatite crystals (M.C.H.C.). This is a bone extract that is a highly boavailable formula to help prevent further bone degeneration.

It is not costly and available at health food stores or through Endomet Laboratories at the same phone number listed above. Of course, 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.

Instead, take the MCHC listed above and the lifestyle changes listed above. This is far better, along with a nutritional balancing program. In our experience, osteoporosis can often be reversed with these natural methods of healing , and quickly if one will follow all th instructions we offer.

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