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Menopause & Adrenal Function

JoAnn Guest

Jun 23, 2004 18:11 PDT

 

Menopause

http://www.drlewiscone.com/menopause.htm

 

Menopause is a word that is all too often associated with unpleasant

symptoms for women. As women approach their 40's and 50's there is a

decline in function of the ovaries and associated sex hormone

production, mainly estrogen and progesterone.

 

It is estimated that in the next 20 years 40 million American women will

reach the age of menopause. The definition of menopause is the cessation

of a woman's menstrual cycles, a natural and perfectly normal

occurrence.

 

Pre-menopause, or perimenopause, is the years in a woman's life leading

up to this last menstrual cycle. Menopause and pre-menopause, therefore,

are not something technically problematic. It is just is so common to

have symptoms with this change in women's bodies that it has become

associated with problems: moodiness, skin changes, decrease in libido,

vaginal dryness, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, bone loss, heart

disease, arthritis, increased cholesterol, and bone fractures. It does

not have to be this way though.

 

Many women go through the decline of ovarian function with no problems

at all. Some women report that the only thing they noticed about

menopause was that they stopped having their menstrual cycles, nothing

else.

 

So why do some women seem to fall to pieces while others sail through

menopause with no problems?

 

There are many reasons why women have symptoms associated with

menopause but there is one in particular that I want to talk about, the

adrenal glands. They are of vital importance for women. After the

adrenal glands I will discuss the most common problems that can

negatively affect mature women's health... and also affect younger and

middle-aged women as they are beginning to mature.

 

Adrenal Function: The adrenal glands are small hormone factories

responsible for making DHEA, adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol,

estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and other hormones. Because they

are responsible for making estrogen and progesterone, the adrenal glands

help to replace declining levels of estrogen and progesterone when a

woman's ovaries decline in function.

 

Healthy women with healthy adrenal glands are able to maintain estrogen

and progesterone at higher levels as ovaries taper off with production

of these hormones. Women with unhealthy adrenal glands (for various

reasons) are not able to replace declining levels of these hormones.

They just have decreasing levels of hormones because their backup system

is not working.

 

The adrenal glands may be tired or over-worked. At the time in a woman's

life when they need to kick in and start making a little extra of these

vital hormones, they are unable to do so. It is like trying to whip an

exhausted horse into running when all it can do is barely walk.

 

A large part of my health focus on menopausal women is to screen for

adrenal dysfunction and if indicated help improve adrenal health. The

first step for helping the adrenal glands to heal is to eliminate

stressors from the body.

Food allergies particularly stress the adrenal glands so food allergies

need to be identified.

 

Emotional stress can also be draining for the adrenal glands so it is

often beneficial to identify emotionally stressful areas of our life and

do what can be done to calm down stressful areas. All stress, emotional,

chemical, and physical, causes the adrenal glands to work hard. You can

understand that a lifetime of stress from unidentified food allergies

would drain the adrenal glands!

 

The second step for adrenal return to health is nutritional medicine

for the adrenal glands. This may include specific vitamins, minerals,

amino acids, and herbs. Sometimes homeopathic remedies may be called for

or perhaps Bach flower remedies may help support calming down emotional

responses to stress.

 

Occasionally it is helpful to support a woman with hormones themselves

such as estrogen or progesterone. It may be helpful in the short run but

in the long run I want a woman's body to make its own hormones so

hormone replacement therapy is not in the long term scheme of things.

For a while a progesterone cream or wild yam extract may be beneficial.

 

It is also worth mentioning that symptoms and complaints associated with

menopause may be coming from other sources than adrenal dysfunction. I

will discuss these next.

 

Infections: Infections, especially low-grade and long-lasting infections

are found in almost every patient that I treat. Women suffering from

menopausal symptoms, fibromyalgia, headaches, PMS, chronic fatigue, and

others diseases invariably have one or more infections bringing down

their health and causing symptoms.

 

Some major symptoms of chronic infections can be fatigue, poor memory,

brain fog, hypoglycemia, vaginal itching, depression, moodiness,

irritability, food and chemical sensitivities, constipation or diarrhea,

insomnia, headaches, stomach pain and bloating, obesity, PMS, chronic

rashes, and poor absorption of foods. With such a large range of serious

health problems caused by unrecognized infections it is easy to see why

I must screen and treat for infections if indicated. Here are the

categories of infections that I commonly find:

 

*yeast/fungal/mold- this is a common infection these days. It is found

in 90% of the patients that I treat. Exposure to high levels of

antibiotics, steroids (topical or ingested), hormones (birth control

pills, artificial thyroid hormones, synthetic estrogen replacement

therapy, etc), or a high sugar diet makes individuals prone to yeast

problems.

