Managing the Hot Flushes of Menopause

Hot flushes are experienced by more than 70% of menopausal women, and are one of the most common symptoms of this natural process. These occur for some time throughout menopause, lasting anywhere from 1-2 years, and even longer, up to 10 years.

What causes a hot flush?
A portion of the human brain, called the hypothalamus, contain oestrogen receptors, which help to monitor the level of oestrogen produced within the body. This particular brain centre also helps to govern a number of functions including controlling body temperature and sleep.

It is believed that during menopause, the hypothalamus detects declining oestrogen levels, which starts a cascade of hormonal events in the body. Low oestrogen levels stimulate the hypothalamus to send a message to the pituitary gland, which subsequently releases hormones to act on the ovaries. Due to the lack of eggs, the ovaries are unable to increase production of oestrogen, which signals the hypothalamus once more.


This cyclical feedback mechanism also activates the nervous system, triggering dilation of the peripheral blood vessels, especially in the face, neck, and chest. This leads to heat and redness to the skin (flushed), and is often followed by profuse perspiration.

lifestyle tips to keep a hot flush ‘cool’!
1. Manage stress - Stress is often a trigger for hot flushes
2. Wear layered clothing — Practical for managing the fluctuations in body temperature
3. Keep a small spritzer bottle handy — Helps to keep your skin moist

Meno-Life, is a special two capsule herbal formula that includes Black Cohosh, Dong Quai, Red Clover and Soy isoflavones that have been found to help manage menopause symptoms over a full 24 hours. A Daytime capsule provides support for hot flushes, mood swings and energy levels while a special Night-time capsule can help with night sweats, anxiety and relax and prepare the body for sleep.

Exercise and Menopause

Exercise may assist with reducing menopausal symptoms for the following reasons:

• Exercise may help to stabilise and reduce hormonal fluctuations, through a variety of mechanisms, including managing weight (Refer next bullet point).
• Exercise assists with weight loss and the ongoing maintenance of relatively low body weight. A lean body may produce less of the female hormones, thus reducing the severity of menopausal symptoms
• Exercise increases endurance and stamina and even increases pain thresholds
• Exercise is mentally and physically uplifting, especially if done outdoors in fresh air, natural surroundings and bright sunshine

Exercise can be divided into four highly beneficial forms:

• Aerobic such as walking, running, rowing, paddling, cycling and swimming.
• Strengthening such as lifting weights or using your own body to do exercises like chin-ups and press-ups.
• Stretching and meditative such as Tai Chi, Yoga and various stretching and toning regimes
• Socialisation and stimulating games such as tennis, soccer and dancing.

Any exercise programme should include a mix of all four during any one week. It is not advisable to be reliant on one form of exercise only which may lead to boredom, dependency and injury - so please mix it up!

Get outside and exercise as much as possible. This is most important for your physical and emotional well-being if you spend most of your working days indoors in airconditioned and artifically lit buildings.

Minerals and Menopause

Reduced oestrogen levels can result in substantial loss of Calcium and other minerals from the bones, leading to numerous health problems, ranging including:

• heart palpitations
• blood pressure fluctuations
• adrenal and thyroid dysfunction
• muscle pain
• joint pain
• ragged nerves
• the onset of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones become increasingly brittle. This can result in spontaneous fractures, especially of the hip, with crippling results.

Figures from the USA indicate that 80% of the 250,000 hip fractures reported each year, are due to osteoporosis and result in a 20% mortality rate of those affected. This is highly preventable when you follow the exercise and diet recommendations in these articles.

Calcium
Calcium absorption varies from person to person, according to genetics, but illness or disease can decrease the amount you retain. On average, only 20-40 percent of calcium you eat is absorbed and this decreases with age. Other factors that inhibit absorption of calcium include: lack of exercise, medicines, drugs, smoking, caffeine and stress. Lack of nutrients also reduces absorption of calcium, especially the vitamins C,D and K, as well as the minerals magnesium and phosphorus. So as you can see, drinking a glass of milk or popping a calcium tablet isn't enough to prevent bone loss. This is why a healthy balanced diet is so important for menopausal women.

Sources
Excellent sources include raw grass fed full cream milk products, canned sardines and salmon, cabbage and broccoli.

Magnesium
Helps to combat menopause-associated conditions like: osteoporosis, muscle and joint pain, heart palpitations, cramps, fatigue, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, anxiety and depression. Tip: Add Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) to your bath, relax and soak!

Sources
Eggs, shell fish, liver, figs, lemons, grapefruit, corn, almonds, nuts, soybeans, seeds, dark green vegetables, apples.

