Cooling blankets in Canada

Ive always been a hot sleeperI’ve been shouting Did somebody turn the aircon off?! in a murderous rage since I was six years old. Now that Ive become a Woman of a Certain Age And That Age is Definitely Not 23, my need for products that will keep me cooler at night has become a bit of an obsession.When you sleep, your body temperature goes down a couple of degrees, but the heat that you let off often gets trapped in your mattress, pillows and bedding, which then slowly cooks you as if you were a sweaty little sous vide snack.Here are some products that can help keep you cool. One caveat: sleepor lack of it!is the biggest factor that makes my life 1) suck or 2) not suck, so while some of these items are pricey, this is one area where I think spending a little more on quality goods is worth it.(Related: Can a Weighted Blanket with Cooling Tech Help Me Sleepand Not Over-Heat?)

Cooling Bed Sheets

Try: Casper Hyperlite SheetsFrom $97, CasperOK, when I heard about these sheets, I didnt believe the hype. Im generally of the opinion that most bed sheets are pretty much alike, but after trying these I can say with full authority that I BELIEVE.Made with Tencel lyocell, a super soft synthetic fibre, and grid weave for maximum breathability, these sheets are so weirdly light it feels as if youre sleeping under fairy wings. Now I dont even bother with any of my other sheetsjust wash this set and put it right back on the bed. Comes in Indigo, Dusty Rose, White, Grey and Fog Blue.(Related:Meet Lyocell, a Potentially Sustainable Fabric That Could Become Your New Favourite Textile)

Cooling Weighted Blanket

Try: Gravid Weighted Blanket with Cooling CoverFrom $209 at GravidI love weighted blankets for their much-touted ability to help tossers and turners relax. But these blankets were pretty much a winter-only thing for me because I always found them too warm for the hotter months. Enter this blanket from Canadian brand Gravidboth the inner weighted blanket and outer cover are made from eucalyptus-derived Tencel lyocell which doesnt trap heat. The cover feels slippy and cool to the touch. It also attaches to the blanket with a neat zipper design that avoids the bunching Ive experienced with other weighted blankets. So far it only comes in a dark blueish greybut hope eternal!

Cooling Fan and Air Purifier

Try: Dyson Purifier Cool$750, DysonYes, I have the aircon on blast and I also use a fansue me! While of course you can get a standard tower fan for a lot cheaper than this new high-tech version from Dyson, this baby does double duty as a heavy-duty HEPA air purifier, a bonus for someone like me who has allergies and minimal floor space for multiple appliances. You can control it with a remote or via a phone app. It has 10 different strengths, and also, isnt it sexy? If something is going to be a permanent fixture in your bedroom for four months of the year, its nice when its not ugly. Comes in dark/silver or white/silver.(Related:4 Times in Your Life You Should Definitely Be Using an Air Purifier)

Cooling Pillow

Try: Blu Sleep Ceramo Pillow$149, myblusleep.comThe fancy pillows from this Canadian brand are made with a breathable, high-tech foam that Blu Sleep claims is 3,000 times more cooling than standard memory foam. While I dont know about 3,000(!) times cooler, these pillows are definitely cool to the touch and come in both back and side sleeper styles (the side sleepers have a cut out for your shoulder). Theyre also infused with essential oils like lavender, chamomile and aloe. While I found they didnt smell too strongly and the scent faded pretty quickly, these might not work you if youre sensitive to fragrance or essential oils.(Related:The 11 Best Pillows for Every Type of Sleeper)

Cooling Mattress

Try: Casper Wave Hybrid Snow MattressFrom $2,545, CasperReal talk: I havent actually tried this mattress, but Ive been thinking about it since Casper launched their Cooling Collection thats all about keeping you up to 6 degrees cooler than other mattresses. The beds in this collection have snow technology, which includes a layer of cooling gel and breathable fabric that collects and moves heat away from your body, like some kind of superhero. While theres a slightly more affordable mattress in the collection (the Nova Hybrid Snow, starting at $2,095) this one is the most supportive for people with achy backs.

Cooling Duvet

Try: Simba DuvetFrom $299, Simba SleepA duvet made with space-inspired fabric technology, this baby keeps you cool but cozy with a hypoallergenic fibre fill thats embedded with semi-conducting minerals that draw heat away from the body and an outer layer made of breathable cotton.

Cooling Duvet Cover

Try: Maison Tess Coco Linen Duvet Cover$275, Maison TessIts useless to have a cooling duvet if you just slap a synthetic, non-breathable cover on it, which is why I love my purposely rumply percale cotton and flax linen duvet from this eco-friendly Canadian brand. Comes in a range of muted pastels and chic earth tones.Next: We Found the Absolute Best Pyjamas to Keep Cool at Night

The post The Best Blankets, Bed Sheets and Pillows for a Cool Sleep appeared first on Best Health.

What is the pelvic floor?

Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles located at the base of your pelvis, right at the bottom of your core. It forms a bowl-like structure that hangs from your pubic bones in the front to your tailbone in the back. This group of muscles is a multi-tasking marvel. It provides posture support and holds up your pelvic organs (which include the bladder, uterus, large intestine and rectum). It maintains continence: Contracting the pelvic muscles lifts the internal organs and tightens the openings to the vagina, anus and urethra, while relaxing allows for the passage of urine and feces (and, during a vaginal birth, a baby). The pelvic floor is also crucial in sexual function and satisfaction. For people with penises, the muscles help with erectile function and ejaculation; for those with vaginas, the pelvic floor muscles contract and squeeze during sex, erect the clitoris and are integral to arousal and pleasure.Despite how industrious our pelvic floor is, you still might not have heard of it. Maybe its the societal hesitation to mention vaginas and gynecology, or the still-lingering stigma of talking about sexual health openly, but a lot of people dont know whats normal for the pelvic floorlet alone what treating pelvic pain might look like. It goes back to what girls are taught in schools about their bodies and what women are taught about childbirth which is, a little bit, but not enough, says Gillian McCormick, a Vancouver-based physiotherapist specializing in pelvic health and host of the podcast Small Conversations for a Better World. And, as Caringal discovered, the lack of knowledge surrounding pelvic health can extend to medical professionals. When women start to experience issues like mild incontinence, McCormick says, theyre often just told, Well, youre an aging woman and youve had a babywhat do you expect?(Related:Is Bleeding After Sex Normal? 16 Things to Know)

Does pregnancy cause pelvic floor pain?

Yes, pregnancy and vaginal birth can cause physical trauma to the pelvic region (though it doesnt mean that pregnancy is the only culprit and its definitely no reason to dismiss pain). During pregnancy, the pelvic floor creates space for the growing baby, which puts pressure on the muscles and can make them weaker over time if you dont train them to maintain strength. Many people experience incontinence or feel the need to go more often when theyre pregnant because of the added weight. Delivering a baby vaginally, especially if youre pushing for a long time, can stretch the pudendal nerve (which sends information about movement and sensation from your genitals to your brain) and put pressure on your anal sphincter. Plus, as many as 30 percent of vaginal deliveries damage the pelvic muscles, potentially causing them to collapse into the vaginal canal and leading to incontinence, pain (both in the pelvic region and the lower back), constipation and painful sex. Luckily, issues are usually short-term and your midwife or OB/GYN can teach you exercises to both strengthen and relax the muscles both before birth and postpartum.

What else causes pelvic floor pain?

Pelvic pain can also be traced to a myriad of non-pregnancy causes. Changes in hormone levels, for example, can affect the health of your pelvic floorespecially during perimenopause, when your body produces far less estrogen. Progesterone and estrogen have a large role to play in how our bodies make and use the tissues of our pelvic floor, McCormick says. There are a ton of estrogen receptors in that area, so the tissue gets fed by estrogen. When your estrogen levels are all over the map, we can start to see changes in tissue elasticity. Tissue elasticity drops as estrogen levels do, causing the lining of the vulva and vagina to become thinner, drier and less flexible. As a result, you might experience dryness or burning in your genitals, an increase in urinary urgency or frequency, or changes in libido or sexual comfort.Mental health and stress can also have a large impact on pelvic health. Pain is a complex phenomenon, Caringal says. Its not just physical painthere are emotional and psychosocial factors too. As a first step in her treatment, Caringals pelvic floor physio taught her how to, as she describes it, tone down the chattering in her brain. They practised breathing exercises as a way to calm her nervous system in clinic, and she later applied it to scenarios like going to the washroom or having sex. When youre stressed or anxious, your brain thinks theres more danger than there might actually be, which makes your body clench, causing even more pain. If you think theres more pain, you experience more pain, Caringal says. Its a bad cycle.The influence of mental health on pelvic pain is especially pressing now, with the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on Canadians mental health and well-being. A 2021 Stats Canada study found that 46 percent of Canadians indicated their perceived stress levels to be worse than they were before COVID.

How do you treat pelvic floor pain?

Everyones pelvic floor is different, so while Caringal cautions against one-exercise-fits-all examples, certain stretches can help. Glute bridges, for example, can strengthen your core, including the pelvic floor muscles. Learning how to do Kegels properly can also help with pelvic floor control and strength. However, strengthening the pelvic floor isnt the only goalsome people have muscles that are too grippy, leading to burning sensations and trouble going to the bathroomboth for a bowel movement or just to urinate. If you fall into that camp, avoid Kegels and try to practise relaxing the pelvic floor through breathing and restful stretches, like the happy baby stretch. Start by lying on your back, then bring your knees toward your armpits and reach to grab the outside of your calves, ankles or feetwhichever is the most comfortable. Keep your arms outside your knees. Then, gently draw the knees toward the armpits, keeping soles of the feet toward the ceiling. Keep your tailbone on the ground to keep the spine long.Caringal emphasizes breathing exercises with her clients, helping them work on getting their breath to a steady rhythm. She also teaches her clients about the diaphragm, how it helps us breathe and how its connected to our pelvic floor. Shes a fan of providing strategies for integrating movement into daily routines, like yoga or a walk around the neighbourhoodsomething enjoyable and easy to do every day. And she believes in pain neurophysiology, which means teaching her clients about what exactly theyre experiencing. Caringal says that 90 percent of patients then see improvement in pelvic pain, since understanding whats going on can help them feel more empowered and regulate the nervous system, which causes us to relax and our bodies to stop sending pain signals, improving overall quality of life.Caringals own practice is informed by what she went throughand she has a lot of compassion for people experiencing something similar. Treating her pain required her doctors to think about her entire body and mind, to see more than just a collection of symptomsand to validate that her symptoms were real and not just in her head. She also needed to tend to her mental health, not just her physical health, in order to help her pelvic health. In my practice, I look at the whole person. Im not just going to treat them. Im going to listen.Next,Can a Kegel Chair (Yes, a Kegel Chair) Improve Your Pelvic Health?

The post How To Keep Your Pelvic Floor Happy and Healthy appeared first on Best Health.

(Related:Trans Fat vs. Saturated Fat: Whats the Difference?)

I discovered lumps in my breast

Some people describe their health as a journey. I’d say mine is more like a roller coasterplenty of ups and some downs, along with a couple of stomach-dropping turns.

It started about 15 years ago, when I lost my best friend, my dad, and my brother to cancer in the space of three years. I’d spent so much time being a caregiver to my loved ones that I’d put my own well-being on the back burner.

I knew I’d gained some weight and was probably depressed, but I was shocked when I went in for my regular checkup and discovered how bad the numbers on my blood work really were.

Not only was I obese, but my cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure were high, putting me at risk for cardiovascular disease. I knew that obesity raised my cancer risk too. This thought was at the top of my mind when I mentioned to my doctor that I had also found some lumps in my breast and armpit.

(Related:10 Signs Youre Out of Shape)

Thankfully, it wasn’t breast cancer

Several mammograms later (as if one isn’t enough fun!), we determined the lumps were knots of fatty tissue called lipomas.

The great news: the cause wasn’t cancer. The not-so-great news: my body was storing excess fat. Lipomas, I later learned, are often correlated with very high cholesterol.

My doc gave me a choice. I could drastically change my lifestyle, or he would put me on prescription meds, and a lot of them. I chose the lifestyle changes option.

I changed my diet and took up running, eventually taking part in a 5K race. Even though I had to walk sometimes, I found running therapeutic and fell in love with the sport. It also helped me mentally. Running became my “me time,” and I often cried, meditated, and sang while I worked out.

Over time, I lost the extra weight, the fatty lumps, and four inches of chest and back fat. But even more important, my cholesterol and blood pressure fell to healthy levels.

For the next decade, I kept up my healthy lifestyle. I thought, possibly naively, that I’d figured this cholesterol thing out.

(Related: Foods That Can Reduce Your Risk of Cancer)

Then menopause hit like a freight train

In February 2019, at age 55, I had another shocking medical checkup. My cholesterol was 275 mg/dl, a number classified as “extremely high” and dangerous.

I was totally taken aback. I didn’t have any symptoms at all! I remember feeling so scared. My mother had a heart attack when I was 16, and I was terrified of following in her footsteps.

The number was so much higher than I thought it would be, and I felt ashamed I’d let myself get to this point. I was in a fog as I listened to my doctor tell me that I needed to get these numbers under control immediately.

High cholesterol is more common in post-menopausal women, but I knew that I couldn’t use hormones as an excuse. I admitted that over the past few years I’d really let my diet and exercise habits slip. After getting an injury during a race, I’d stopped running, and I’d been comforting myself with food.