 

To clear out a fungal or yeast problem a patient (and often their

spouse) need to take special yeast killing medicines and follow a strict

diet for 3 weeks. Occasionally women may need to stop taking any

hormones, steroids, or antibiotics for a yeast infection to clear up. It

seems that certain chemicals and artificial hormones make a bad problem

worse in the case of yeast infections. In worst case scenarios houses

and air quality may need to be screened. Occasionally a " sick building "

will be at the root of sick people's fungal illness and resultant

complaints.

 

*parasites- a common infection found in my patients. Exposure to poorly

handled meats or vegetables, poor water supply, pets, or travel to

foreign countries may increase risk of parasite infections. Parasites

need to be treated with special antiparasitic medications. Antibiotics

will not work on parasites.

 

*viruses- many people have compromised immune systems. With lowered

immune system function certain people are prone to long standing viral

infections. Viruses are not easily eradicated except by your own immune

system and white blood cells. Antibiotics do not affect viral infections

at all. Any therapy for viral infections needs to be aimed at improving

immune system function. Specific herbs, vitamins, and minerals will

help.

 

*bacterial infections- certain bacteria are long term infections such as

H. Pylori (a type of bacteria that lives in the stomach and upper

digestive tract and causes ulcers and digestive problems).

 

Although most major bacterial infections are caught and treated at the

hospital or a visit to your medical doctor, certain bacteria may have

missed being identified. Some bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.

Some bacterial infections are so low grade as to escape notice and

therefore they go untreated. Bacteria need to be treated with antibiotic

herbs or medicines.

 

Ask your health care provider to screen for systemic yeast infections,

parasite infections, viral burdens, and possible low grade bacterial

infections. The most common way to screen for yeast and parasite

infections is with a stool sample being shipped to a qualified

laboratory such as Great Smokies Labs for analysis.

 

Infections are a chemical stress on the body and thus stress the adrenal

glands. Infections in the digestive tract can lead to Leaky Gut Syndrome

by degrading the lining of the intestines.

 

Leaky gut syndrome: This syndrome describes a condition where a person's

intestinal lining has become damaged and is not controlling what is

entering the blood stream efficiently.

 

It allows undigested food particles into the blood stream, producing

stress on the immune system. Eventually allergic and autoimmune

reactions or unpleasant side effects begin to occur.

 

Leaky gut syndrome is often caused by long term exposure to intestinal

infections and the inflammation that follows. These allergic reactions

that follow leaky gut syndrome also stress the adrenal glands.

 

Leaky gut syndrome often spontaneously heals when infections are

removed. Occasionally herbal formulas and certain vitamins, mineral, or

amino acids are required to speed healing of the intestinal lining. When

the intestines begin to repair allergic reactions to foods greatly

decrease.

 

Food Allergies: Most people with health complaints also seem to benefit

from identifying foods that they may be sensitive to. There are at least

2 different types of allergic reactions to foods...

 

*Fast response food allergies (IgE mediated responses)- some food

allergies react quickly, with in 10 to 15 minutes and are characterized

by swelling, itching, breathing difficulties, and redness.

One way for detecting IgE allergies has been the skin scratch method.

The problems with the skin scratch test is that it only tests for IgE

mediated allergic reactions and does not test for ANY other types of

allergies. This is like only looking for half or one third of the

possible problems. I find that in most of my patients who have allergy

problems it is not IgE allergies that are the real burden but rather

slow response or IgG allergic reactions.

 

*Slow response food allergies (IgG mediated responses)- most food

allergies that seriously affect the health and cause headaches are slow

response allergies. It is important also to mention that these delayed

response food allergies are usually not identified or realized. These

allergic reactions may cause headaches, fatigue, asthma, sleepiness,

moodiness, depression, pain, and may eventually lead to autoimmune

problems if exposure is long enough.