Selenium
Helps to combat fibrocystic disease of the breast and breast cancer. Powerful anti oxidant.

Sources
Liver, shell fish, brazil nuts, wheat germ, tuna, tomatoes, broccoli.

Manganese
Helps to combat atherosclerosis, "hardening of the arteries", in later life.

Sources
Liver, shell fish, nuts, fruit, vegetables, wholegrain cereals.

Phosphorus
Helps in prevention of osteoporosis.

Sources
Meat, fish, eggs, milk, grains, nuts, seeds and beans.

Zinc
Helps to combat osteoporosis in later life.

Sources
Meat, shell fish, liver, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, eggs.

The beef Bone Broth

The beef bone broth is the most effective way to get your daily minerals and more!

Recommended Additional Tests for Assessing Menopause

In addition to any blood tests ordered by your physician, I recommend that you request a blood test of your vitamin D levels and then compare with recommendations for "Optimum" levels. Please bear in mind that "Optimum" does not necessarily equate with "Normal" ranges.




I also recommend that you order a hair tissue mineral analysis. While it is quite expensive, this test will establish accurately what your vitamin and mineral needs are for optimum health. In so doing, you will eliminate most of the guesswork and potentially save the cost of taking a whole lot of unnecessary supplements.

What is Menopause?

What is Menopause?
Menopause is the end of menstruation. The word comes from the Greek mens, meaning monthly, and pausis, meaning cessation. Menopause is part of a woman's natural aging process when her ovaries produce lower levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone and when she is no longer able to become pregnant.

Unlike a woman’s first menstruation, which starts on a single day, the changes leading up to menopause happen over several years. The average age for menopause is 52. But menopause commonly happens anytime between the ages of 42 and 56. A woman can say she has begun her menopause when she has not had a period for a full year.

What is ‘perimenopause’?
Perimenopause refers to the several years before menopause when a woman may begin experiencing the first signs of her menopausal transition. But many people use the term ‘menopause’ for both the perimenopausal years as well as the few years following menopause.

What are the signs of menopause?
Menopause is a natural process that happens to every woman as she grows older, and is not a medical problem, disease or illness. Still, some women may have a hard time because of the changes in hormone levels during menopause. There are many possible signs of menopause and each woman feels them differently. Most women have no or few menopausal symptoms while some women have many moderate or severe symptoms.

The clearest signs of the start of menopause are irregular periods (when periods come closer together or further apart), and when blood flow becomes lighter or heavier. Other signs may include some of the following:

• Weight gain
• Hot flashes
• Insomnia; night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Joint pain
• Fatigue
• Short-term memory problems
• Bowel upset
• Dry eyes
• Itchy skin
• Mood swings
• Urinary tract infections

Most of the time, these symptoms will lessen or go away after a woman has finished menopause.

Do all women experience menopause in the same way?
Menopause experiences are different among individual women, and also among women in different cultures and in different parts of the world. Research has shown that women’s experience of menopause can be related to many things, including genetics, diet, lifestyle and social and cultural attitudes toward older women. For example:

• Japanese women report fewer hot flashes and other symptoms
• Thai women record a high incidence of headaches
• Scottish women record fewer severe symptoms
• Greek women report a high rate of hot flashes
• Mayan women report no symptoms

Some people think the modern emphasis on youth and lack of respect for older people contributes to a more difficult menopausal transition. The typical modern diet, high in saturated fats and sugars, along with our in-active lifestyle and low childbirth rate, may also contribute to the physical complaints common to many Western women at menopause.

What is "induced" menopause?"Induced", "sudden" or "surgical" menopause happens when a woman goes through an immediate and premature menopause. This occurs when her ovaries no longer produce the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. This may be caused by:

• Surgery to remove your ovaries
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation treatment
• Ovarian malfunction

Women going through induced menopause may have more severe menopausal symptoms, and are usually treated with hormone therapy.

How should I prepare for menopause?
Menopause is one of women’s many important natural life-stages. For some, it is a challenging period of difficult physical and emotional changes. For others, it is a time of personal growth and renewal. And for many women, it is both at the same time. They don't call it "Menopausal Zest" for nothing!

Preparation and management with natural therapies centers about diet, lifestyle and exercise. These are discussed in the articles that follow.

Kordel's Menolife for the natural management of unpleasant menopausal symptoms

Kordel's Menolife is specially designed to provide for the different day and night time menopausal symptoms that women experience.
The two capsules include those herbs which have a proven history of benefit in the management of menopausal symptoms including hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings and insomnia.
For more infromation and to purchase, go here.