Again I was faced with a choice between going on medication or overhauling my life. Again I chose to change my lifestyle.

(Related:6 Types of Heart Disease Doctors Need You to Know)

Managing my high cholesterol with diet and exercise

My sports doctor reassured me that I could lower my cholesterol through diet and exercise, and he recommended that I switch to eating a Mediterranean diet full of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean protein.

I love to cook, so I saw this as a fun opportunity to try out new recipes.

Another important factor was staying hydratedand with the right liquids. I hadn’t been drinking much water, so I ditched sodas and juice and started downing water throughout my day. I added slices of lemons, oranges, or cucumbers to make it more fun and thewater taste better.

One thing that didn’t help me was vinegar. I read on the Internet that drinking apple cider vinegar daily can help lower cholesterol. I never got to find out if it really worked (researchers are still debating this) because I just couldn’t stand the taste!

The exercise piece was a bit trickier. I couldn’t run like I used to, so my husband surprised me with an indoor bike trainer, and I took up cycling. Eventually I was able to take up running again, and I’ve rekindled my love for it.

(Related:13 Truths About Body Fat You Need to Know)

One year later

My checkup in February 2020 went much better. In one year, I’d been able to get my total cholesterol down to 197 mg/dlthat’s in the healthy range for my age. I was so proud of my hard work, and today I feel so much healthier and happier.

But while my story worked out well, not everyone’s does. Now I make it a point to tell everyone that high cholesterol usually does not have any symptoms so it’s super important to have blood work done on a regular basis.

We can’t control all the ups and downs on our health roller coasters, but cholesterol is one area where we really can have a big effect.

As told to Charlotte Hilton Andersen

Next: I Was Diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer at Age 34

The post My Breast Lump Wasn’t Cancer—It Was a Sign of High Cholesterol appeared first on Best Health.

Thank you for writing this book. As someone white-knuckling it through menopause, it was so helpful to read.

Oh, great! Yeah, women need a lot more information.

Do you want women to be dog-earing it and bringing it into their next doctors appointment? Whats your hope?

I hope it helps inoculate people against the misinformation online. Lies about hormones and therapies seem to be Instagram and TikTok fodder. I hope this helps people realize whats a scam, who is scamming themand who is just woefully misinformedand what might hurt them. And I hope it helps them have the conversations they need to be having with their health-care providers and be able to push back if theyre not getting the information and help they need.

But where can we get help? Articles about womens health always blithely say, Talk to your health-care provider, but you really only get 15 minutes with your family doctor.

I think its impossible to have a conversation about menopause in 15 minutes. Its not even possible to have it in an hour, because youre talking about health implications for 40 or 50 years of someones life. Thats like saying to a 16-year-old, We have 15 minutes to talk about your adulthood. Lets go. I really think providers need to say, Listen, I want to help you with your menopause, and I cannot help you all in one visit, so let me give you some basic information, and well have you come back or we can follow up with a phone call, and we can do it over several discussions. Its a big concept. And people come in with so much misinformation about hormones. Ill say, What do you hope hormones can do for you? and theyll come in with this long laundry list of things that sound like, well, lifenot menopause.(Related:What Happens When Doctors Don’t Listen to Patients)

Right, so when someone comes into your office and says, Hey, Im sleeping like crap, its important to remember it might not always be menopause-related.

Exactly. Menopause doesnt happen in a vacuum. When youre in your late 40s or early 50s, and you might have children in middle school or high school, its a stressful time. Theres a lot of other things going on. So many women take care of everybody else except themselves. The three healthiest things a woman can do to help her menopause are not smoke, exercise regularly and eat right. So I always start off with the basics. You cant look at hormones as a magic wand. They arent. They are a piece of the puzzle for some people, though not for everyone. But theyre not the whole picture.

What you said in the book about how exercise is like free moneythat was a light bulb for me. I always think, Oh, if I cant commit to a seven-days-a-week regimen, whats the point? But every little bit counts! A 10-minute dog walk is great! Thats like 10 free bucks.

Many women are very guilty of this right-or-wrong binary because thats how this patriarchal society has made us feelwere either good girls or bad girls. Its taken me a long time to move away from that. There are days where theres too much going onbut if I can only get in 15 minutes on the Peloton, thats okay. Its better to do it than not, and the more I just do a little bit, I find, ooh, maybe I can do 20 minutes or maybe 30. And I know a lot of people have difficulty exercising or have physical limitations, but even doing gentle stretching, even balance exercises is always beneficial.

What symptoms are women most likely to seek treatment for?

I think the most bothersome ones are hot flushes and sleep disturbances. Vaginal dryness is one I treat all the time. Women come in and are always so surprised that theres a wealth of over-the-counter moisturizers. Those can work for many people. Theres oil-based, theres hyaluronic acid-based and theres silicone-based. By and large, Id say the silicone and hyaluronic acid moisturizers tend to be really well-tolerated.

Lets talk about menopausal hormone therapywhy do you use this term over hormone replacement therapy?

Menopausal hormone therapy is the term all providers should be using now. HRT is really out of date, because were not replacing something. Your ovaries are supposed to stop producing estrogen. I think its really important to get away from this idea of a replacement, cause its not. Its a treatment. Its a therapy. Otherwise, it makes it sound like its essential. And its not, necessarily.(Related:Can Hormone Therapy Ease Your Menopause Symptoms?)

Its the estrogen that provides the therapy, right? And then you have the oral routes and the transdermal routes, like patches, gels and rings.

So transdermalwhether you put it on your skin or in the vaginais by far the safest, because it doesnt increase your risk of blood clots. Oral estrogen could increase the risk of the major complications, like heart disease, blood clots, stroke and possibly dementia long term. The risks are still not super huge, but why not take the lower risk? Progesteroneor progestincan be given orally, in an IUD or in a combination patch, combination ring or vaginal gel.

It can be incredibly hard to get time with a doctoreven without a global pandemicwhereas I can have a 90-minute conversation with a naturopath who will ask me everything about my life. Thats pretty tempting, when Im desperate to be heard.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, from what Ive seen, the majority of naturopathsthere might be good ones out thereare spreading gross misinformation within those 90 minutes. I think naturopaths are taking advantage of the gaps in medicine as opposed to solving them. What if, in 90 minutes, that naturopath had an incredible conversation about diet and exercise and sleep hygiene? But they make their money on salivary testing. They make money by telling women they have to come back regularly to retest their hormones.

I admit Ive tried quite a few things you lay out as red flags, including salivary hormone testing.

Its much harder to say if a therapy is good, but its easy to say if its awful. First of all, salivary hormone testing doesnt tell us anything. Its a nonsensical test, and the results are meaningless. Hormone testing is generally not needed because we dont base treatment on hormone levels. We treat based on symptoms, and we see if the hormones make you better or not. Seeing where you are is not predictive. The menopause transition is so chaotic. You can have super high levels one cycle and two months later, look like youre in menopauseand two months later, have normal estrogen levels again.(Related:5 Easy Lifestyle Changes That Can Help Ease Perimenopause Symptoms)

Another one of your big red flags: compounded hormones.

Theres very little data around them. Why would you want to use something where you dont know how much hormone is getting absorbed into your body? Here are these providers who believe in hormone levels saying how important it is to know your hormone levels and yet giving someone a therapy where absorption is unknown! It makes no sense. As I explain in the book, many of these [compounded formulas] contain less or more hormones than they indicate theyre supposed to. So a woman concerned with osteoporosis cannot at all be assured that a transdermal compounded estrogen could protect her.

Okay, let er rip: What are the supplements and treatments you find most enraging?

Number one: anything homeopathic. I mean, that is 100 percent a scam. [Homeopathy] is based on abusing the laws of physics. It was invented in the late 1700s. It has been disproven in multiple studies. If someone recommends homeopathy, walk out the door. Do you really want to see a provider who thinks the laws of physics dont apply? Do you want the pilot flying your plane to not believe in the laws of physics? I dont think so.

Okay. Whats next?

Something that really irritates me is [the notion that] a therapy is ancient so it must be good. The ancient Greeks believed that women were overly moist. We dont accept that understanding of physiology, so why would we accept treatment based on it? In ancient Egypt, if you had ear pain or jaw painsomething we might think now is an ear or sinus infectionthey fumigated your vagina, thinking it was all related. As I say in the book, I never mean to insult people from 3,000 years agothey were doing the best they could at the time. I often think people in ancient cultures would be horrified to think, Wait, you had 3,000 years to advance, and youre still doing what we were doing?(Related:9 Questions About Menopause Youve Been too Embarrassed to Ask)

What about MTHFR testing?

This latest trend irritates me to no end. MTHFR is a genetic mutation thats related to many functions. Its a nothing variant. However, in the naturopathic and functional-medicine communities, this has become a cottage business. People come in, and they have MTHFR testing and special supplements and hormone levels and all kinds of things. These practitioners make up lies about how it impacts estrogen and how it impacts your ability to get vaccinated and how it impacts pregnancythe testing is completely unnecessary. It is NOT needed. But its a huge thing on Instagram right now, and its absolutely obscene.And lets add topical progesterone to that. One, its not going to help with any of their symptoms, so theyre paying a lot of money for a placebo. But if theyre also taking estrogen, theyre now not getting their uterus protected and they are increasing their risk of endometrial cancer.

I really wanted it! A couple of years ago, I saw a woman on Twitter say, Oh my god, you guys, I got this cream, its a magic cream, Im sleeping, Im happy and I went in search of the magic cream. How desperate we all are for the magic cream!

It really shows you the power of placebo, right?

Yeah, she really believed it. She was saying, Oh god, this is saving me.

Its very dangerous. Yeah, that really irritates me. My next one is the conflation of phytoestrogens and estrogens. They are different things. People think theyre getting estrogen from their food. Providers lead people to believe this, so I have patients come in convinced theyre using phytoestrogens when theyre using estrogen, so I think thats an issue.And my last one is the absolute misinformation about plant-based hormones. Because all hormoneswith the exception of Premarinare made from the same thing. So whether you take estradiol from Big Pharma or get estrone from a compounding pharmacy, it is made in the same place from the same thing. Its literally like having a box of generic Cheerios and then taking some out and wrapping them up in a pretty glass bottle with a ribbon and saying, Here are your bespoke plant-based Cheerios. Its a scam. Women deserve medicine. They dont deserve marketing.

Because they know were desperate.

Everybody wants an easy answer. Everybody. I want easy answers to all my medical problems as well, and for my children and for my partner, and for people I love. But life is complex. Medicine is complex. And there are no easy answers. But there are many solutions, and those solutions can be found in a lot of places. If people are only selling you homeopathy or only telling you to have compounded hormones, youre not getting the wealth and breadth of evidence-based medicine you should be hearing about. If youre making a decision about treatment, its not even an informed decision, because you havent been informed!

I love this quote of yours: Facts can bring certainty to the chaos and uncertainty of menopause.

People are so happy to have things explained in a way they can understand so they can sit back and make the decision that works for them in an informed manner.Im all about options. I trust women to make decisions about their bodies. What I have found over my whole medical career is that people want a plan. When they come in and theyre desperateand I hear they are desperate, and I appreciate that they are desperatemany people mistake that for desperate for a prescription. But what they are desperate for is a plan.Next, this is what Timothy Caulfield has to say about anxiety and debunking popular health myths.

The post Dr. Jen Gunter Sets the Record Straight on Menopause appeared first on Best Health.

Consume strategically

Adding more fruits and vegetables into your diet, making sure you get adequate protein and optimizing your calcium and vitamin D intake help promote a general sense of well-being. Minimizing caffeine and alcohol are huge for improving sleep, mood, hot flashes and incontinence. But listen, when youre feeling bad because of your symptoms, its going to be more tempting not to abide by these guidelines. I say, as with all these changes, its baby steps. When you notice that drinking one cup of coffee a day instead of three, for example, means youre sleeping better or you have fewer hot flashes or youre going to the bathroom less, it will help you to reinforce that behaviour. For a lot of women, spicy food triggers hot flashes. For some women, its refined sugar. Its a bit of trial and error, but knowing what your triggers are and trying to limit your intake of them is a big first step.

Make a move

At first, women might notice that when theyre more active, they get more hot flashes. But studies do show that women who get into a regular exercise routine lets say, 150 minutes per week, split up however you like have fewer hot flashes, sleep better, have a higher sex drive and have a better sense of well-being. They feel good about themselves. High-intensity interval training has a bit more benefit than some other forms of exercise, especially for weight maintenance. Weight training using light weights or resistance bands is especially important for bone health, which is a concern as women age. But anything that gets your heart rate up is good.(Related: Can Hormone Therapy Ease Your Menopause Symptoms?)

Be mindful

Stress can be a humongous trigger for symptoms. Hot flashes get worse, mood swings can be more intense. But were seeing in studies that the meditation practice of mindfulness is great for stress reduction, and practising mindfulness has been linked to fewer hot flashes and better sleep, which leads to better mood and even better sex. For a lot of women, it can be difficult to be in the moment during sex. A big part of mindfulness is being able to enjoy and be present in whats happening in the here and now. Even practising five minutes a day can produce benefits.

