The Hormone Players

     During our child bearing years our body needs to produce certain amounts of hormones to stimulate reproduction.  Hormones are substances the body secretes to maintain proper function of specific organs and tissues.   These substances are like messengers telling your body what to do.  They can affect basic genetic material and stimulate cell growth and proliferation.   They are extremely potent and important.  Estrogen is a term used for any of three hormones naturally occurring in our bodies: estrone, estradiol, and estriol.  Progesterone is the hormone we produce that complements estrogen in the reproductive cycle.  

What About the Men?     

    It is interesting to note that when men hit midlife they also see similar changes caused by aging.  Wrinkles, grey hair, changing sex drive, a little extra tire or two, even the old memory blip all happen to our male counterpart, who isn’t losing any estrogen.  In England a large study on mid life health symptoms showed little difference between men and women, except of course for hot flashes and vaginal dryness. 

Lifestyle Factors

     When menopause is viewed from a cultural perspective we again see the lack of correlation between disease, degeneration and estrogen decline.  Japanese women rarely experience hot flashes, due in part to their high intake of soy and phytoestrogens and Indian women who live simple, low-stress lives don’t seem to have any challenges with menopause.  The transition is smooth and painless. 

     Ultimately, the factors that determine how you move through these stages of womanhood depend on your lifestyle prior to menopause.  When the body has been in a healthy state it can easily adjust to the changing levels of hormones.  If on the other hand your lifestyle has been less than savory, you may experience more menopausal challenges as your body tries to balance good health and less estrogen.  Great motivation for encouraging our daughters to maintain good health throughout their lives. 

The Joy of Renewal and Change

     Does this mean, if you’re in the middle of perimenopause, there aren’t positive and natural things you can do to ease your passage?  Of course not, change for the better is always a good thing.  And better late than never works well here too. 

     The bottom line is that menopause is a natural process every woman experiences.  It is a time of revelation, wisdom, struggle and choices.  It is also a time to take positive action for your health.  You can’t go back in time and start over but you can begin today to create a healthy lifestyle that ensures a long and vital life.