Menopause is when our ovaries run out of viable eggs, shut down, quit producing progesterone, and produce a very reduced amount of estrogen. You are considered to be in menopause if you have not had a period for one year. Menopause usually occurs in the early 50's but can happen earlier or later.
No one really knows why we have menopause. No other mammals except for the elephant have menopause. One theory is that our offspring take so long to raise that menopause stops us from reproducing too late in life and having babies we could not care for to maturity. To me, that means it's good for the babies but not for us. I think it is a design flaw and women's sacrifice to the survival of the species.
Is menopause a disease or just a natural part of aging?
The medical profession has never really answered this question to my satisfaction. To say that menopause is just a natural part of aging is like saying pregnancy is just a natural part of youth. But doctors have no problem prescribing a host of birth control drugs: pills, patches, pellets, injections, rings. Or how about diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, and dementia to name a few? These could be considered a natural part of aging, yet they are treated, often at high risk from drug side effects.
Because of studies done on synthetic hormones--not bioidentical hormones--doctors are now saying any type of long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is dangerous. The most common theory is that HRT should only be used for severe menopause symptoms in the lowest possible dosages for the shortest possible time. (Remember, they told us eggs were bad for us, but now they're telling us to eat them again.)
And here's the part I really like. Menopausal women are only supposed to use HRT for long enough to get them through the transition.
The Transition? Transition to what? Do you wake up one morning with white hair in a bun, unable to think straight, with blue-veined pencil legs and loose skin, and your sagging breasts resting on your over-sized middle and exclaim, "Oh, thank God, I finally made the Transition! I'm so happy I'm alive even though I can no longer have sex, I wet myself when I sneeze, and my bones might break if I do anything stenuous. Finally, what's left of my body has adjusted to the lack of hormones."
Someone needs to explain this Transition thing to me.
It has been my experience that menopause doesn't just go away in some wonderful transition. Left untreated with hormone replacement, menopause can give you hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal atrophy, urethral shrinkage, incontinence, bone loss, hair loss, muscle loss, high cholestrol, high blood pressure, urinary tract infections, foggy thinking, depression, and excellerated aging of the skin, and that's not a complete list. In other words, you are decaying at a fast rate of speed.
Keep in mind that in 1900, the average life expectancy of an American woman was about 48 years of age. The fact that many women live 30 or more years now after menopause needs to be addressed. Again, I am not a doctor, only a woman going on personal experience. It my opinion (and I think it is still legal to express an opinion in this country, at least for now) that I need to replace my hormones with bioidenticals for the rest of my life for a better quality of life. And there are doctors that agree with my philosophy, but they are in the minority. It is also my opinion that doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and the FDA disagree with long-term bioidentical hormone replacement therapy because it might actually keep women healthier and that would cut into everyone's profits. If menopausal women were healthier, the drug companies would also lose their markets for bone density drugs like Fosomax and anti-depressants like Prozac, which are common treatments for menopause symptoms. There would also be far fewer hysterctomies (removal of the uterus) and oopherectomies (removal of the ovaries). There is big money for doctors in these often unnecessary surgeries. I think there have been no large studies done on the safety of biodentical hormones because there is not enough money to be made from their production and use.
There is a host of synthetic hormones produced by pharmaceutical companies because they can be patented (they can't patent a natural substance like a bioidentical hormone, only the delivery systems for them). The doctors and drug companies promote these drugs and downplay bioidentical hormones. I believe these synthetic hormones cause the bad side effects like cancer, strokes, and heart attacks. I believe bioidentical hormones are safer if used carefully.
For me and my menopause, the proof is in the pudding, not the studies or the flavor-of-the-month medical theory. I don't need a doctor to tell me I feel better. And I never did believe that eggs were bad for me.