Experiment with herbals

The effects are mild to moderate at best, but out of all the herbal treatments, probably the one with the most evidence is soy. It depends on whether a woman has the right enzyme for it to be broken down into the products that help. Studies show that a greater proportion of Asian women have the right enzyme for soy to work. The key to trying herbals is to give it two to three months and then reassess. If, in that time, you do not notice a good enough benefit from herbals, stop taking them, because you should have seen a result by then.(Related: 5 Changes to Your Diet to Help Ease Perimenopause and Menopause Symptoms)

Please, just moisturize your vagina

We dont talk enough about the discomfort of vaginal dryness. More than 60 percent of women in the later years of menopause experience it. This is something you can solve without ever talking to a doctor! Drugstore vaginal moisturizers are just like a moisturizer for the body but formulated for the vagina look for ones with hyaluronic acid, which are particularly effective.Next: Why You Need to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Now

The post 5 Easy Lifestyle Changes That Can Help Ease Perimenopause Symptoms appeared first on Best Health.

1. Your hormones will go haywire

Estrogen serves a bunch of different functions in our bodies: At normal levels, it keeps our heart healthy, our bones strong, our minds sharp and our cholesterol in check. It also (no surprise!) plays an important role in our menstrual cycles. For most of our reproductive years, our ovaries produce estrogen to develop the uterine lining to support pregnancy, while progesterone, typically produced during ovulation, is used to control that growth. No pregnancy? Estrogen and progesterone levels both drop, the lining sheds and you reach for a carton of ice cream.But as women age, our ovaries dont make estrogen or progesterone in the same way. And that throws the whole delicate system out of whack, causing estrogen to spike at certain times and plummet at others. You get these fluctuations sometimes higher, sometimes lower as your overall estrogen levels drop over the perimenopausal period, says Dr. Lindsay Shirreff, obstetrician and gynecologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. And its the fluctuation in estrogen that leads to all those bothersome symptoms.(Related: Can Hormone Therapy Ease Your Menopause Symptoms?)

2. Things are going to get damp

Heres what we do know: A sudden onslaught of sweatiness known by sunrise as hot flashes and by sunset as night sweats will be experienced by as many as 55 percent of perimenopausal women, making it one of the most common symptoms. We know each episode tends to last between three and 10 minutes, and can occur daily, even hourly, for certain women but just occasionally for others. Sometimes you might feel a little warm, and sometimes you can be left soaked.Heres what we dont know: what exactly provokes these wretched spells. The best guess is that hormonal changes tell the hypothalamus thats the part of the brain that helps control temperature that the body is too hot, which triggers copious sweating, a trick to cool us down. But even after roughly 50 years of studying the physiology of menopausal hot flashes, no one has nailed down the actual cause.

3. There will be blood

During perimenopause, your menstrual cycle will likely become irregular. Some women might experience a spike in estrogen, causing the uterine lining to become thicker, and a drop in progesterone, which can lead to unrestrained lining growth. The result? So much heavy bleeding, says Dr. Nese Yuksel, a professor with the faculty of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Alberta. Other women might experience the opposite, with lighter bleeding. More than a quarter of perimenopausal women surveyed by the University of Michigan in 2014 had at least three periods in six months that went on for brace yourself 10 days or more. A whopping 91 percent of women had between one and three super periods over a span of three years. For most women, the time between cycles lengthens over perimenopause, giving the lining a greater chance to build up before its dramatic exit. But some women will see their periods get closer and closer together as a result of that hormonal imbalance.(Related: 5 Changes to Your Diet to Help Ease Perimenopause and Menopause Symptoms)

4. There could be a baby

Yes, women can still get pregnant in perimenopause, Yuksel says. The general quality and number of our eggs may be declining during this time, but theres always that unforeseen overachiever. If you choose a hormonal contraceptive to avoid a surprise pregnancy, there is another bonus: Certain types of oral contraceptives and progestin IUDs can also be treatments for heavy periods.

5. But there might not be sex

Maybe its a drop in the hormones that once upon a time caused us to feel frisky. Maybe its that perimenopausal women are 40 percent more likely than their younger selves to experience frequent pain during sex, most often as a result of vaginal dryness. Maybe its remember? all that sweating. There are lots of things that contribute to a loss in womens libido, Shirreff says. Its definitely a common complaint.But while 75 percent of women surveyed by the Study of Womens Health Across the Nation (SWAN) say sex is moderately to extremely important to them, a collapsed sex drive can be seen by society and doctors as inevitable at this time. Theres this idea that you should have low libido, like, Look at you: Youre so busy looking after everybody, your children, your parents, your job, Yuksel says. There can be a lot of gender bias, unfortunately, toward womens health and sexuality. Generally, people dont feel comfortable talking about vaginas. But its critical to steel yourself and have this conversation, she says, because there are treatments available for perimenopausal symptoms.(Related: 9 Questions About Menopause Youve Been too Embarrassed to Ask)

6. Youll feel like a teenager again

Mood swings? Oh, very much so. Up to 70 percent of perimenopausal women confessed to being irritable (according to researchers at McMaster University and the University of Toronto), while women who entered perimenopause with low levels of anxiety saw their likelihood to feel high anxiety triple (says a 10-year multi-ethnic study from SWAN). Women who have a history of clinical or postpartum depression are more predisposed to feeling depression at this time, but even women without that history can feel out of control, Yuksel says. In fact, an eight-year study from the University of Pennsylvania found that women who had never experienced a depressive episode before were four times more likely to do so during perimenopause.Then theres the acne: Falling estrogen levels can result in a rise in androgens, which trigger excess sebum, causing pimples to erupt across your face. Theres also the listlessness: More than half of perimenopausal women are fighting fatigue. And then theres, god help us, the hair: The Cleveland Clinic found increased facial hair growth occurs. Its the triumphant return of puberty, only this time

7. You wont sleep like a teenager again

Theres a decent chance you dont sleep well already: At some point, one in four women will experience symptoms of insomnia. But during perimenopause, that rate jumps as high as 42 percent after all, its hard to enjoy eight hours of blissful slumber when you keep waking up sweaty in the middle of the night. Decreasing estrogen makes it more difficult to fall (and stay) asleep, and its also associated with sleep-disordered breathing. In fact, a 2018 study in the Nature and Science of Sleep found that women transitioning into menopause are more likely to suffer from serious sleep apnea.(Related: Everything You Need to Know About Vaginal Discharge)

8. Your bladder and abdomen and pelvis might start to feelweird

Look: Theres just going to be a lot more peeing. A University of California study revealed that 34 percent of women age 40 and older get up once a night to use the bathroom, and one-third of that group makes the trip a second time or more. And a University of Washington review found that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms bloating, bowel discomfort, abdominal pain are more common in perimenopausal women, regardless of whether they actually have IBS.You also might notice that your pelvic floor isnt feeling its usual self. As muscles and ligaments stretch and weaken, especially in women whove given birth, over time they no longer provide enough support for the uterus, leading to pelvic organ prolapse. It can happen at any age, but most often it affects postmenopausal women who have experienced a drop in estrogen levels, Shirreff says. Good news: Mild prolapse doesnt require treatment. Better news: A study of participants in the Womens Health Initiative found that spontaneous regression is common, especially for mild prolapse.(Related: Why You Need to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Now)

9. Youll forget what #9 is

Start tying strings around your fingers and maybe your phone, your keys and your kid. Brain fog is incredibly common during perimenopause, Yuksel says. I see this with my own friends: I cant remember this word; I dont know whats going on. In the 2016 Seattle Midlife Womens Health Study, nearly three-quarters of women said they had problems summoning names, while half struggled to remember where they put things, what they just said, what they just heard and what they were, at that precise moment, meant to be doing.Forgetfulness and difficulty thinking clearly is related to a drop in estradiol around the time of perimenopause, Shirreff explains. Estradiol, the most potent of our three estrogen hormones, is a crucial part of memory formation and cognitive function; as it goes, so too does our concentration and recall. You might think that hot flashes, sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety would compound these problems, but nope: A six-year analysis from SWAN found they dont account for the fog of perimenopause. Our brain works in mysterious ways.Just as mysterious? Our brains ability to bounce right back. A separate four-year analysis from SWAN confirmed that our cognitive woes have an expiration date: Once women transition fully into menopause, brain function rebounds to its premenopausal state. Thats not to say, however, that we should all suffer through cognitive disturbances or mood swings, or super periods or pelvic organ prolapse until perimenopause passes and order is restored. More research and overall conversation is needed about perimenopause, and one part of the misinformation is that there arent options to help, Yuksel says. Theres a physiological reason for all of this, and there are evidence-based treatments available too.Next: Can Cannabis Help Kick-Start My Sex Drive?

The post 9 Things You Didn’t Know (And Might Forget) About Perimenopause appeared first on Best Health.

• Abdominal fat gain and general weight gain
• Sleep interruption; difficulty falling and staying asleep
• Mood swings; increased or unpredictable irritability, sadness and anger
• Hot flashes or temperature intolerance
• Constipation, reflux and bloating

The good news: You do not have to sign-up to feel hot, angry and bloated for 10 years! Here are some of the most effective dietary strategies that can help manage symptoms:

1. Meet your fibre goal daily

Most women do not get enough fibre daily, which is a problem, because its an amazing source of energy for your gut bacteria. Your microbiome (a.k.a. your gut bacteria) thrive on a diet high in undigestible fibres from whole vegetables and fruit (with the skin), whole grains, legumes and fermented foods. Women need about 30 to 35 grams of total fibre daily, this can be from a mixture of foods (try steel-cut oats, barley, apples, blueberries, broccoli, chickpeas, and black beans as regular options.) As an example, a medium-sized whole apple typically contains four to five grams of fibre, and one cup of black beans has 15 grams of fibre.

2. Eat lower glycemic index foods

Insulin is a hormone made in the body that is released when we eat, to help transport blood sugar to in muscle and brain cells. Too much insulin production has been linked to many inflammatory diseases and can aggravate fat accumulation around the abdomen, which wreaks havoc with hormones and can aggravate symptoms of menopause. Foods that turn to sugar quickly in the bloodstream are considered high on the glycemic index (e.g. white sugar, white rice, white potatoes, many processed foods and sweetened treats) causing more insulin to be released. Legumes, whole grains such as barley, rye and oats, lower sugar fruits, any non-starchy vegetables are lower glycemic options. Look at the International Glycemic Index Tables by Jenny Brand-Miller for a full list.

3. Give whole soy and tofu a try

Whole soy foods, such as edamame (soy) beans fresh or frozen, plain tofu or unsweetened fortified soy milk can help ease symptoms of hot flashes thanks to presence of whole isoflavones. These are phytochemicals that may help balance hormonal fluctuations associated with menopause. Aim for 25 grams of whole soy protein a day, from foods such as plain tofu and edamame (not supplements). Eating these foods regularly is also a great way to get protein, calcium and fibre at the same time.

4. Hydrate hydrate hydrate

Dehydration can have a huge effect on symptoms: Even a two- to three-percent change can cause cognitive difficulties and affect decision-making. Digestive issues such as constipation and reflux can also worsen without adequate hydration. And take note: dehydration can be mistaken for hunger cues which can lead to snacking or eating larger portion sizes. Aim to have at minimum two litres of hydrating fluid daily.

5. Reduce or eliminate alcohol and caffeine

This can be one of the more challenging aspects of improving peri and menopausal symptoms. Habits such as a regular nightly glass of wine to relax or coffee later in the day to boost your energy, can begin to drastically impact sleep and mood during this stage. Alcohol is a depressant and can cause dehydration. It can lead to overeating and aggravate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Alcohol and caffeine can interrupt deep REM sleep-cycles, even if consumed hours before sleep, which compounds the hormonal disruption of sleep in menopause. Aim to have alcohol less often or not at all. Limit caffeine to before 11 a.m.The trick with all of these changes is to be as consistent as possible, and to compliment them with other healthy behaviours like getting regular exercise (especially weight-bearing exercise). And remember, youre not alone talking about symptoms with your doctor and your friends and family can be a huge help. Its a wild time, so having some support systems in place can go a long, long way.Nishta Saxena is a Registered Dietician and nutrition educator based in Toronto.Next: 9 Questions About Menopause Youve Been too Embarrassed to Ask

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Questions about menopause

Menopause is known for its many different hormonal changes. You might expect some of the menopause symptoms that come before (here are perimenopause symptoms to know about) or after this major change, while others will come as a surpriseand may even be a little embarrassing. Here are the most common questions people have about menopause symptoms with answers from top doctors.

I basically never want to have sex anymore. What gives?

This is a common complaint as women approach menopause, says Jason James, MD, a board-certified ob-gyn and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Baptist Hospital in Miami. Hormonal changes can result in a drop in free testosterone, the hormone responsible for libido. This, coupled with physical changes and new life stressors can cause women to complain of a drop in or lack of desire for sexual intimacy, he says. There are some medical options for treatment, but most solutions involve working together as a couple to ensure foreplay and intimacy are prioritized. Also, check out these natural libido boosters that could help you have better sex.

It feels like I cant orgasm as easily anymore. What can I do about this?

This is a common issue for many menopausal women (but younger women can certainly have trouble having an orgasm during sex, too). Steven A. Rabin, MD, a board-certified ob-gyn in Burbank, California had a patient who ceased having orgasms altogether once she hit menopause. He shares, It turns out she had severe [vaginal] atrophy. The thin, dry skin had shrunk so much it covered over her clitoris, a condition called clitoral phimosis. We were able to help with local estrogen cream and after six weeks she was back to her old self.

I sometimes leak urine or can’t make it to the bathroom in time. Is this something I have to live with?