 

Commonly blood testing is done to identify these types of allergic

foods. A problem with most blood testing is that a large amount of false

positive results are found which leads to too many foods being

identified as allergic. Because of the large percent of false positive

food allergies with blood tests, I often start testing patients with a

quick neurological screening first

 

Because allergic reactions to foods can cause so many terrible symptoms

I always check every patient for food sensitivities. If a person is

allergic to foods that are predominant in the diet such as wheat, milk,

corn, or genetically engineered soy then a person is literally being

hurt every day of their life. These foods are usually in every meal or

at least every day. Because of this they need to be identified and

strategies implemented to calm down allergic reactions.

 

Leaky gut syndrome is often a leading cause of allergic reactions by

allowing undigested food particles to be absorbed into the blood stream

where immune system responses often cause headaches.

 

All possible allergy-causing foods need to be identified, a

desensitization protocol done, and an avoidance period of usually 3

weeks is needed to usually permanently correct food sensitivities.

 

It is rare for food allergies and sensitivities to be permanent. Ask

your health care provider to test for both IgE and IgG mediated

allergies, then follow a desensitizing protocol such as NAET, and after

a period of time re-introduce the foods back into the diet.

 

Heavy metal toxins: Heavy metals are involved in many patients suffering

with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, PMS, and menopausal

symptoms. Our exposure to toxins such as mercury, lead, aluminum,

arsenic, copper, cadmium, and others is increasing with time.

 

After exposure to toxins our body often stores toxins that it is not

able to detoxify. As each person's body has higher levels of toxins

problems with body function increase such as endocrine problems,

hormonal imbalances, loss of menstruation in women, mental problems,

autoimmune problems, headaches, joint pains, loss of flexibility, and

obesity.

 

Heavy metals need to be identified and a gentle detoxification protocol

implemented. Ask your health care provider to screen for heavy metal

toxins. It is worthwhile to note that one source of mercury poisoning

may be from mercury amalgam (or " silver " ) fillings. I would encourage

everyone to NOT use mercury amalgam fillings in their mouths. Rather,

use ceramic or other non-toxic fillings.

 

Chiropractic Imbalances: The function of the spine is to support the

weight of the body allowing it to move and to protect and carry the

spinal cord. From the spinal cord comes smaller, peripheral nerves that

exit between spinal bones and travel to muscles, organs, skin, etc.

 

If the spine is out of alignment this can allow a compression of a nerve

as it exits between vertebrae. A compressed nerve will not carry

information properly and can lead to dysfunction in internal organs or

muscles and also lead to abnormal physical sensations. It is only common

sense to make sure that spinal vertebrae are aligned and properly moving

for optimal movement and internal nerve supply to organs and muscles.

 

Certain traumas to the skull can also lead to dysfunctional movements in

the skull. Although minuscule, these movements in the skull profoundly

affect the movement of cerebro-spinal fluid, the fluid which nourishes

and bathes the spinal cord and brain.

 

Dysfunction in movements of the skull, therefore, can affect the

movement of cerebro-spinal fluid, or CFS, and lead to further

dysfunctions and deterioration of health. Although small, the TMJ joint,

in the jaw can strongly affect the health of the body. A very large

proportion of the brain is dedicated to interpreting sensations from the

mouth and jaws. Dysfunctional jaw movement, misalignment of the teeth,

or trauma to the TMJ will affect the brain, cause pain(often headaches),

and affect acupuncture patterns throughout the body.

 

Something as simple as a stubbed toe can also disrupt the acupuncture

meridians, or energy channels, in the body. If a certain acupuncture

meridian passes through a toe that is jammed or dysfunctional, it is

possible to have symptoms in the head, chest, or abdomen from this

seemingly small, distant problem.

 

Resolution of upper body symptoms can be achieved by attention to a

problematic toe! My experience as a doctor teaches me that it is truly

necessary to look at a patient from head to toes in order to get the

speediest, deepest, and longest-lasting results. For these reasons it is

helpful to have an examination and treatment from an experienced

chiropractor or osteopath trained in spinal manipulation, cranio-sacral

therapy, etc. Please take advantage of these non-invasive treatments

whenever available.

 

Acupuncture Imbalances: The acupuncture system can affect any and all

areas of the human body. It is my experience that most disease

processes, including menopause, benefit from balancing of the

acupuncture meridian flow. Acupuncture needles, acupressure, lasers, or

small electric currents can be used to stimulate specific acupuncture

reflexes and bring changes in energy flow in the body.

