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

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СКАЧАТЬ replacement of insulin in people with diabetes, who could no longer make insulin themselves. In The Journal of the American Geriatric Society in 1972, Dr Wilson wrote, ‘Breasts and genital organs will not shrivel, and women will be much more pleasant to live with, and will not become dull and unattractive.’ I do not think that Dr Wilson’s comments would be popular with modern-day women – they are decidedly sexist and ageist!

      Professor Brown-Sequard and Dr Wilson were correct – hormones are powerful rejuvenators with anti-ageing effects, and many people have had their lives dramatically improved by the use of natural HRT.

      Changing Attitudes

      Compared to 100 years ago, women now have a much longer life span, and go through the menopause at a relatively young age. This begs the question – ‘Is it really natural to load up every post-menopausal woman’s body with high doses of synthetic hormones for the last 20 to 30 years of her life, just to prevent chronic diseases that may never happen?’

      I think to do so is an over-reaction to a normal phase of a woman’s life. You could say this approach is not natural nor physiological, and yet during the past 20 years we have come to see this practice as acceptable and even desirable. I think this idea originated in the mid-1980s when the ‘medicalization of the menopause’ was first promoted. This concept generated fear that women must do something drastic to overcome the ‘disease of the menopause’. In 1985, a special supplement in The Medical Journal of Australia stated that, ‘The post-menopausal climacteric should be regarded as a sex-linked, female dominant, endocrine deficiency disease, with specific symptoms and signs, which should be investigated and managed in a very careful and considered fashion, for the remainder of the woman’s life.’ This concept was promoted to the medical profession, so that doctors started to see the menopause as a disease state, for which they should prescribe therapy. Thus the idea of the menopause as a disease to be feared was passed on to women by their doctors and the media. Women’s attitude towards their own menopause started to change, so that they no longer saw it as a natural phase of their lives. This imposed attitude was a barrier to women seeking to get in touch with their own feelings and reactions towards the menopause. They started to see hot flushes as a symptom of disease, and the term ‘the change’ became synonymous with the beginning of a downward spiral. This atmosphere of fear made many women feel that without dependence upon long-term medicines, their own actions could not have a significant impact on their future health. Thus the mid-1980s was a time of disempowerment for older women. They were mistakenly led to believe that the prevention of the diseases of ageing – namely heart disease and osteoporosis – could only be successfully controlled by HRT, and not with self-help measures such as a healthy diet and lifestyle.

      All women were put into the same ‘herd mentality’, and the concept of treating all menopausal women the same was created; in other words, ‘one-brand one-dose of HRT’ was thought to fit all women. The concept of ‘super-market-brand-name-HRT’ became entrenched, and the last 30 years of a woman’s life was now a lucrative commodity.

      I was never impressed with this concept, as I could see that many of my patients were unsuited to oral synthetic hormones. My suspicions about oral HRT were confirmed when, as a young doctor in the 1970s, I visited the retirement haven of Miami Beach in the US. During the 1970s, the Premarin brand of oestrogen was the fifth-biggest-selling prescription drug in the US. In Miami Beach I observed thousands of older women enjoying their golden years who had been, or were taking, the fashionable HRT. However, these women did not look healthy – their skins were wrinkled and their postures stooped, and they lacked vitality. Unfortunately the elixir of synthetic hormones could not undo the damage from years of inactivity, smoking and consuming refined processed foods. Interestingly, during the 1980s when I worked in a missionary hospital in northern India, the older women looked much stronger and more youthful than those in Miami Beach, despite a life of hard work, no HRT and nutritional restrictions.

      During the 1990s, HRT continued to increase in popularity, and in the year 2000, 46 million prescriptions were written for Premarin (equine oestrogens), making it the second most frequently prescribed medication in the United States, accounting for more than $1 billion in sales, and 22.3 million prescriptions were written for Prempro (Premarin plus Provera). The US Food and Drug Administration approved this type of HRT for the relief of menopausal symptoms and the prevention of osteoporosis, and long-term use of HRT became fashionable to prevent a range of chronic diseases, especially heart disease.

      Women Want Choices

      All of the millions of women out there who have been happily taking oral combined HRT now find themselves in a dilemma. Many feel they have been misled or abandoned, however the current situation is a reflection of the fact that research takes many years to give us long-term results. Well, we do not want to be research guinea pigs! Now is the time for women to stick together and explore the safest and most natural options. Yes, it is a time where common sense and instincts should prevail, and luckily you do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that there is a world of difference between the different types of HRT now available. Indeed, you do not even have to be a doctor!

      This book will take away the fear and confusion surrounding HRT and the menopause, and bring you right up to date. There is no doubt that certain types of HRT can help to slow down the ageing process and improve the quality of your physical, mental and sexual life.

      There is no need to give up all hope; some forms of HRT may be able to help you, with minimal risk involved. In other words, you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water!

      Very few things in life are risk free or come with a 100 per cent guarantee, so let’s get real! We all take a calculated risk every time we drive a car, play sports or, indeed, leave the house. You can even get robbed while you are still at home, and you can never indemnify your life completely. Most of us want to live life to the full and feel challenged, stimulated and sensual, so we take calculated risks every day.

      If we can relieve the unpleasant symptoms of the menopause and ageing with effective treatments that do not expose us to unacceptable risks, then we have achieved the best possible compromise. By understanding the ways that natural HRT can be given without upsetting the body’s natural equilibrium, we increase our choices of strategies that will safely improve the quality of our lives.

      Some women will not need any HRT, and will need instead a good diet and healthy lifestyle. Other women will find that the menopause and ageing process produce undesirable and/or painful changes in their body and mind, which can only be relieved with some form of natural HRT.

      Thankfully, the menopause is no longer ‘the change of life’ that is to be feared. I often reflect upon just how difficult it must have been for women who lived in the early 1900s to cope with these unpleasant symptoms. They must have been very strong women indeed, but strength alone cannot get you through severe hot flushes, insomnia, a desolate sex life, fibromyalgia or a severe emotional imbalance. These women had no choices – no HRT, no anti-depressant medications and probably very little understanding from society, the medical profession or their families.

      Today, women have vastly different expectations of life, and do not want to suffer unnecessarily with unpleasant symptoms. They do not want osteoporosis, rapid ageing or an unsatisfying sex life.

      Since the 1940s, HRT has gone through many trends, fashions and different types of packaging. We now have so many ways of putting hormones into your body that it is quite incredible! This ranges from hormone tablets, implants, injections, pessaries, vaginal rings, patches, creams, gels, sprays and lozenges (troches). Among all these possible ways of taking HRT, it is now possible to find a safe tailor-made programme of HRT to suit every woman who wants to take HRT.

      Thankfully, the woman of today has access to natural HRT, modern-day drugs and nutritional medicines that can alleviate the symptoms СКАЧАТЬ