Dr. James says that the hormonal changes of menopause can cause atrophy in the tissues of the vagina and pelvic floor, which can lead to episodes of incontinence with certain activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, or jumping. This is called stress urinary incontinence because of physical stress on the pelvic floor. In addition, hormonal changes can exacerbate overactive bladder symptoms, which cause sudden urges to urinate or leaking before reaching the restroom. Treatment options include bladder retraining, physical therapy, exercises such as Kegels, or surgery, he says. Here are more ways to stop bladder leaks.

I drench my pajamas and sheets constantly with night sweats. Its annoying and embarrassing. What can I do?

Night sweats are another form of hot flash that come with perimenopause. Hot flashes, including night sweats, can vary from rare occurrences to dozens a day. Dr. James recommends nutritional supplements, prescription medications, and hormones that can alleviate these symptoms, along with regular exercise, diet modifications, and the use of a fan in the bedroom to promote air circulation. Here are some other remedies for hot flashes that really work.

Is it normal for sex to hurt?

Vaginal atrophy, a symptom of menopause, can cause vaginal dryness, which leads to pain during intercourse. This pain can cause a feedback loop, which results in a lack of desire to have sex. Increased foreplay, use of vaginal moisturizers, lubricants, hormones, or other medications can all lead to improvement of this common complaint, says Dr. James.

And Dr. Rabin takes this further by saying, Menopausal women experience a peak in their dryness and pain with sex about four years after their final period. The loss of elasticity leads to the inability to accommodate their partner even with gobs of lubrication. Talk to your doctor about a treatment option for severe vaginal atrophy for pain-free sex.

Im gaining weight even though I am exercising and my eating habits have not changed. Why is that?

Many women experience a decrease in their metabolism that accompanies menopause. A diet and exercise regimen that once allowed for weight maintenance might now need to be tailored for stricter calorie restriction, carbohydrate reduction, or increased exercise to yield the same results, says Dr. James. Belly fat can be a particularly frustrating menopause body change. Here’s how to boost your metabolism.

What’s with these mood swings? Sometimes I feel like a teenager all over again

Severe emotional lability, or mood swings, can have significantly detrimental effects on interpersonal relationships as women journey through menopause. Simply recognizing these mood changes can go a long way in minimizing their impact, says Dr. James. He recommends exercise, nutritional supplements, cognitive behavioral therapy, along with medications such as antidepressants or hormone replacement therapy to minimize the effect of these mood changes. (Also, learn if red clover can relieve symptoms of menopause, like mood swings.)

My hair is thinning but Im also growing a beard. Whats up with that?

Excessive hair loss and excessive hair growth are common during menopause. Unwanted facial hair is called hypertrichosis. Its very common during and after menopause and is another result of hormonal changes. Dr. James says that a thorough review of a patient’s medication regimen and laboratory tests can help pinpoint common causes of hair loss in women and that there are many options available for treatment, so see your doctor or seek out a specialist that concentrates on female hair loss.

I have constant vaginal burning and itching. How can I make it stop?

Dr. Rabin says that every day he has conversations with his patients between ages 40 and 70 about this very issue. “Menopause is marked by the retirement of the ovaries. When they stop producing hormones, specifically estrogen, many of the tissues in the body begin to change. Vaginal dryness, itching, and cracking make it difficult to go through the day. He recommends vaginal moisturizers, local estrogen therapy, systemic hormone therapy as well as other non-hormonal prescriptions based on your needs and goals.

Next, learn if hormone replacement therapy is right for you.

The post 9 Questions About Menopause You’ve Been too Embarrassed to Ask appeared first on Best Health.

Women have unique needs

When it comes to nutrition, the needs of men and women overlap in many areas. But differences exist, too. For instance, women need more iron than men. And pregnant and breastfeeding women have many specific nutrient needs. They need more of many vitamins and mineralsincluding vitamin C, folate, vitamin B12, iodine, and zincthan the typical adult. Many more differences in nutritional needs exist, which is why experts weighed in to create this list of summer superfoods handpicked especially for women.(Also, here are the most affordable superfoods to eat every day.)

Cherries

These red gems are at their prime availability in the summer. “Cherries contain anthocyanins, the component that gives cherries their rich red color,” notes Rahaf Al Bochi, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Anthocyanins are flavonoids that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, which help reduce the risk for chronic diseases.” Use fresh cherries in our sour cherry smoothieor cherry vinaigrette. Andlearn about other foods that can help you beat inflammation.

Walnuts

These crunchy nuts can add nutrition to so many dishes. “One my go-to superfoods for women is walnuts,” says Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD, a dietitian in New York City and a nutrition partner with California Walnuts. “A preliminary study shows promising results that walnut consumption could play a role in suppressing the growth and survival of breast cancers. Researchers believe that a variety of nutrients in walnutsincluding good polyunsaturated fats, antioxidants, and fibercould be contributing to these positive effects.” Enjoy walnuts at snack time in ourtrail mix.

Tomatoes

“This summertime favorite is full of lycopene, a disease-fighting nutrient benefitting women by helping to lower their risk of cancer and heart disease,” says Cheryl Mussatto, MS, RD, a dietitian in Osage City, KS. “Since lycopene is fat-soluble, add a healthy fat such as olive oil to tomatoes to boost absorption.” Use them to make our heirloom tomato tart or fresh mango and tomato salsa.

Watermelon

Did you know fresh fruit boasts a super high percentage of water? “It’s literally bursting with fluid,” says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, a dietitian in Boston, MA. “A cup of cubed watermelon supplies nearly 5 ounces of fluid to help you stay hydrated in the hot summer weather. It also offers the antioxidant lycopene, plus potassium for fluid balance. Freeze it in slices for even more fun.” You can also enjoy watermelon in a smoothie or a salad with feta cheese.

Flaxseed

These crunchy seeds pack a big nutrition punch for their size! “Flaxseed, a superfood providing omega-3 fatty acids and lignans, is well known for helping to promote hormone balance,” says Bailee Hart, RDN, a dietitian in Los Angeles. “This can be especially beneficial during menopausal years and is a viable alternative option to hormone replacement therapy. Women in menopause can try adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed to their smoothies this summer to help reduce hot flashes, mood swings, and night sweats.” (Here are other natural alternatives to ease menopause symptoms.)

Berries

“All berries contain plenty of powerful cancer-fighting nutrients called anthocyanins, which can help reduce the risk of several types of cancerincluding breast cancer,” says Melissa Mitri, MS, RD, a dietitian in Milford, CT. These antioxidants also help protect the heart. Try our berry detox smoothie orberry and yogurt parfaits. Also,did you know having berries at breakfast can help you lose weight?

Avocado

In addition to heart-healthy fats, this green superfood boasts many other nutrients. “Avocado provides vitamins B6, folate, and magnesium,” says nutrition blogger Jeanette Kimszal, RDN. “These compounds are needed for hormone production, and they help with symptoms of PMS.” Folate has other benefits, too. “It is important for women’s health since it helps make DNA and other genetic materials that are especially needed during pregnancy,” notes Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN, author of 365 Snacks for Every Day of the Year. Whip up our breakfast sandwiches with smashed avocado.

Quinoa

“This grain is loaded with fiber and protein to aid with weight control and digestion,” says nutrition blogger Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD. The combination of fiber and protein helps to keep you fuller for longer, which can help decrease the urge to snack. Mix quinoa into ourkitchen sink quinoa salador nutty and fruity quinoa salad with maple vinaigrette.

Dark chocolate

“Let’s be real: Women need chocolate,” says nutrition blogger Michele Fumagalli, RD. “Luckily, a serving of 70 to 85 percent dark chocolate is a perfect way to satisfy a craving while also providing powerful antioxidants, fiber, and magnesium. Have a square of dark chocolate with your coffee.” The flavonoids in chocolate can also help your brain function optimally, finds research. Unsweetened cocoa powder also does the trick, and this antioxidant-rich food mixes well into many recipes. You need to try our chocolate avocado brownies.

Eggs

These protein sources boast many nutrients that are helpful to women. “Eggs provide choline, a nutrient not only tied to brain health and development but also a reduced risk of breast cancer,” says Sarah Anzlovar, MA, RDN, a dietitian in Boston, MA. For a brunch (or breakfast-for-dinner) dish that’s sure to impress, try Spanish-style eggs.

Green tea

When iced, green tea makes a refreshing summer drink. In addition to providing heart benefits, green tea is a superfood beverage for women because it provides antioxidants that may help protect the skin from aging caused by UV rays. Chill out under the sun with our green tea & mango smoothie.

Prunes

Here’s a reason to eat your purple fruit: “Prunes contain vitamin K and potassium, which are important for healthy bones,” says nutrition blogger Josten Fish, RD. “Studies have actually shown that daily consumption of prunes in women can help prevent bone loss.” Try eating them in dried fruit compote.

Arugula

This peppery-tasting veggie is perfect to add to your summer salads and more. “Arugula is a flavorful, nutrient-dense leafy green to enjoy all summer long,” says Emily Wunder, RD, a dietitian in Nutley, NJ. “With only 10 calories for two cups, arugula can be a great base to all your summer salads, or you can add it to a sandwich.” Arugula provides an excellent amount of vitamin K, too. “Women need vitamin K for bone density to help prevent osteoporosis,” says Wunder. Enjoy the power green in asalad with strawberriesor asalad with prosciutto, pear & Parmasean.Amy Gorin is a freelance writer, registered dietitian, and owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition in the New York City area. Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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Think your hot flashes away

Simply wishing your hot flashes werent real wont work, but a double-blind, controlledstudy (the best kind), published inMenopause, found that using a mental technique calledcognitive behavioural therapywas effective at diminishing both hot flashes and night sweats. CBT is a simple type of psychological therapy you can do on your own that works by challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with more positive ones. In this case the women were taught to change their beliefs about how well they couldcope with and control their hot flashes. Sound too simple to work? The researchers reported thatCBTworked significantlyregardless of a participants age, body mass index, menopause status, or psychological factors. Plus, dont miss these otherearly warning signs of perimenopause.

Set up your ideal sleep situation

Hot flashes and night sweats can wake women upas often as every hour, leaving them a sweaty, shaky, tired mess the next day,according to the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center.Unsurprisingly, this canmakewomengrouchy and depressed. But while you may not be able to stop your hot flashes, practicing good sleep hygiene can reduce them. The researchers recommend keeping your room cool at night; avoiding hot showers or baths at least two hours before bed; eating a small bedtime snack, preferably one rich in vitamin E like almonds; andditching caffeine, alcohol, and sugar. Here are other diet tips experts wish you knew for a better sleep.

Hypnosis

Onestudypublished inMenopausefound that women who had just six session of hypnosis experienced56 fewer hot flashes per weekcompared to only 12 less for a control group who was simply taught an attention technique. Even better, the women in the hypnosis group reported that the hot flashes they did have were less severe than before.

Weight loss

Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight can go a long way inreducing the discomforts of menopause,according to a recentstudydone by Baylor University. The researchers assigned women experiencing at least four hot flashes a day to two groups: One designed to help the participants lose weight and a control group. After six months, the dieting women had lost an average of 19 pounds and reported their hot flashes to be significantly less. The women who lost the most weight experienced the most relief, the researchers noted.

Mindfulness

Stress can make your hot flashes worse, but a study published inMenopausediscovered a particular stress-reduction technique that can help:mindfulness-based stress reduction(MBSR).MBSR focuses on meditation and staying present even while in pain or distress.Women trained in MBSR experienced an immediate reduction inhot flash intensity, insomnia, anxiety, and stress levels while also improving their overall quality of life, the researchers reported.

Soy supplements

There are many, many supplements that claim to easehot flashesbutevidence is mixedabout their effectiveness, according to The North American Menopause Society. One exception, however, is a soy-based supplement calledS-equol. In a randomized, controlledstudy published in theJournal of Womens Health, researchers found that women who took 10 mg ofS-equol hadsignificantly fewer hot flashesthan women on a placebo. As an added bonus it also appeared to reduce muscle and joint pain.

Acupuncture

Most people dont love needles butacupuncture, a type of therapy where many small needles are inserted at certain points into the body,may be an effective treatment for hot flashes, according to a study published in theJournal of Clinical Oncology. The study was done on breast cancer survivors as they often experience hormone-related hot flashes but arent good candidates for traditional drug therapies. After eight weeks of weekly treatments, the researchers found that women who got electro-acupuncture (a type where a small electrical current is run through the needles) had far fewer hot flashes than people who took a prescription medication for hot flashes or people who got a placebo version of the acupuncture. The best part? The benefit lasted even after the treatment stopped.

Exercise

The North American Menopause Society recently did ameta analysisof all the research into treatments for hot flashes in an attempt to separate the old wives tales from cold, hard science. Surprisingly, the group says there is no scientific evidence supporting exercise or yoga as effective treatments. But dont ditch your daily jog just yet. Exercise is one of the best medicines we have and has a multitude of health benefits, including ones thatmight reduce hot flashes like weight loss, improved sleep, and stress reduction. Regardless of the effect on your hot flashes, its still totally worth your time and effort to get out and get moving.Medically reviewed byTia Jackson-Bey, MD.Next, check out these workout motivation hacks.

The post 8 Home Remedies for Hot Flashes That Really Work appeared first on Best Health.

