Hormone Replacement: How to Balance Your Hormones Naturally. Dr. Cabot Sandra

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      The Peri-menopause

      This phase of a woman’s life is defined as the several years before and after the menopause. Hormonal imbalances are common during the peri-menopausal years.

      The menopause is said to have occurred when menstrual bleeding has been absent for 12 consecutive months. Because the age of the menopause varies considerably, the time of onset of the peri-menopause also varies. The majority of women will go through the menopause between the ages of 45 and 55.

      The years following the menopause are called the post-menopause. During the post-menopause, the production of sex hormones from the ovaries continues to decline, and may eventually become non-existent.

      What Causes the Menopause?

      The human female is the only creature known to live much longer than her sex glands and reproductive capacity. We could ask ‘Why us and not men?’ or ‘Did Mother Nature have a design fault?’

      These questions are valid, however the fact remains that our ovaries simply run out of follicles (eggs). It is the follicles that produce the vast majority of the female sex hormones, and thus we are no longer able to produce these hormones in adequate quantities. The age at which the supply of ovarian follicles becomes exhausted varies between women; this is why we see such a large variation in the age at which the menopause occurs.

      IS THERE A TEST FOR THE MENOPAUSE?

      The menopausal ovary being devoid of follicles is unable to manufacture significant amounts of the female sex hormones. If a blood test is done to measure the levels of oestrogen and progesterone, they will be found to be at very low levels. In menopausal and post-menopausal women, blood oestrogen levels (which are measured in the form of oestradiol) are generally less than 160pmol/L. The term pmol/L means picomoles per litre, and is a standard laboratory measurement.

       Typical Results of the Hormone Levels in Menopausal and Post-menopausal Women

      Oestradiol is the most potent form of oestrogen produced by the ovary. Other types of oestrogen produced by the ovary and the fat tissue are weaker, and consist of oestrone and oestriol.

      The function of the ovaries is under the control of the pituitary gland, which is situated at the base of the brain and acts as a master-controller for the most of the hormonal glands in the body. The glands which produce hormones are known as endocrine glands, and the medical speciality of hormones is called endocrinology.

      The pituitary gland is very sensitive to the hormonal output of the ovaries, and it begins to react when the ovaries fail to pump oestrogen and progesterone into the bloodstream. Indeed, the pituitary gland is not at all ‘happy’ with the failure of the menopausal woman’s ovaries. The pituitary gland quickly responds by pumping out large amounts of a hormonal messenger called Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).