Menopause Symptoms and the Role of Hormones

Hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings and depression. These are just a few of the symptoms associated with the menopausal period of a woman's life.

For some women the symptoms they experience are nothing more than a mild irritation while for others they can cause great distress and significantly impact quality of life.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has been prescribed since the 1960s to treat menopause symptoms. However reports of side effects from such drugs: either oestrogen alone or in combination with a synthetic progestin, are for many women more severe than the symptoms these drugs aim to treat.

Such concerns, and their own experience, have led many women to abandon HRT altogether.

A Natural Alternative to HRT

While fears over HRT have been well reported, few women are aware there is a natural alternative: bioidentical progesterone has been prescribed since the 1930’s and delivers all the benefits of HRT without the potential health risks.

Natural hormone replacement, sometimes known as bioidentical hormone replacement, has been shown to offer effective relief from menopause symptoms but unlike conventional HRT treatments the hormones it contains are identical to those produced in the body.

The result is symptoms relieved without the side effects and long term health concerns of conventional HRT.

Research has demonstrated that menopause symptoms are not simply due to a drop in hormone levels but to an imbalance that occurs between two prime hormones, progesterone and oestrogen.

These hormones have a symbiotic relationship and in a healthy woman they remain in balance. While oestrogen is often perceived as the primary female hormone, progesterone is a precursor to oestrogen production and is the dominant hormone in the second, luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

Oestrogen Dominance

As menopause approaches, oestrogen levels commence a gradual decline but progesterone production falls more rapidly until stopping completely, post-menopause.

As this occurs, oestrogen is increasingly unopposed in the body, which can lead to a condition named by Dr John Lee and known as Oestrogen Dominance. The effects have been well documented and are consistent with symptoms experienced by women at all stages of menopause, in particular the weight gain around the middle that is so common at this time.



Today, the instance of oestrogen dominance has increased significantly as chemical pollutants with oestrogenic properties have entered our environment. Known as xeno-oestrogens they come from plastics, fertilisers and other man made sources and while not identical to the body’s own oestrogen, are processed by the body in similar ways.

The hormonal problems women experience are often made worse through years of taking the contraceptive pill. This synthetic cocktail interferes with the body’s natural hormone production and can contribute to the effects of oestrogen dominance.

The Problems with HRT

In most cases when a women goes to her doctor with menopause symptoms she is prescribed HRT. The objective is to supplement hormone levels mimicking the natural hormone production of a healthy woman.

HRT drugs are produced by a number of the major pharmaceutical companies and when developing their products they chose to develop synthetic hormones that differed from the body’s natural hormones, but that could be patented, thus protecting their investment.

Despite acting in some ways like natural hormones these synthetic variants are in fact alien to the body and are processed differently, leading to undesirable effects.

Some of the most commonly prescribed HRT treatments have long lists of adverse side effects that range from provoking (rather than reducing) menopause symptoms through to increasing incidence of heart disease, strokes and hormonal cancers.

In recent years the movement away from these artificial hormones has been striking, with millions of women choosing not to use HRT because of the reported side effects.

Bioidentical Hormones

Throughout this time a simple, healthy solution has existed in the form of natural, bioidentical hormones. As the term suggests, these are identical to the body’s own hormones and as such are treated by the body as if it had produced them itself.

Bioidentical hormones have been prescribed since the 1930s. Since then a growing number of doctors have discovered their benefits. In particular, bioidentical progesterone was identified by a number of specialists as delivering excellent results in treating menopausal symptoms.

Bioidentical progesterone, and bioidentical oestrogen, are derived from plant saponins and are best delivered in the form of a transdermal cream that is applied like a moisturiser to certain parts of the body.

Such creams work on the same principle as nicotine patches and pain killing gels. The hormones they carry are absorbed efficiently into the fat cells that sit just below the skin and stored naturally until called upon by the body’s systems.

Skin application is the most effective because when taken orally, in tablet form, hormones have to pass through the liver where they are metabolised and passed into the body to be used. This method means that much higher doses of oral medications have to given as up to 80% is lost during this process.

Without the financial might and lobbying power of the major pharmaceutical companies there have been few formal clinical trials of bioidentical hormones. However there are many research references validating their use, together with a wealth of anecdotal evidence from doctors that have prescribed them and the many thousands of women that have used them.

Throughout this time no negative side effects have been reported and vast numbers of women have reported their symptoms relieved and their quality of life restored.

Osteoporosis

As well as relieving symptoms of menopause, natural progesterone has also been shown to be effective in helping women with osteopenia and osteoporosis. Progesterone deficiency has been strongly linked to an accelerated reduction in bone density and thus an increase in risk for osteoporosis and bone breakage.

Evidence from specialists such as Dr John Lee have shown that bioidentical progesterone supplementation can not only halt the decline of bone mass but reverse it, strengthening bones and protecting women against fractures in later life.

Since bone mass depletion accelerates rapidly during menopause natural supplementation at this time can offer a double benefit.

Wellsprings Serenity and Twenty to One Hormone Creams

Today an increasing number of healthcare professionals are recommending bioidentical, natural hormones and thousands of women are turning to them as a healthy yet effective alternative to HRT.

Wellsprings Serenity cream contains guaranteed USP progesterone of the highest quality and it has been helping women overcome menopause symptoms and other conditions associated with hormone imbalance since 1997.

Wellsprings Twenty to One cream was developed to help women with low progesterone and signs of low oestrogen as well, such as vaginal dryness.

Twenty to One cream contains the same amount of bioidentical progesterone as Serenity, but with the addition of two natural oestrogens, with the progesterone still being the main ingredient.

On this site you can find out more about natural hormones and read the stories of just some of the women who have found relief from menopause symptoms by choosing Wellsprings natural hormone creams.

References:

Natural Progesterone - The natural way to alleviate symptoms of menopause, PMS, endometriosis and other hormone-related problems By Dame Dr Shirley Bond & AnnA Rushton

Natural Progesterone – The multiple roles of a remarkable hormone By Dr John R Lee MD