While hormone replacement therapy is not for everyone, your doctor might suggest it if:

• Frequent hot flushes interfere with your regular activities (also, here’s a plant remedy that could help with that)
• You are at an increased risk of osteoporosis
• Vaginal dryness and tissue changes make sex uncomfortable (here’s how to make sex more comfortable)
• You have symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, urinary incontinence, urinary tract infections, joint pains, palpitations, muddled thinking or short-term memory loss

As there may be extra risks, specialist advice about hormone replacement therapy is advisable after:

• Breast or endometrial (uterine lining) cancer
• Blood clots or a clotting disorder
• Liver problems

The decision to undergo hormone replacement therapy is a highly personal one, made with your doctor after exploring your options and considering your health status and medical history. After careful consideration, you and your doctor may decide that the benefits of HRT significantly outweigh the risks.Now that you’ve learned more about hormone replacement therapy, check out how wild yam can be a natural remedy for menopause relief.

The post Is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) Right for You? appeared first on Best Health.

Managing the beast

Sometimes drinking coffee triggers them. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, heat radiating off my chest, hair damp with sweat. Either way, hot flashes are not a welcome part of my life. But it seems like theyre here to stay or at least until menopause does us part.Unfortunately, theyre just one annoying symptom of perimenopause, the five to seven years leading up to menopause, the end of menstruation. Many women also suffer with mood swings and depression, sleep disruption, heavy menstrual bleeding and memory problems. And because perimenopause may last up to a decade, these symptoms can take a serious toll on your quality of life.Check out the top 10 quiet signs you’re in perimenopause.But the good news is that the worst of perimenopause can be managed sometimes with lifestyle tweaks and herbal supplements, sometimes with medical intervention. Heres how.

Symptom 1: Stolen sleep

Sleep, says Torontos Dr. Jennifer Pearlman, medical director and owner of Pearl MD Rejuvenation, is the Holy Grail of health. But falling levels of the hormone progesterone characteristic of early perimenopause can make falling and staying asleep a struggle for some women.And if it’s not menopause or perimenopause, one of these unexpected reasons may be the cause of your lack of sleep.

The lifestyle fix

You may have heard it before, but a relaxing routine is often the key to a good nights sleep. That means no electronics an hour before bedtime, or maybe having a bath and settling down in a cool dark room to help trigger rest and that goes for everyone. When it comes to perimenopausal women, Pearlman adds that added stress management during the day can lead to more peaceful nights. Get that to-do list out of the way so youre not thinking about it when youre lying down, she says.These 15 diet tricks will also help you sleep better.

If you need extra help

Followed every restful rule, but the sleep fairy still wont come? Up your game with a supplement. I love magnesium, says Pearlman, Its a mineral that may help promote a better nights sleep. She also recommends taking melatonin a sleep-inducing hormone that helps regulate the sleep cycle and can improve sleep in low doses, such as 3 mg. Your doctor can help you figure out a dosage that would work for you. Speaking of the doctor, for sleep problems at any age its recommended you talk to your doc to rule out conditions like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome.

Symptom 2: Menstrual madness

Experiencing breast tenderness (ouch) or abnormal vaginal bleeding? Changing hormones during perimenopause may lead to rising (and unopposed) estrogen taht causes these symptoms.What exactly is up with your period? Find out if you have one of these menstrual disorders.

The lifestyle fix

Popping an ibuprofen can ease breast soreness (and menstrual cramps). You can also sprinkle a little flaxseed (the actual seed, not the oil) onto your morning cereal, on a salad or bake it into a muffin to get some relief, as a study found it relieved pain when taken daily for three months. In fact, The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada recommends considering flaxseed as a first line of treatment for breast tenderness. It’s also a smart solution for relieving constipation.

If you need extra help

If a heavy flow is cramping your style, see your doctor. Depending on your personal health profile, she may recommend birth control pills or hormone therapy. Taking progesterone has been shown to help bridge the perimenopause-menopause transition and may be preferred to the estrogen-containing options (or synthetic alternatives to progesterone) that were used in hormone replacement therapy decades ago. These were shown to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, clots and stroke. Progesterone, on the other hand, may ease all of your symptoms.

Symptom 3: Hellishly hot

Your hot flashes could warm the neighbours if only you could use that power for good. Instead, you wake up drenched and radiating. And if that interrupted sleep wasn’t enough, what about feeling the heat mid-meeting? It’s professional to fan yourself at the boardroom table, right?

The lifestyle fix

Turn down the heat by turning up a healthy lifestyle. Thats right: being active, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking can all help reduce hot flashes and night sweats. How else can you manage things naturally? Try dressing in layers or wear moisture-wicking clothing, says Pearlman. At night, sleep with a fan on in the bedroom. She also recommends black cohosh, a botanical supplement that not only helps relieve hot flashes, but also mood swings, irritability and cramping. Red clover and rhubarb extract may also help cool things down. Ask your doctor what form and dosage would work for you.

If you need extra help

Still feeling the heat? Pearlman points to acupuncture. It helps on the stress side, she says, and it may lead to fewer or less intense hot flashes. Its also worth investigating hormone therapy and even antidepressants. Certain antidepressants are effective treatment for a woman whos flashing, confirms Pearlman. Plus, they can help with mood and anxiety. Your doctor can help you figure out which options are right for you. She says there are also non-hormonal meds available from your doctor that can be very helpful with flashes and other symptoms, typically for women where estrogen is contradicted or to boost the effects of hormone therapy.Nervous about trying acupuncture? Here’s what it’s really like.

And in case you’re wondering: The stages of pre- and post-menopause

Early perimenopause: Progesterone levels start to fall and estrogen may rise. You may skip periods, have shorter, heavier cycles and hot flashes, wicked PMS and a fuzzy memory, among other fun (not) symptoms.Late perimenopause: You can now blame the hot flashes on falling estrogen levels. Expect a lot more skipped periods.Menopause: The big M is officially diagnosed after you’ve gone 12 consecutive months without a period, for no other biological cause. It can occur in women in their 40s or younger, but the average age is 51. Symptoms tend to disappear, but a lot of women can experience vaginal dryness.Postmenopause: Symptoms such as hot flashes peak in the year or two after menopause and lower levels of estrogen increase the risk of health conditions such as heart disease and osteoporosis.15 Signs That Your Body Is Aging Faster Than You Are

The post 3 Annoying Perimenopause Symptoms and How to Deal Like a Grown-Ass Woman appeared first on Best Health.

The age metabolism slows down is too young for our liking

The dreaded day has finally arrived: You can no longer finish off an entire pizza or several candy bars, for that matter and still manage to maintain your tiny tummy. No, its not just your imagination; you really do stop losing weight as you age, experts say.

What the heck is happening with your body?

Unfortunately, the age metabolism slows is young. Your weight loss gains will likely reach their peak by age 30, as your muscle mass and strength decline. A lack of muscle causes you to burn fewer calories, leading to weight gain. That goes for both men and women, according to Melissa Halas-Liang, media representative for the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.So this is why it seems like we cant eat as much and have to work out harder, Halas-Liang told ATTN. Because in a way our metabolism isnt as good due to less muscle mass.And it could only worse from there. Your basal energy expenditure, or the amount of energy for your body to conduct basic functions like breathing, decreases by up to 10 percent by age 50, and 20 to 25 percent by age 70, Halas-Liang said. The less energy you expend, the fewer calories you burn. (But this is how you can give your metabolism a nudge.)

Again it is because we are female darn hormones!

For women, in particular, age can take a serious toll on the waistline. Women have further hormonal changes with menopause, which can make it even more challenging to maintain weight, Halas-Liang said. Meanwhile, its a bit easier for men to lose weight, because they have higher muscle mass and faster metabolisms compared to womeneven at old age. (Here are some silent signs you are in perimenopause.)

How to fight an aging metabolism

But if youre aiming to drop a few sizes (but have already reached the ripe age of 30), no need to worry! You can still boost your metabolism with regular exercise, especially through strength training at least two days a week. No gym membership? Heres how to lose weight without gym or fitness equipment.The major takeaway: Youve got to move a little more and eat a little less which each passing decade after 30, Halas-Liang said. Adopt those two habits, and youll get your 25-year-old metabolism back in no time.

The post The Exact Age When It Gets Harder to Lose Weight, According to Experts appeared first on Best Health.

Youre over age 42

Being in perimenopause encompasses a much larger part of a womans life than the more common menopause, says Christine Northrup, MD, author of Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom. Menopause simply means after a womans final period, she explains. The average age of menopause is 52; perimenopause describes the hormonal transitions leading up to that, and can be a decade-long process. If youre younger than 42 and experiencing perimenopause symptoms, doctors will deem it premature (and likely investigate other causes) but if youre over 42? Its completely normal, natural, and, Dr. Northrup adds, not a bad thing. In fact, being in perimenopause can be a very positive experience for women.

Youre super clumsyand have the bruises to prove it

Dropping things, running into furniture, or slipping like Bambi on an icy sidewalk may remind you of a teenage growth spurt, when your body was changing into almost an entirely new being. And, Dr. Northrup says, its not so different now. While youre not gaining height you are getting a new body and clumsiness is a sign that premenopausal changes are happening. In addition, she says that fluctuations in hormones can make skin thinner, making you bruise easier.

Youve become addicted to eye drops

Strangely, the eyes may be one of the first places that hormonal changes start to manifestand were not just talking about wrinkles. Having excessively dry eyes and changes in your vision (like going from near-sighted to far-sighted) are common symptoms of women in perimenopause.

Youre looking for your cell phonewhile youre talking on it

More forgetful than you once were or feel like you exist in a constant mental fog? Blame hormones for that too, Dr. Northrup says. Estrogen and progesterone need to be balanced to work in harmony but as women age, their progesterone naturally drops as they miss ovulation. That excess estrogen is converted into a stress hormone, which in turn affects the memory centre of the brain. But, she says, dont think of it as a senior moment. Instead of being constantly aware of all the external details, the brain is refocusing and women are pushed more into their inner lives, she says. Its an opportunity to focus on yourself. Here are a few things you can do to sharpen your memory.

Youre crying and you dont know why

Jekyll and Hyde mood swings are one of the best-known symptoms of the life change.http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/menopause/ Thats because our moods are so closely tied to our hormone fluctuations, Dr. Northrup says. Instead of blaming yourself for overreacting, try to hone in on what, deep down, you might be really worried about. Its like when the moon pulls the tide out, she says, and you can finally see everything thats been sitting on the bottom of the ocean.

Youre gaining weight, but only around your waist

Gaining weight as you age is normal, but not inevitable, Dr. Northrup says. Women often see weight gain as a sign their bodies are turning on them, but she says to think of it more as your body trying to help you bounce back from an unhealthy lifestyle. Its your bodys way of saying Im not going to let you get away with treating me poorly anymore and its time to start really taking care of yourself. As your metabolism slows with age, you’ll need to consume fewer calories (and make them high-quality, nutrition-packed ones) and burn more calories, particularly through strength training exercises.

Lotion is your new best friend

As your progesterone levels drop, theres a breakdown of collagen in the skin, which makes it thinner and drier, Dr. Northrup says. The lighter your skin, the more prone you are to this effect. Many women often experience flare-ups or new cases of allergies and eczema in perimenopause. These are the best skin treatments.

Youre up all night

Insomnia is a major side effect of skipping ovulation. Progesterone is a calming hormone, so when you have less of it you may feel more anxious. Consider these tips for better sleep, or try these foods to help you sleep more easily.

You suddenly want a new career and maybe even a new life

This inward-focusing effect of your hormonal fluctuations can break women out of the family trance, as Dr. Northrup calls it. Some women might have an existential crisis, questioning if this is all there is to their lives. But it neednt be a catastrophe, she says; rather, look at it as an opportunity to figure out what you want out of your life after so many years of caring for other people. Giving yourself permission to explore these thoughts can make all the difference between a bona fide breakdown and an exciting new chapter.

You dont feel different at all

Some women are surprised to discover as they age that nothing really seems to change much. They hear horror stories about hot flashes and mood swings but their bodies feel mostly the same, maybe a little wrinklier. It’s not just luck or good genes. As Dr. Northrup says, these women are usually busy, flourishing in a career, in love, and happy. Its not that their lives are perfect, but that theyve gotten good at listening to their bodies and taking care of themselves. Our expectations and beliefs about aging are more potent than the actual process of aging, she says. Perimenopause can be the portal to the best, most fulfilling years of your life. Weve got other intimate issues covered, too. Check out these stories: What Most Women Dont Know About Miscarriage and Infertility 9 Things That Happen to Your Body If You Stop Having Sex Whats Irritating You Down Below? Are Your Hormones Out of Control? Heres How to Deal 4 Myths About Vaginal Rejuvenation, DebunkedGet a daily dose of health news by signing up here: besthealthmag.ca/newsletter

The post 10 Quiet Signs You’re In Perimenopause appeared first on Best Health.

Does Menopause Affect Your Brain?

Your ovaries and uterus aren’t the only organs in transition during menopause. Because of declining oestrogen levels, your brain also experiences chemical changes that can alter the way you think and feel.Early evidence suggests that decreased oestrogen levels may alter how the brain encodes and retrieves data. Researchers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have discovered, for instance, that menopausal women who don’t take oestrogen may experience less activation of the left brain during the encoding of information. Perhaps that’s why some women reportedly have trouble with rational or analytical ‘left-brained’ thought processes such as those involved in balancing a cheque book or making decisions. Marian Van Eyk McCain, in Transformation Through Menopause, calls this effect ‘cottonhead’. If indeed it exists, it seems to be temporary. And studies show that oestrogen replacement may reverse it.Scientists are only beginning to understand the complex effects of oestrogen on the brain. In animals, the hormone has been shown to stimulate the growth of dendrites, hairlike projections that facilitate communication between neurones (brain cells). It also seems to boost levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. And it appears to help protect neurones in certain areas of the brain , especially the hippocampus, a region critical to learning and memory from damage that leads to cell death. The chance that oestrogen may delay or possibly even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is currently being investigated. So far, studies have only yielded mixed results.