 

I have noticed that the more nutritionally healthy a person is, the

less they need attention to acupuncture points. For this reason I give

more attention to nutritional needs. At times acupuncture therapy is

invaluable. Acupuncture points are stimulated with a cold laser in our

office.

 

Nutritional deficiencies: Nutritional deficiencies in general may be

behind certain health problems. Today, more than ever, people are

mineral and vitamin deficient. We don't have to just eat junk food to be

lacking in vitamins and minerals.

 

Often " healthy " foods- vegetables, fruits, and meats from the grocery

have less than half of the mineral content of foods 60 years ago.

Shopping for foods that are grown organically helps with this.

 

Sometimes multivitamins are recommended. A sign of a poor vitamin is one

that has the toxin stearic acid, magnesium stearate or calcium stearate.

Stearic acid is a saturated fat that makes absorption of the vitamin

much more difficult.

 

I suggest looking for vitamin manufacturers that encapsulate rather

than make vitamins in tablet form. Also a sign of a poor vitamin is one

that uses the poorly absorbed calcium carbonate. If your calcium is in

the form of calcium carbonate, in my opinion, it is worthless.

 

Vitamin E, Vitamin C, B complex vitamins, Calcium, Magnesium, and

certain essential fatty acids such as Omega 6 oils have been shown to be

generally helpful for menopause. However, I do want to say that each

woman is different and I have never found any two patients needing the

exact same nutrition. Because of our differences in genetics and

differences in stresses we all need differing nutrients and often

differing doses of nutrients. Discuss with your health care provider

which nutrients will be helpful for health in general and also helpful

for menopause.

 

Liver Function: A normally functioning liver will help to detoxify the

body of toxins AND filter the blood before it enters the rest of the

body. A normally functioning liver produces bile salts which aid in

digestion.

 

The function of the liver is extremely important for people with chronic

illness, especially asthma, allergies, and hormonal problems. Since the

liver is so important for cleaning and detoxifying it needs to working

properly because people with menopausal symptoms are usually extremely

burdened with toxins. Toxins will eventually begin to affect the

hormonal systems of the body.

 

It is usually not possible to detoxify the body well if the liver is not

working well. So detoxifying must also include support for the liver. If

a person is attempting to detoxify heavy metals with a congested liver,

metals may just circulate in the blood stream and never really leave the

body, which does the person no good.

 

It is like shaking out a dusty carpet inside the house with all the

windows closed. You may get some dust off the carpet but now everyone is

coughing and choking with no open window (healthy liver). This is

extremely stressful for the body. So certain vitamins, minerals, herbs

or dietary changes may be needed to support liver function and help the

liver to do its job of detoxifying.

 

Digestive deficiencies: Often people with menopausal symptoms have

digestive dysfunction. Often they are not absorbing the nutrients that

they are eating or they are absorbing things that they should not be. A

person may have leaky gut syndrome which lets toxins and undigested food

particles enter into the blood stream.

 

Some people may not be making enough acid in their stomach and can

benefit from acidic enzyme therapy such as hydrochloric acid tablets

with meals. Some people may have poorly functioning pancreatic function

and so may benefit from pancreatic enzymes. Some people may have a

poorly functioning liver and gall bladder with low secretion of bile

salts. Bile salts may be helpful for digestion and emulsification of

fats.

 

To summarize, if a person is only digesting 50% of their food, then at

most 50% of the nutrients are getting into the blood that they need. An

internal deficit of hormones may come from an internal deficit of key

vitamins and minerals... which may come from an absorption problem...

which may come from a digestive problem!

 

So it is logical to check digestion when a person has health

complaints. A certain person may benefit from specific digestive enzymes

to help return to health. Ask your health care provider to screen for

digestive function of the pancreas, liver, and stomach.

 

Conclusion: Although not a complete discussion of possibilities, this is

intended to give an overview of the most common reasons for menopausal

complaints. If you have unpleasant symptoms from menopause please

consider these natural therapies and treatment possibilities. At the

Alpine Natural Medicine Clinic we strive to check all of these

possibilities.

 

It only takes one dysfunction to lead to serious health complaints.

Often women have multiple dysfunctions that need to be corrected.

 

When the real problems are addressed and corrected, symptoms go away.

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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