Table Of ContentA NO NONSENSE GUIDE TO USING H.R.T., HERBS,
VITAMINS, FOODS, AND NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS
TO EASE THE DISCOMFORT OF MENOPAUSE
Smart
E
N
I
C
I
D
E
f
^
Menopause
Hormone Replacement Therapy
and its N atural Alternatives
SANDRA CABOT, md
From the Bestselling Author of Women's Health
^r- v
Smart
Medicine
Menopause
SANDRA CABOT, md
AVERY PUBLISHING GROUP
Garden City Park • New York
The information and procedures contained in this book are based upon the
research and the personal and professional experiences of the author. They are
not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other health
care provider. The publisher and author are not responsible for any adverse
effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions, prepa-
rations, or procedures discussed in this book. All matters pertaining to your
physical health should be supervised by a health care professional.
The excerpt on page 170 is from Always A Woman by Kay Ian Pickford, published
by Bantam Books in 1982. Reprinted by permission.
Cover design: William Gonzalez and Rudy Shur
In-house editor: Amy C. Tecklenburg
Typesetter: Bonnie Freid
Avery Publishing Group, Inc.
120 Old Braodway
Garden City Park, NY 11040
1-800-548-5757
ISBN: 0-89529-897-X
Copyright © 1995 by Sandra Cabot
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
consent of the copyright owner.
Printed in the United States of America
10 987654321
Contents
Preface, v
1. Menopause in a Nutshell, 1
2. The Long-Term Consequences of Estrogen
Deficiency, 15
3. Your Visits to the Doctor, 37
4. Everything You Will Ever Need to Know
About Hormone Replacement Therapy, 49
5. The Most-Asked Questions About Menopause, 71
6. Naturopathic Medicine for Menopause, 93
7. Slowing Down the Aging Process, 129
8. Sex and Menopause, 147
9. Male Menopause — Fact or Fiction? 159
10. In Summary — A Farewell Message
From the Author, 169
Notes, 171
Glossary, 175
Bibliography, 181
Resource Organizations, 185
Index, 187
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012
http://archive.org/details/smartmedicineforOOsand
Preface
The terms "menopause" and "change of life" often arouse feelings of
fear, dread, uncertainty, and confusion. Yet even though menopause
is one of the greatest physical milestones in a woman's life, it d oes not
have to be traumatic or painful.
At around the age of fifty years, a woman's biological clock stops
ticking, signaling the loss of fertility and the loss of the sex hormones
estrogen and progesterone. Vitally important questions are raised by
the loss of these parts of her identity. Questions such as:
• How will I feel — mentally, physically, and sexually — without sex
hormones?
• Will I a ge more rapidly without estrogen in my body?
• Will I s till be able to function efficiently and compete with younger
women in the workplace?
• Will my husband lose interest in me and take a younger lover?
• Will I l ose my femininity and look masculine?
• If I h ave a premature menopause, can I s till have a baby?
• Will I g et osteoporosis?
Read on, and all these questions — and many more — will be an-
swered. This book is your menopause handbook and will serve as a
lifeline to guide you through this often awesome and bewildering
time of life. It discusses all your options in a simple and clear way,
and will leave you fully informed. Most of all, it will take the fear out
of menopause and put you back in the driver's seat.
A woman passing through menopause and beyond needs to know
about all her options, and is likely to have many unanswered ques-
tions about them. For example:
vi Smart Medicine for Menopause
• Do I need to take hormones in the form of hormone replacement
therapy?
• Can I use natural hormone replacement therapy instead of the
old-fashioned synthetic hormones?
• If one type of hormone replacement therapy doesn't help me, can I
take hormones in other forms?
• What is the difference between hormone pills, injections, patches,
creams, implants, and suppositories?
• If I d on't want hormone replacement therapy, what else can I d o to
cope with the symptoms of menopause?
• Is there anything I c an do to slow down the aging process?
With the information in this book, you can master menopause and
emerge with your vitality, femininity, sexuality, and peace of mind
intact. Indeed, in many cases the change of life can be a change for the
better.
Sandra Cabot, M.D.
Chapter 1
Menopause
in a Nutshell
My fifty-four-year-old patient had sat for hours on the bus, all the way
from an isolated country town called Lightning Ridge, to seek help.
She flopped into the chair on the other side of my desk with a
desperate and exhausted look in her eyes. She told me that male
doctors had no time to listen to her woes and merely threw up their
hands, saying that she was "just getting on in years." She said that
life was cruel for women going through menopause, and that she felt
like a sexless, emotionless "it." Indeed, she felt as if she had been
cheated. She certainly did not want to hear, "That's life; it's just part
of getting older."
I h ave heard countless tales like this and — perhaps because I a m a
woman, too, and not just a doctor — I c an empathize with the plight
of these frustrated women. But we do not have to passively suffer the
problems of menopause. There are real, safe, and simple solutions for
today's menopausal woman — solutions to help us recapture our for-
mer mental and physical well-being and to slow down the ravages of
time on our minds and bodies.
Women are still occasionally told that menopause is part of Mother
Nature's design, and that they should accept it as gracefully as their
mothers did. In fact, however, our mothers may have died — as
women still die today — from some of the long-term complications of
menopause. Fortunately, today's woman has a wide array of choices
available — including hormone replacement therapy, counseling, nu-
tritional supplements, dietary modification, and general medical
treatment — to help ensure that her passage to midlife and beyond is
a fruitful and pleasant voyage.
Menopause in a Nutshell
WHAT IS A HORMONE?
Before we deal with menopause in depth, it is important to under-
stand what hormones are and how they function in the body. Hor-
mones are b ody chemicals that carry messages from one part of the
body to another. They are made in specialized glands called endo-
crine glands (see Figure 1.1) and are circulated in the blood to specific
body cells where they make their presence felt.
The thyroid gland manufactures thyroid hormone, the adrenal
glands manufacture the adrenal hormones epinephrine (also called
adrenaline) and cortisone, and the ovaries produce the sex hormones
estrogen and progesterone. These are just a few of the many hor-
mones required to keep our cells functioning in harmony.
Hormones are concerned with controlling the chemistry of cells.
They determine the rate at which our cells burn up food and release
energy. They also determine whether cells produce milk, hair, secre-
tions, enzymes, or other metabolic products.
Hormones are extremely potent molecules. In some cases, less than
one millionth of an ounce of a hormone is sufficient to exert an effect.
Individual hormone molecules are far too small to be seen, even
under a microscope.
Hormones can be likened to chemical "keys" that turn vitally
important metabolic "locks" in our cells. The turning of these locks
stimulates activity within the cells of the brain, intestines, muscles,
genital organs, and skin. Indeed, all our cells are influenced to some
degree by these amazing hormonal keys. (See Figure 1.2.)
Without the hormonal keys, the metabolic locks on our cells remain
closed and the full potential of our cells is not realized. Imagine a
corporation where the employees are unable to communicate with the
president and are left to do their own thing. The corporation would
lack any unified direction and would be unable to grow. This type of
chaos is what would happen in your cells without hormones.
After hormones have completed their tasks, they are either broken
down by the cells on which they have acted or are carried to the liver
for breakdown. The resulting compounds are then excreted or used
again to manufacture new hormone molecules.
CAN HORMONES RUIN YOUR LIFE?
An imbalance in or lack of hormones can shatter your life. Among
other things, hormones are vital for making you sexually responsive,
passionate, and sensitive, and for sustaining mental drive.