Menopause andMood

What about mood swings? Some women experience them, probably the result of fluctuating hormone levels. But, contrary to popular belief, women do not suffer an increased risk of depression during this period. In fact, research shows that menopausal women actually have a lower incidence of depression than younger women.

TheMemory Connection

Can’t remember where you left the car keys or why you just walked into the kitchen? Some women notice some temporary lapses in short-term memory as they approach menopause, and their shifting oestrogen levels may be partly to blame.Researchers have discovered that areas of the brain involved in memory are oestrogen-sensitive. And women taking oestrogen show more activity in brain areas associated with memory. Some studies have shown that women taking oestrogen performed better on memory tests than those not taking the hormone. But other studies have failed to confirm these results. Regardless, the majority of women may not experience any memory problems as they go through menopause.Looking to give your brain a workout? Try completingonline sudoku puzzles and crosswords every day atbesthealthmag.ca/games/.

The post The Shocking Ways Menopause Can Affect Your Brain appeared first on Best Health.

1) Stay Cool For Better Sleep

Hot flashes tend to occur most frequently at night – and it’s hard to rest easy when your body temperature suddenly skyrockets and you wake up soaking wet.In milder cases, you might get away with a quick environmental fix, says Dr. Maureen Ceresney, co-director of the UBC Sleep Disorders Program. “Keep your bedroom cold,” she says. “Some of my patients even run air conditioning in their bedrooms during the winter.“

2) Layer Up

During the day, Dr. Ceresney also recommends dressing in layers that can easily be shed and avoiding things that can increase your body temperature, such as caffeine, alcohol, hot drinks and spicy foods. You may also find relief from stress-reduction techniques like meditation and deep-breathing exercises.

3) Chat With A Sleep Coach

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in May found that menopausal women who kept a nightly sleep diary and received cognitive behavioural therapy over the phone slept better than women who didn’t and, although they still had the same number of hot flashes, the severity of their symptoms was reduced.

4) Rethink Medication

The most common treatment for hot flashes is estrogen-based hormone therapy, although only as a short-term fix because it comes with an increased risk of breast cancer, stroke and blood clots. Non-hormonal medications (such as antidepressants and drugs commonly prescribed for nerve pain and high blood pressure) may also help.Dr. Ceresney says that, though there are a number of over-the-counter and herbal preparations for hot flashes, the science is limited in terms of establishing a clear benefit from them. “Some people get a modest placebo effect from them, so it can be hard to tell if these supplements and herbal meds offer real benefits,” she says. Other non-medication treatments still need further study to establish whether or not they can be helpful.

The post Stay Cool: 4 Tips For Managing Hot Flashes appeared first on Best Health.

Source: The Amazing Healing Powers of Nature, Reader’s Digest

Look to wild yam for a natural remedy for menopause symptoms

Wild yam, (Dioscorea villosa), is often used by menopausal women as a natural alternative to estrogen therapy. It has the potential to treat menopause symptoms as well as rheumatoid arthritis. Note that hormone creams marked ‘natural’ that are made with wild yam for rubbing into the skin may contain added progesterone, oestrogen or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); the yam itself does not contain any of these hormones.

Does wild yam work as a menopause remedy?

The research is mixed. In a 2001 study by the Baker Medical Research Institute in Australia, 23 menopausal women who experienced hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia used a yam cream rubbed on the skin or a placebo for 6 months. While it appeared safe, the researchers concluded the yam cream had ‘little effect on menopausal symptoms.’

In a 2011 study by researchers from China Medical University and I-Shou University in Taiwan, 50 menopausal women used a wild yam product or a placebo for 1 year. The yam group saw some improvements after 6 months, reporting less anxiety, tension and nervousness as well as easing of insomnia and muscle aches.

Wild yam as an alternative to hormone therapy

In the 1990s, volunteers taking hormone replacement therapy as part of a US-funded study were found to have developed a higher risk for breast cancer and strokes. The study was paused. Inspired by claims from alternative-medicine practitioners at the time, many women then turned to wild yam as a treatment for menopause symptoms. It was then widely marketed as a drug-free menopause remedy, said to spell relief from hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia?

Risks associated with taking wild yam

Wild yam extracts should not be taken internally longer than advised, as a 2008 study at Australia’s University of Queensland found that long-term use boosts risk for kidney damage.

The future of wild yam

While the jury is still out regarding the effect on menopause, interest has grown in other possible uses for wild yam. Preliminary evidence from a 2004 test-tube study at Korea’s Kyung- Hee University suggested that the Asian wild yam Dioscorea tokoro may hold promise against rheumatoid arthritis. Compounds from this yam appeared to reduce production of inflammatory substances in cells from human joint tissue.

In a 2005 study from National Taiwan Normal University, 24 postmenopausal women who ate about 14 ounces (400 grams) of another yam, Dioscorea alata, every day for 30 days saw increases in blood levels of hormones including estradiol and sex-hormone-binding globulin. Scientists noted that these effects might reduce the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.

The post Wild Yam: A Natural Remedy for Menopause Relief appeared first on Best Health.

Source: Image: istock

There was a time when a pair of stretchy pants with a soft waistband that hugged my bloated belly and a loose-cut tee that skimmed over my achy breasts were all I needed to survive PMS. But things changed over a year ago, when I turned 41. Now I have a laundry list of monthly letdowns, which include increased anxiety, brief crying spells, fatigue and heartburn. I have loose stools, foggy brain, ovulation pain and headaches. My cycle has stretched from 28 days to 38 days, which also means my PMS can last up to 10 days. I have hot flashes (that’s a temperature surge with no sweats). And I get a yeast infection before and after my period, which is directly related to hormonal fluctuations (either too much or too little estrogen can spark the itch).

After complaining to my GP, she advised routine blood tests to check my iron and thyroid levels, which, if amiss, could explain my symptoms. My results came back negative. I’m in tip-top shape, but I still feel like crap. ‘You’re just going through a hormonal shift,’ she said.This shift has me looking forward to being a Golden Girl, like Blanche or Rose (but definitely not Dorothy), when my period will finally be a memory.

While I’m flirting with perimenopause, along with many of my 40-something girlfriends, the 30-somethings I know have their own complaints about worsening PMS. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner Mary Wong says that, regardless of age or specific symptoms, our collective cups are overflowing. Between career, life, marriage and motherhood, we’ve been doing too much for too long and our bodies are crying out for a change. ‘PMS is a signal to let us know that we are not in balance,’ says Wong. ‘It’s up to us to listen and take stock of our lives and alter the way we think, perceive and do.’

Doing it all takes its toll

Natasha Turner, a naturopathic doctor and New York Times bestselling author of The Supercharged Hormone Diet, concurs.

‘Everything you do, say, think or feel impacts your hormones,’ she says. During our 30s and 40s, we’re especially stressed out while we try to do it all. Prolonged stress depletes progesterone, the hormone that makes us feel calm, improves sleep, prevents breast tenderness and wards off mood swings. In its place, the stress hormone cortisol appears and, along with it, a personalized cocktail of symptoms that can range from weight gain and cravings to acne and insomnia, signalling a hormone imbalance. Later, when perimenopause appears, both estrogen and progesterone levels start to change, kick-starting another hormonal roller coaster.

But how do you know if you’re experiencing bad PMS or entering perimenopause? ‘The big clue is your cycles,’ says Dr. Esther Konigsberg, an integrative medical consultant based in Toronto and Burlington, ON. Her practice, Integrative Medicine Consultants Inc., integrates conventional, lifestyle, complementary and alternative medicine. ‘If you’ve been cycling every 28 to 30 days, then all of a sudden your cycle shortens, that’s a sign you are entering perimenopause.’ Hot flashes, insomnia, vaginal dryness and a low sex drive are new annoyances that may appear. Once you start skipping periods, then you’re officially transitioning into menopause.

In light of my mixed bag of symptoms, what can I do to make it all better? My GP suggested a low-dose birth control pill or low-dose antidepressant, but is that really the answer? ‘These meds mask symptoms; they do not treat the underlying cause,’ says Dr. Christiane Northrup, a holistic OB/GYN and bestselling author, whose latest book is called Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality and Well-Being. Her advice is to try pharmaceuticals when lifestyle changes aren’t making enough of an impact.

Whether you’re in your 30s, 40s or 50s, the feel-good prescription for balancing your hormones is less stress, better sleep, exercise and a healthier diet to help relieve a myriad of symptoms. ‘PMS tends to peak in our 30s and, if it’s not addressed it becomes perimenopausal symptoms on steroids ‘ and menopausal symp­­toms can persist for years after menopause,’ says Dr. Northrup. The bottom line: Get healthy habits in place now to make a positive change to your well-being later.

The wheels of change

Between caring for your parents, finalizing that presentation and getting ready for the bake sale, strategizing a lifestyle makeover can easily fall to the bottom of the list. So, take it easy and work with baby steps. ‘Focus on improving your sleep first,’ advises Turner. ‘It’s impossible to balance your hormones without enough sleep.’ One of her tips for getting more shut-eye is using your bed for sleep and sex only. That means no TV or computers in the bedroom ‘ or, at the very least, keep them six feet away and use the sleep function. They emit electromagnetic fields that disrupt the production of sleep-inducing melatonin.

Regarding sex, the more you have, the better your hormonal health. Sex alleviates stress, which reduces cortisol and contributes to a sounder sleep and a better mood. Whether you do it on your own or with a partner, regular nooky also increases estrogen and testosterone, which both wane as you age.

Diet dos and don’ts

Once you’re getting better sleep (ideally, seven to nine hours a night), begin shaping up your diet with hormone-friendly food choices. A big hormonal letdown is sugar, so try to keep your intake to no more than 16 grams a day (the equivalent of four teaspoons), says Dr. Northrup.

She explains that sugar increases insulin, which then throws progesterone and estrogen out of whack. ‘Sugar is more addictive than cocaine, so try stevia to sweeten things during your withdrawal,’ she suggests.

If you need extra help boosting the happy neurotransmitters that sugar previously spiked, add more sex, meditation and socializing in your life and try to engage in regular pleasurable activities for the same feel-good effect. While you’re at it, nix alcohol and caffeine, which are two other common culprits found to increase cortisol, thereby spiking insulin, too. 

Dr. Konigsberg is especially conscientious about eliminating bad estrogens that disrupt hormone balance, such as xenoestrogens, which are found in many pesticides. Choose organic when possible. She also suggests adding more cruciferous foods, such as broccoli and cauliflower to your diet. They contain indole-3-carbinol, a substance that changes the balance of our estrogens to less harmful ones, which may lower our risk of breast cancer.

You can also start filling your basket with superfoods that help reduce the inflammation that can lead to increased insulin. Consider blueberries as an antioxidant, lean organic proteins (they’re less inflammatory than fats found in processed meats), avocados for healthy fat, Greek yogurt for protein and lignan-rich ground flaxseed to sprinkle into smoothies and salads.

Don’t feel overwhelmed. ‘It’s simple: Wake up, go for a walk in the morning and eat more blueberries,’ says Turner. ‘The hormonal impact of those two things alone is huge.’ Once you start feeling the boost of a better diet and more sleep, add exercise.  If 20 minutes of yoga, walking or a Jane Fonda workout is all you can manage, that’s great, whether it’s three times a week or every day.

Most importantly, don’t beat yourself up over your changing hormones or panic if you enjoy Pinot and profiteroles on date night. That will spark unnecessary internal stress, and it’s okay to indulge a little now and then. ‘Hormonal changes are just a part of life,’ says Wong. ‘It’s when hormones produce uncomfortable symptoms that this tells us something is off. Acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, exercise, meditation and eating in accordance with one’s constitution as well as the environment will help bring back balance and alleviate hormonal disruptions causing PMS and other problems.’

Supplements to try

‘ Magnesium before bedtime to help improve sleep and soothe nerves. You can choose magnesium citrate or glycinate to coax regular bowel movements. Most people are magnesium deficient, so you should aim for 400 to 800 milligrams a day for overall health.

‘ Chaste tree extract, iodized sea salt or iodine tablets to improve PMS and shortened cycles in perimenopause. Test them out on separate occasions to see which works best for you.

‘ Probiotics to tune up your digestive system and help eliminate excess estrogen.

‘ Fish oil to reduce inflammation, maintain a healthy heart, improve mood, support the nervous system and boost cognitive function.

‘ Vitamin D to optimize healthy hormonal activity. It’s also important for our bones and immune and nervous systems.

The post Are Your Hormones Out of Control? Here’s How to Deal appeared first on Best Health.

Coping with menopause

Talk to anyone who has experienced the upheaval menopause can bring and she’ll tell you it really is life-changing and it’s not necessarily all bad. Part of the problem is the negative press around hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Sure, it’s great that we now know about its dangers and doctors are using it more conservatively. “But we don’t want HRT to go off the agenda,” says Dr. Read. For many women, it helps manage very debilitating symptoms.

Menopause wrongly gets the blame for a lot of midlife problems, says Dr. Read. It’s time to throw out the stereotypes and face menopause with optimism.

