Natural Alternatives to Ease the Symptoms of Menopause

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

Just when I had thought that the whole HRT issue was deader than a doornail, along comes a new study that claims that HRT can rekindle a woman’s sex life. The study was commissioned by the Women’s Health Concern in Britain. Of course, this pro-HRT group would like you to believe that they are simply a charitable organization dedicated to improving women’s health. But the truth is, the WHC is just a front for the pharmaceutical industry.

If you have any doubts, just look at their board of directors. Sitting beside a handful of doctors are folks with long tenures in the drug industry, including the former director of marketing for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Premarin and Prempro.

A Study By Any Other Name

Actually, the study wasn’t really a study at all, but a survey of 300 women between the ages of 45 and 64 who were on HRT. According to the press release, more than 60 percent of those taking part in the survey said that HRT had helped them “feel like a woman.” Multinational drug giants never seem to give up – and they’ll go to almost any lengths, including tapping into the highly emotional issue of sex. And who could blame them. After all, in light of the numerous studies linking HRT to heart disease, Alzheimer’s and breast cancer, their profits have plummeted. According to a spokesman for Wyeth, future earnings growth could be "adversely impacted" if the hormone replacement drugs Premarin and Prempro continue to lose favor with patients and doctors. Earlier this year Wyeth said it expected the two drugs to achieve sales of between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion, so you can be sure that the company will do everything in its power to boost sales.

But, unless you own stock in Wyeth, that’s not your problem. Or mine.

More Bad News

Over the past few years, studies have shed light on the perils of HRT. Now, as if to make sure that every “I” was dotted and every “T” was crossed, two new HRT studies in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine provide even more damning evidence.

In one of the studies, a research team led by JoAnn Manson of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that women taking estrogen and progestin increase their risk of a heart attack by 81 percent in the first year.

The findings, the researchers said, mean that most women who are taking the hormones should stop, and those who have reached menopause should not start.

“Overall, the risk of treatment outweighed the benefits during 5.6 years of treatment," they concluded in their study. The risks were considered so serious that they ended their study of 16,608 women early once the dangers of hormone treatments became apparent.

The second study, led by Howard Hodis of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, involved 226 postmenopausal women who had at least one area of narrowing in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. The women were randomly assigned to receive estrogen only, estrogen and progestin, or the usual medical care without hormones. The women were followed for an average of three years.

After three years, the researchers found that the arteries of 150 women taking the hormone supplements clogged just as rapidly as the 76 getting a placebo.

Although HRT may reduce the risk of osteoporosis and colorectal cancer, if you saw last week’s e-bulletin, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (8/7), you already know that these drugs increase the likelihood of stroke, heart disease, dementia and the possibility of developing breast cancer. Less well known is HRT’s ability to boost the risk of gallstones and increase a woman's chances of developing insulin resistance and Type II diabetes.

So, even though HRT might make sex more enjoyable, it just might end up being killer sex. Fortunately, there are a number of natural alternatives to ease the symptoms of menopause, including black cohosh, chasteberry, red clover, soy and natural progesterone.

One Last Thing ...

For a lot of us gals, the decision is pretty clear-cut – HRT isn’t worth the risk. But for some women, the choice is a little murkier. That’s the situation one 72-year-old reader finds herself in. D.C. had a hysterectomy a few years ago and is now taking Premarin. Her doctor says that, since she has had her uterus and overies removed, it’s perfectly safe. And, while she admits that the medication makes her feel better, she still has some concerns. Unfortunately, there haven’t been any studies that look at the effects of synthetic estrogen after hysterectomy. But the Women's Health Initiative is launching a study, scheduled to be completed by 2005, which will do just that. Anecdotal reports of women using Premarin alone after hysterectomy haven’t reported the same safety concerns. But remember, HRT looked good for a long time too – until studies began documenting the potentially deadly risks.

At this point, we don’t have any hard and fast answers for women who have undergone a hysterectomy. That said, Premarin is made from horse urine and isn’t natural to a woman’s body.

By boosting the circulating estrogen in you’re body, you may still be at risk for some of the same problems women with their reproductive organs face – mainly because the estrogen is unopposed. But until this study is complete, we won’t know for sure. If your doctor still insists that HRT is safe, it might be wise to seek a second opinion.

Bottom line – we all have to make our own decision. I’ll keep bringing you updates on HRT – both pro and con – to help you make the best decision possible. In the meantime, all of us should take an active role in educating ourselves about the therapies and medications our doctors recommend.

This Just In ...

For centuries, Traditional Chinese Medicine has relied on ginseng to treat diabetes. Now research shows that ginseng may indeed reduce blood sugar levels in Type II diabetes.

In a randomized, placebo-controlled study, researchers from the University of Toronto gave 3,000 mg. of North American ginseng to diabetic subjects who were already receiving treatment for diabetes in the form of diet or prescription drugs.

The researchers found that, even at this low dose, subjects had a blood sugar level that was 59.1 percent less than subjects who had received the placebo treatment. They also found that the ginseng could be taken any time within two hours before a glucose tolerance test was administered with the same effectiveness. Better yet, ginseng only appeared to have a glucose-lowering effect after prior glucose stimulation (in this case, the glucose tolerance test). In other words, if you take ginseng without eating, your blood sugar won’t drop to dangerous levels.

The Toronto team says it still needs to pin down the physiological mechanism behind ginseng’s effectiveness, but it appears that ginseng increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin. It may also increase the secretion of insulin.

Combined with diet, ginseng just might help you reduce the amount of insulin you need. Talk to your doctor and remember, drugs should be the last alternative, not the first line of defense.

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References:

Hodis HN, et al. “Hormone Therapy and the Progression of Coronary-Artery Atherosclerosis in Postmenopausal Women.” New England Journal of Medicine. 2003; 349:535-545. Manson JE, et al. “Estrogen plus Progestin and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease.” New England Journal of Medicine. 2003; 349:523-534. Vuksan V, et al. “Similar postprandial glycemic reductions with escalation of dose and administration time of American Ginseng in Type 2 Diabetes.” Diabetes Care. 2000; 23:1221-1225.