YOU AND THE MENOPAUSE

A self help guide

What is the menopause?

As every woman knows, the menopause marks the end of her fertile life with the cessation of her monthly periods. This is largely true, however, the term menopause designates the time for a few years before, and about one year after your last period. During this time, your body is going through a transitional period as the output of the hormones, oestrogen and progesterone declines. The time that this starts to happen varies from woman to woman but usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Eventually, your body stops ovulating entirely and you have completed the menopause.

What are the symptoms?

The time of your menopause can be divided into three parts. Firstly there is the pre-menopause period which may last for up to three or four years. During this time you may suffer any one or all three of the following symptoms:

• Mood changes reminiscent of your teenage pre-menstrual problems.
• Hot flushes where, for no apparent reason, your body starts to feel overheated and you begin to sweat, some times quite profusely.
• Irregular periods, sometimes they become more - frequent and quite heavy. At other times, you may miss as many as two or three periods at a time.

The second stage of the change of life is known as peri-menopause. This is the time when you actually stop having your periods altogether. You can be sure that you have reached this stage when you haven't had a period for a least a year. And during this time you may suffer from the symptoms that are associated with the final stage which is called post-menopause. It must be said that there are many women who sail through the menopause with-out suffering from any ill-effects at all. However, about four out of every five experience the following symptoms to a greater or lesser degree:

• High blood pressure
• Weight gain
• Hot flushes and sweating, occasionally accompanied by palpitations
• Vaginal dryness
• Thinning of the bones, known as osteoporosis. This happens gradually over a long period of time - up to twenty years.

Changing your life

The menopause is often dreaded by women, yet today research has helped to uncover several routes to ridding you of the more distressing of the symptoms. Often, the remedy is simple in the extreme.

Hot Flushes: The cause of hot flushes still eludes medical knowledge although it is thought to be a result of a disturbance of the hypothalamus (this controls the body temperature). This upset is believed to be caused by hormonal imbalances.

Although each flush lasts for only a minute or so, it can be very distressing. You cannot stop them from happening but you can help to make them less frequent and worrying by avoiding hot spicy foods, keeping in the cool when the weather is hot and keeping your stress levels down by relaxation, exercise, supplementation with vitamin E and B6, evening primrose oil and avoiding stimulating drinks like tea, coffee and alcohol.

Vaginal Dryness: This condition is known medically as vaginal atrophy. Before the onset of the menopause, the hormone, oestrogen encourages glands to secrete a thin, clear mucus in the vagina. However, during and after the menopause the dropping levels of oestrogen often results in a lessening of the flow of this mucus causing the vaginal wall to become dryer and lose elasticity.

Should this happen to you, you may find it beneficial to use a lubricating gel before intercourse to avoid discomfort. In addition, many women report that taking a daily capsule of evening primrose oil has helped to counteract this condition.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: HRT as it is more commonly known, is often hailed as the great cure-all for women going through the menopause. Those who are able to take HRT report that they sail through the change without a single symptom. HRT works by doing just what it says, artificially replacing the hormones that your body has ceased to produce naturally. You therefore continue to have regular periods and you do not suffer from any of the symptoms of the menopause. However, there are many women who cannot take HRT. If your mother or close relative has had breast cancer, your doctor will not prescribe HRT. And, in addition, there are many women who suffer side-effects from HRT. The most common of these side-effects is nausea and some suffer from dizziness too.

Change Of Diet: This can also help to lessen some of the symptoms. It has already been mentioned that spicy foods and stimulating drinks should be avoided. In addition you should step up your intake of wheatgerm which is rich in vitamin E and vitamin B6, both of which are thought to help relieve hot flushes and nervousness. If you are suffering from weight gain this of course can be controlled with a sensible slimming diet. You should also consider stepping up your calcium in and in order to do this you need to ensure adequate dairy produce in your diet or take a daily supplement.

The role of supplementation

As everyone knows, a well balanced diet is essential to your overall health. It therefore follows that during this crucial time in your life, you need to examine your diet more than ever. In any context the term 'well-balanced' means a diet that contains not only the main vitamins such as A,C,D and E but minerals and essential fatty acids as well. You can do this by eating as much fresh, unprocessed produce as possible, cutting down on saturated fats, and majoring on oily fish and poultry whilst cutting down on red meats. However, as you can never be absolutely sure of your daily nutrient intake, you may need to consider supplementing with a daily mutivitamin and mineral capsule.

Essential fatty acids

A great deal has been written about the importance of essential fatty acids (EFA's) in the daily diet. These EFA's in the form of polyunsaturated vegetable oils are the starting .point in a conversion process that eventually produces the body's natural regulators - prostaglandins. These prostaglandins are particularly important to you at the time of the menopause as, amongst other things, they regulate digestion, blood pressure and are thought to help control mood swings.

The most important of the essential fatty acids is linoleic acid (LA). LA is found in sunflower, corn and safflower oils. Once it enters your body, it is converted into Gamma-Linolenic Acid before continuing down its conversion path. However, this first, vital stage of conversion can be affected and even stopped by outside influences such as stress, alcohol, smoking and even air pollution. Happily though, your body will accept and use GLA without first manufacturing it from the LA in your diet. If you think you may be suffering from a GLA block for any of the aforementioned reasons, you might try adding to your diet with a GLA supplement.

There are no foods that contain GLA. At present the principal sources of natural GLA are evening primrose, borage and blackcurrant seed oils.

In recent years, supplements of GLA such as evening primrose oil have been used by many menopausal women to help alleviate their stress, flushes and even vaginal dryness.

Self-help tips

The way you go through the menopause very much depends on you and how you handle the symptoms. Follow these tips to smooth the path.

• Re-think your diet and supplement to be sure,
• Reduce the risk of osteoporosis with extra calcium and regular exercise.
• Wear natural fibres rather than synthetic to cut down the risk of sweating during a hot flush.
• Avoid spicy foods and stimulating drinks to counteract hot flushes.
• Have your blood pressure checked regularly.
• Take evening primrose oil capsules to help smooth out mood swings.
• Counteract vaginal dryness with a lubricating gel and evening primrose supplementation.

For further information on evening primrose oil and its uses contact:
The EPO Office on: 020-7498 8256

or write to: Evening Primrose Office, 4 Cupar Road, Battersea, London SW11 4JW.