That means looking at preventive care, such as diet, exercise and getting yourself as fit as you can so you can deal with all the stuff that’s going on in your life. Menopause is not just about coping with the effects of hormone change – it’s about setting yourself up to age healthily. Have that Pap smear, treat symptoms like depression or painful sex seriously and lose some weight, if necessary.

“There’s too much negative stuff about menopause. It’s a very good opportunity for women to assess what they are doing with their life and to become more aware of healthy behaviours,” says Dr. MacLennan.

Keep reading to find out what you can do to deal with menopause more easily.

Get active

Aim to exercise for 30-45 minutes most days of the week. This will help improve your general health, keep your bones healthy and boost your feeling of well-being and relaxation.

Professor Kerryn Phelps of Sydney University’s Faculty of Medicine says it’s important to do two to three hours of weight training a week for bone and muscle health.

Try alternative therapies

One of the most tested alternative therapies is black cohosh (found in products such as Remifemin). It may help with hot flushes and vaginal dryness.

Red clover (found in Promensil) may assist night sweats.

The herb Vitex agnus-castus (chasteberry) is a traditional treatment for irregular or heavy periods.

St John’s Wort may help with emotional instability.

Embrace fresh food

Phyto-estrogens (plant compounds chemically similar to estrogen) may reduce symptoms and are found naturally in soy products and beans, fruits, vegetables, grains, alfalfa and oilseeds like linseed.

Soy protein can reduce cholesterol and may also improve bone mass and cognition.

Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables, increase fluids and eat plenty of low-fat calcium products.

Avoid triggers

Reduce the chance of hot flushes by avoiding spicy food, caffeine and alcohol.

Dress in layered, light clothing.

Improve your “sleep hygiene”: keep the bedroom quiet, only go to bed when you are tired, avoid naps, and don’t go to bed too early.

Use a lubricant to help with vaginal dryness.

Try relaxation exercises, meditation or yoga.

Related:
5 reasons menopause may come early
Is it menopause? Questions to ask yourself
Is hormone replacement therapy right for you?

The post How to deal with menopause appeared first on Best Health.

Surgery

A woman who has had her ovaries removed, either independently or as part of a total hysterectomy, experiences immediate menopause. Other types of abdominal surgery can interrupt the flow of blood to the ovaries, causing follicles to die.

Premature ovarian failure

Women who enter menopause while they’re in their thirties or even twenties may have illnesses that cause their ovaries to stop functioning well ahead of schedule. A thorough medical evaluation is appropriate.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

This medical condition interferes with ovulation, causing inflammation and scarring that damages and destroys follicles.

Autoimmune disorders

These include insulin-dependent diabetes, hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Cancer treatments

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy often trigger early menopause. Women taking tamoxifen to reduce their risk of breast cancer may also enter menopause early.

Related:
Is it menopause? Questions to ask yourself
3 symptoms of menopause and how to cope
10 ways to sleep better during menopause

The post 5 reasons menopause may come early appeared first on Best Health.

Source: Best Health Magazine, September 2012; Image credit: iStockphoto.com

‘What do you think about bio­identical hormones?’ asked a woman in her 50s who had come as a ‘walk-in’ to the clinic where I practise. ‘The gynecologist my family doctor referred me to told me that they’re unproven and it’s better to go with traditional hormone replacement. I’m scared to do that, though.’

During my medical training I had learned the basics of women’s hormonal health. I knew how to ask about or listen for symptoms of menopause, confirm the ‘diagnosis,’ and administer standard doses of synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Then, in 2002, after I had been practising for two years, came the results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). This large study examining synthetic estrogen and progestin commonly used in HRT was suspended when subjects experienced an increased risk of breast cancer, cardiac events, strokes and blood clots. Deeply shaken, I hesitated to start any woman on synthetic HRT, other than to relieve the most debilitating hot flashes. I echoed the new position of leading experts in the field, cautioning women to limit use of HRT to no more than five years at most.

The reasoning behind HRT in general is straightforward. At any time from our early 30s into our late 40s, women enter perimenopause. During this time, progesterone levels drop and estrogen levels dominate. Since progesterone helps us sleep and keeps us calm, the imbalance creates symptoms such as sleeplessness and anxiety.

Later, as we enter menopause, our ovaries stop producing estrogen and we face low levels of both crucial hormones. Estrogen alone has more than 400 functions: Among other things, it regulates body temperature, maintains memory, boosts our mood and keeps our skin young. If it’s missing, we experience hot flashes, memory lapses and ‘brain fog,’ moodiness and more rapidly aging skin.

HRT aims to replace these dwindling hormones, thereby relieving symptoms and protecting our general health. Synthetic HRT consists of estrogens made partially from the urine of pregnant horses, and progestins, which are quite different structurally from our own progesterone. Bioidentical HRT consists of hormones extracted from plant sources such as yams and soy; they are structurally identical to our own hormones. Proponents of bio­identical HRT state that the problem with synthetic hormones is that they are too different from our own; they stimulate additional ‘unnecessary’ hormone receptors and fail to replace some of the critical functions of our natural hormones, creating potentially serious side effects.

When I first heard about bioidentical HRT, it sounded great, but I worried it hadn’t been rigorously evaluated. Leaders in women’s health, such as the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, maintain a similarly skeptical position. Yet some of the best physicians I know have started practices that focus on bioidenticals and women’s midlife health.

A study published in 2009 in Postgraduate Medicine reviewed the available evidence and concluded that bioidentical hormones are associated with lower risks and are more efficacious than their synthetic and animal-derived counterparts.

So why the controversy?

After the frightening results of the WHI, it’s understandable that leading groups in the field want more proof from studies on large groups of women before endorsing this new era in hormones. They also say urine and saliva testing done by many bioidentical practitioners’to determine a woman’s level of hormones, among other things’isn’t accurate. Yet many practitioners swear by them, saying their patients get excellent results and fewer side effects from bioidenticals than from synthetic HRT.

There is one thing both sides agree on. The amount of distress you’ll experience in perimenopause or menopause is hugely tied to your general health. Stress hormones mess with our other hormones, and stressed-out women, as well as those with unhealthy eating habits, have a harder time with hormonal transitions.

So, as we wait for more research to give the final word on this topic, remember to take care of yourself’you can never go wrong with that.

Dr. Susan Biali is a practising GP, wellness expert and life coach. She is the author of Live a Life Your Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You. She is also a regular contributor to Best Health. You can follow her on Twitter @DrSusanBiali.

This article was originally titled "Weighing in on HRT" in the September 2012 issue of Best Health. Subscribe today to get the full Best Health experience’and never miss an issue!

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What is menopause?

It occurs on average around age 51, and all women go through it to varying degrees. By 2026, 21 percent of the Canadian population will be women 50 and over, according to Statistics Canada (so for those who are in their 30s right now, it certainly won’t be a lonesome path!). For about 65 percent of us, menopause could be called megapause’a transition so uncomfortable we need medical help to get through it.The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada defines menopause as beginning at the moment when a woman hasn’t had a period for one year. The start of menopause tends to be the worst for symptoms, which can include night sweats, hot flashes, fatigue, aches and pains, vaginal dryness, decreased libido, heightened emotions, weight gain, mild depression and changes to the texture and appearance of skin.’Hot flashes are the most obvious and disturbing symptom,’ says Dr. Donna Fedorkow, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University. How long do they last? ‘We do know that about 95 percent of women will stop having symptoms within five years of their last period.‘ For the other five percent, menopause may be more chronic. Fedorkow has a patient in her 80s who is still having hot flashes.

A holistic approach to treating menopause

The fact is that there are as many different experiences of menopause and ways to tackle it as there are women going through it. When Barkley wanted to get her symptoms’and her life’back under control, she went to the Westcoast Women’s Clinic, a private clinic in Vancouver run by medical doctors Bal Pawa and Nishi Dhawan. (Pawa believes the Westcoast Clinic is the only MD-based clinic in Canada that is doing holistic, integrated health care for hormonal health. There are numerous holistic clinics led by naturopaths, but not all naturopaths are licensed to prescribe hormones.)Staff at the clinic conducted an evaluation that included assessing Barkley’s lifestyle; rating her risk factors for breast cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes; and checking hormone levels in her blood and urine. They then created an ongoing treatment plan for her. She now takes low-dose bioidentical estrogen through a patch, as well as progesterone tablets and dietary supplements. The clinic found her levels of the stress hormone cortisol were elevated, so they helped her with stress management, teaching her meditation and other relaxation methods. Barkley didn’t need encouragement to exercise: In her spare time, she’s an international-level competitive ice dancer.The treatment has made a big impact. ‘I feel great,’ says Barkley. ‘My sleep is fine. I have more energy. I’m more emotionally calm.’According to Pawa, creating harmony in your changing menopausal body begins with a healthy lifestyle: eating well, getting the proper vitamins and minerals, cutting down on coffee and alcohol, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, de-stressing and surrounding yourself with positive relationships. ‘It’s very powerful,’ she says. ‘When we optimize these things, we really can alleviate a lot of symptoms and have a tremendously positive effect on the body for long-term anti-aging solutions.’Doctors at the Westcoast Women’s Clinic prescribe bioidentical hormones, and only recommend estrogen taken transdermally. ‘When estrogens are taken by mouth, they are broken down by the liver and can produce some by-products that are carcinogenic,’ says Pawa. ‘Also, hormones taken orally can alter some proteins in the liver, causing the blood to thicken, creating a higher risk of blood clots. When you administer drugs via the skin, you can use a lower dose and also lower the risk of stroke and heart disease.’Bioidentical hormones are often misconstrued to be 100 percent safe, says Pawa, so it’s important to get a medical opinion you trust. ‘It’s not just that hormones are bad or good. It’s that you have to know if they’re good for that patient. Just because your friend got hormones doesn’t mean they’re right for you.’

Naturopathic treatment for menopause

Ann Lawrence, a naturopathic doctor at Dragonfly Naturopathic Clinic in Ottawa, regularly treats women going through menopause. She uses a combination of acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs and supplements (some patients benefit from Siberian ginseng and royal jelly), lifestyle and nutrition counselling, and a technique that gently works the muscles and connective tissues, called Bowen therapy. ‘Naturopathy can be extremely useful in menopause,’ she says. ‘Women have to be willing to do some work. But it will not only help with menopause, they’ll feel better overall.’Evidence is accumulating that eating plants such as soy and ground flaxseeds, which are high in the phytoestrogens isoflavones and lignans, helps to alleviate menopause symptoms and assists with bone and heart health, says Barbara Weiss, a naturopathic doctor with offices in Port Hope, Ont., and Toronto. A 2000 randomized trial involving 177 women found that soy isoflavone extract was effective in reducing hot flashes.Acupuncture has also been shown in some small studies to alleviate hot flashes. A 2011 Turkish study involving 53 menopausal women found that traditional Chinese acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks decreased hot flashes. Another small 2006 study by Stanford and Harvard university researchers, involving 29 women, showed that seven weeks of acupuncture helped decrease nocturnal hot flashes. A larger 2009 Norwegian study, with 267 female subjects, found that acupuncture plus self-care can alleviate ‘hot flashes better than self-care alone. (Self-care meant resting, reducing stress, exercising, eating healthy food, and limiting alcohol and smoking.)Gosia Pacyna, an acupuncturist and doctor of traditional Chinese medicine at the AllOne holistic clinic in Toronto, has had great success treating menopausal women using acupuncture, Chinese herbs and acupressure/Tuina massage. She believes menopause is a time of rebirth, peace and wisdom. Pacyna just went through the transition herself and got through it using natural methods. ‘I do practise what I preach,’ she says. She deliberately slowed the pace of her life. ‘I’m 53. It’s artificial to pretend I’m in my 20s or 30s.’

Hormone therapy

If lifestyle changes and natural therapies don’t work and symptoms persist, ‘by far the most effective treatment is hormone therapy [HT],’ says Fedorkow, who has a special interest in mature women’s health. (She points out that the word ‘replacement’ in ‘hormone replacement therapy’ is no longer used.)Her patients are often quite desperate for relief by the time they get to see her. ‘They’ve been suffering for a while. They’ve tried a lot of other things. I support their decision to take hormones.’Hormones can be taken several different ways: pills, gels, creams and patches. There are conventional hormones and bioidentical hormones, which are identical in molecular structure to your own hormones. Conventional HT consists of Premarin (made from the urine of pregnant mares) and Provera (a synthetic progestin). Bioidentical hormones are made from soybeans and yams, which are synthetically modified in a lab. ‘There are more and more options, and we tailor treatment to the woman and what she’s going through,’ says Fedorkow.In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative assessed the risks and benefits of using HT in preventing certain chronic diseases. Early results from this landmark study showed women taking Premarin plus Provera were found to have higher rates of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots in their lungs and legs. The medical community now believes that while HT is not recommended in women with a history of breast cancer or blood clots in deep veins, low-dose, short-term HT is safe if it’s prescribed early in menopause. ‘Our recommendation is to start as close to the onset of symptoms as possible,’ says Fedorkow. But sometimes women don’t go to their doctor until a year or so after symptoms show up and they are fed up. ‘In this case, as long as they are less than 70 years of age, it is okay as far as heart disease is concerned,’ says Fedorkow. ‘The general pharmacological principle is to give the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible amount of time.’This article was originally titled “Menopause driving you crazy?” in the March/April 2012 issue of Best Health. Subscribe today to get the full Best Health experience’and never miss an issue!

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Say yes to soy

‘ Eat 200 to 250 g of tofu every day. Tofu is high in phytoestrogens’compounds with mild estrogen-like qualities that have been found to ease menopausal symptoms. Certain kinds of phytoestrogens, called isoflavones, found in soy products can help ease hot flashes and vaginal dryness. The recommended amount is 60 mg a day of isoflavones, which is what you’ll get by eating 200 to 250 g of tofu.’ One 50-mg supplement of isoflavones, taken daily, can meet most of your needs when you can’t eat a lot of tofu. Look for brands that contain genistein and daidzein.’ Flaxseeds are another source of phytoestrogens. Grind some in a spice grinder and add 1 to 2 tablespoons to cereal or yogurt.

Don’t sweat it

‘ To help control hot flashes and night sweats, take 12 to 1 mL of black cohosh in tincture form two to four times a day. To make it more palatable, add the tincture to half a glass of juice or water. Research has shown that the herb helps control hot flashes by lowering blood levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), which dilates blood vessels and sends heat to the skin. You might get other benefits as well, since some women have found that black cohosh can relieve vaginal dryness, nervousness, and depression. For maximum effectiveness, take black cohosh for 6 weeks, then take four weeks off before resuming it again. Then repeat the cycle’6 weeks on, 4 weeks off.’ To tame night sweats, take 3 to 15 drops sage tincture three times a day in a half-cup water or tea. The genus name of this herb, Salvia, comes from the Latin salvere (to heal), and the extract of salvia leaves has been used to treat more than 60 different health complaints. The herb has astringent qualities that can help quell profuse sweating. ‘ Some women find that taking vitamin E can help to relieve hot flashes and night sweats as well as mood swings and vaginal dryness. The recommended dose is 800 mg a day (400 mg twice a day). Consult your doctor before you start taking it regularly. This is especially important if you have diabetes, bruise easily, or have high blood pressure.’ To help stay cool, wear lightweight clothing made of natural fibers. And carry a small, battery-powered fan with you to cool off the hot flashes.’ Some women find that taking a tepid bath in the morning for 20 minutes prevents hot flashes all day long.

Exert yourself

‘ Increase the amount of aerobic exercise you get until you’re getting at least twenty minutes a day. Besides helping you lose weight, exercise has other positive effects for women going through menopause. Studies show that daily vigorous physical activity decreases hot flashes and night sweats, helps improve mood and sleep, and improves the balance of hormone levels. Weight-bearing activities like walking, running, and resistance training also help keep your bones sturdy.

Stay chaste (but not in that way)

‘ The berries of the chaste tree have been used by women for some 2,000 years. They help restore progesterone levels, which decrease significantly during menopause. Chaste tree may be particularly useful for combating very heavy bleeding, which some women experience during perimenopause. It may also help with other symptoms, including hot flashes and depression. Take 1 to 2 teaspoons of a standardized extract once a day.

Meal plans

‘ If you’ve been getting hot flashes, stay away from alcohol, coffee, spicy foods, and hot drinks. Many of these foods are triggers.’ To help prevent accelerating bone loss’osteoporosis‘make sure you get enough protein. It doesn’t take much chicken, fish, or meat to supply your daily requirement for protein. As long as you have a serving that’s about equal to the size of a deck of cards, you’re getting enough. Also make sure you get 1,500 to 2,000 mg of calcium per day plus vitamin D. Low-fat dairy products are good sources. A cup of skim milk, for instance, provides 300 mg of calcium, as well as supplemental vitamin D. But to be on the safe side, take 1,500 mg in supplement form a day.** Check out more trustworthy treatments in 1,801 Home Remedies (Reader’s Digest), available in the Best Health Shop now!Don’t miss out! Sign up for our free weekly newsletters and get nutritious recipes, healthy weight-loss tips, easy ways to stay in shape and all the health news you need, delivered straight to your inbox.

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Source: Sleep to Be Sexy, Smart and Slim; Reader’s Digest

1. Think about short-term HRT.

Surprised? Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has largely fallen out of favor among women and their doctors, and for good reason. Long-term research studies have found it can increase your risk of blood clots, breast cancer, and gallbladder disease.

Still, the fact is that perimenopausal women who use HRT sleep better. Whether it’s because it reduces hot flashes or has some other effect isn’t known.

How do you weigh the risks and benefits? ‘The risks and benefits of any treatment need to be individualized to your particular body‘not just what the research says or professional scientific associations prescribe,’ says Dr. Becky Wang-Cheng, a medical director at Kettering Medical Center and author of Menopause.

If breast cancer runs in your family but hot flashes are preventing you from getting enough sleep to do your job, a super-low dose of hormones might be helpful despite the research. And we’re not talking about long-term or daily use. ‘Sometimes just one pill a week is enough to keep symptoms in check,’ says Wang-Cheng.

Dr. JoAnn Manson, the Harvard researcher who pioneered much of the research that uncovered the dangers of HRT and author of Hot Flashes, Hormones and Your Health, agrees that HRT should still be an option for some women.

Most women do not need hormone therapy to get through the hormonal transition into menopause, says Manson. Menopause is natural, and we need to guard against the over-medicalization of our lives. ‘However, for about one in every five women, menopausal symptoms are severe enough to disrupt sleep and quality of life,’ she adds. ‘Hormone therapy still has an important role to play for such women.’

2. Reinforce your sleep schedule

Like other kinds of insomnia, the sleeplessness of perimenopause can be overcome by sticking to the cycles of sleeping and waking that you have previously established with your biological clock. This helps your body override some of the conflicting messages it may be getting from wayward hormones activated by perimenopause.

It’s important that you keep your sleeping and waking schedules pretty steady‘no Sunday sleep-ins, for example’if you want to be able to count on good, restorative sleep during this uneasy stage of life. And good, restorative sleep is the best gift you can give yourself at this time.

If you don’t already have a firm sleeping schedule, now is certainly the time to develop one. It isn’t hard to do, and the benefits will serve you for the rest of your life.

3. Consider an alternative treatment.

Women who are reluctant to use estrogen may want to talk with their doctors about the antidepressant Effexor, says Wang-Cheng. It decreases the hot flashes that can disrupt sleep and is even prescribed by doctors for breast cancer patients who are undergoing active therapy.

‘It’s not as good as estrogen,’ adds the physician, ‘but it reduces hot flashes by 40 to 60 percent and will make you drowsy.’

4. Work with a therapist.

Eight or 10 weeks with a certified cognitive behavioral therapist will frequently give you a handful of sleep strategies custom-tailored to your particular issues during this life stage. If you’re regularly waking up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, however, you might find it more helpful to contact a psychiatrist to talk over old struggles that may be troubling you.

5. Take a sleep break.

After those nights when your reproductive hormones and the hormones that control your sleep/wake cycle really can’t work together, try to get back some of the sleep you’ve lost by 4:00 p.m. Not all of it’that’s not practical for most of us. Just take the edge off your drowsiness and you’ll be surprised at how effectively your brain cells will start firing again. If you drive to work, go out to the car at lunch, put down the backseat, and snooze for 10 minutes. Or just put your head down on your desk for 5.

6. Wick away the problem.

If hot flushes are your particular sleep disrupter, buy long johns, or gym shorts and T-shirts made from fabrics that athletes use to wick away moisture. Then wear them as pj’s. They won’t stop a hot flash, but they’ll keep it from turning into a majorly disruptive night sweat in which you have to get up and change clothes.

7. Chill in bed.

Chillow is a pillow with a cooling water insert that lowers your body temperature. It won’t stop hot flashes, but it can reduce their intensity and their ability to disrupt your sleep.

8. Drop your temp.

Lower the temperature of your bedroom before you climb into bed, says Wang-Cheng. Lower temperatures signal your body that it’s time to sleep, and they make hot flashes less disruptive. If your bed partner objects, just tell him to bundle up.

A hot bath also helps you lower your body’s temperature. Yeah, your temperature goes up while you’re in the bath, but your body’s response to the heat will be to drop your temperature.

As long as perimenopausal dryness hasn’t resulted in painful intercourse, enjoy a quickie, suggests Wang-Cheng. Some 44 percent of perimenopausal women say they don’t have time for sex. But the Big O is still one of the most sleep-inducing agents around. Just don’t forget to protect yourself against an unanticipated side effect that could appear nine months later. Now that would really trash your sleep!

9. Tone it down.

Toning down a jumpy sympathetic nervous system will encourage a balanced sleep/wake cycle in perimenopausal women. Think about tai chi, meditation, prayer, biofeedback, yoga’any activity that allows you to cultivate a peaceful center and a sense of balance.

10. Talk to a sleep doc.

If you suspect you have a sleep disorder involving breathing difficulties, restless legs or narcolepsy, ask your primary-care physician for a referral to a sleep center for testing, diagnosis, and treatment.

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Source: Web exclusive, January 2010

Noticing a muffin top spilling over your jeans? How did that get there? While we add pounds because we’re eating too much and exercising too little, weight-gain may also be linked to a medical issue. Here are eight conditions and medications connected to weight gain.

1. The culprit: Hypothyroidism

Your thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland at the bottom of your neck, isn’t producing enough thyroid hormone’a hormone instrumental in balancing your metabolism. That slow metabolic rate means whatever you’re eating could be stored as fat rather than converting into energy. ‘It’s a very common autoimmune condition that affects women six times more than men,’ says Dr. John Dornan, head of Saint John, NB’s Active Living Clinic.

If your physician suspects hypothyroidism, she might conduct a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test to check how effectively the gland is working, then prescribe a thyroid replacement hormone.

2. The culprit: Oral contraceptives (a.k.a ‘The Pill’)

Most birth control pills contain a combination of two hormones’progestin and estrogen’which prevent ovulation with an almost 99 per cent effectiveness rate when taken correctly. The drawback: Mild weight gain is associated with contraceptives. ‘It’s related to the effect that estrogen has on body fat storage and it probably goes back to our evolution, where women tended to gain weight to nourish the fetus in development,’ says Lorraine Watson, associate professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Calgary. ‘So if we increase our estrogen, we start messing around with that mechanism.’

Switching Pills might be one solution, since Watson notes that different contraceptives have various side effects. Or you can try a non-hormonal form of birth control such as condoms.

3. The culprit: Antidepressants

Prescribed antidepressants alter the chemicals in the brain to relieve symptoms of depression. While there are different ‘generations’ of antidepressants, Dornan notes that the new and more effective antidepressants, a-typical antipsychotics, trigger weight gain, though it will likely be slight. ‘On average, the gain is mild, but on some people it can be very significant, and in some people, not at all,’ Dornan says.

If you’re on antidepressants or about to start them, make changes in your lifestyle to accommodate potential weight gain, such as exercising more, changing your eating habits and getting enough sleep.

4. The culprit: Type 2 diabetes

If you’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it means that your body isn’t producing enough, or is resisting, the hormone insulin. While being overweight can trigger the development of type 2 diabetes, a number of the treatments are linked to further weight gain. ‘Insulin therapy and a number of classes of drugs we use are associated with an increase in weight,’ Dornan says.

Along with advising you to make critical lifestyle changes such as increasing your exercise and eating less, your doctor may also prescribe a drug such as Metformin, which doesn’t increase weight. (However, it’s not a drug that works well for everyone.)

5. The culprit: Cushing’s Syndrome

Also known as hypercortisolicism, this rare condition means there’s too much of the hormone cortisol in the adrenal glands’glands which help regulate blood pressure and metabolism. Symptoms include weight gain (particularly in the upper body, face and neck), fatigue, and high blood pressure and glucose. Cushing’s Syndrome can be caused by a number of factors, including long-term use of hormones for another condition such as asthma, or there could be a non-cancerous tumour causing the overgrowth.

Treatments vary depending on the cause of the syndrome and may include surgery, radiation and taking cortisol-inhibiting drugs.

6. The culprit: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance that leads to cysts, or sacs filled with fluid in which the egg hasn’t been released in the ovaries. It can complicate ovulation and is linked to weight gain, menstrual irregularities, facial hair growth and sometimes acne, says Dornan. (It’s also associated with insulin resistance, which links it to type 2 diabetes.)

Like type 2 diabetes, treatment options for PCOS include lifestyle changes and medications such as Metformin, which regulates your metabolism and balances your hormones. ‘Sometimes another category of drugs called TZDs’can sometimes treat the insulin resistance of PCOS and help with weight control,’ says Dornan.

7. The culprit: Estrogen

Levels of the hormone estrogen dip dramatically as women reach menopause and beyond. Lower doses of estrogen are connected to menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, for which your doctor may prescribe estrogen replacement therapy. This treatment can trigger fluid retention, a.k.a. water weight. ‘The weight gain would depend on the dose,’ says Watson. “Plus, as a woman ages, your metabolic rate slows down so you’re more inclined to gain weight.’

The only fix with this one is looking once again at your fitness levels and eating habits’as your body moves into menopause, you may have to increase your exercise and decrease the amount you eat to accommodate the changes.

8. The culprit: Steroids

Cortisteroids, used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma, generally reduce painful inflammation, but they are also linked to fluid retention. ‘And people tend to be less physically active when they’re on steroids, so they don’t burn as many calories,’ Dornan adds. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, steroids are used to suppress the immune system. If the steroids you’re taking do cause weight gain and don’t work well in controlling the disease, your physician might look at another treatment. ‘Sometimes we use other immune suppressors that aren’t associated with weight gain, but they have other side effects,’ Doran explains.

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