When it comes to women’s health, menopause is not a disease. This is a natural process which occurs in the lives of women. Severity of a woman’s symptoms during this time can have much to do with how she views this time in her life. If her view of menopause is the end of youth and sexuality it will be a much more challenging time for her than if it is viewed as the next natural step of life. Most of the disagreeable side effects of menopause can be reduced, if not eliminated with exercise, proper diet, and nutritional supplements.

Menopause is sometime referred to as the “change of life”. At this time a woman stops menstruation and ovulating. When it comes to women’s health, menopause is the end of fertility for the woman. Her ovaries mainly stop making hormones, progesterone and estrogen when her body stops ovulating. Estrogen is thought of as a sex hormone strictly tied to reproduction but it also acts on many different organs in the woman’s body. Estrogen receptor cells are in the bladder, breasts, vagina, skin, bones, arteries, liver, heart, and brain. They all require estrogen to fuel these receptors for normal cell function. The woman’s body uses estrogen to keep the skin smooth and moist, the arteries unclogged, and the body’s internal thermostat operating properly. Estrogen is essential for proper bone formation, thus creating problems for women’s health after the change of life.

Other organs take over the job of producing estrogen from the ovaries and continue to produce some estrogen and other hormones. Endocrine glands as these organs are known secrete hormones to keep up proper bodily functions. For women’s health after menopause estrogen levels drop sharply but the hormone does not vanish completely.

Osteoporosis in particular is a major problem for women’s health after menopause. Over time the diminished supply of estrogen and progesterone increase the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, vaginal atrophy as well as osteoporosis.

Other symptoms that may affect women’s health can be mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, headaches, anxiety, dizziness, depression, bladder problems, vaginal dryness and itching, burning and discomfort during sexual intercourse, poor libido, dryness and aging of the skin, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and insomnia. These symptoms are due to progesterone and estrogen deficiency. Some women however can go through menopause with no or few symptoms.

Symptoms can be more severe for women who have their ovaries removed during hysterectomy and causing menopause to occur suddenly. Keeping at least one ovary when undergoing a hysterectomy will stop menstruating after surgery but these women will still go through menopause.

Some women will start this change early and some will start later. The average age at menopause is around fifty. Not only is the menopausal period different for each individual woman the effects for women’s health can also be different for each woman.

For other useful and practical information concerning Women’s Health Issues, please go to www.womens-health-talk.wcf-ltd.com/

An increasing number of women are seeking natural ways to relieve their menopause symptoms. Natural medication is not about medicine in the pharmaceutical sense of the word but rather the use of natural substances such as herbs, herbal supplements and nutrients that can help relieve menopausal symptoms that can be very distressing during this very natural time of a woman’s life.

Herbalists generally accept , as do, in fact, many in mainstream medicinal practices, that Black Cohosh is the most effective herb for combating menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. Indeed, as far as a natural ways to deal with menopause, Black Cohosh is being increasingly recommended by open-minded general practitioners as an alternative to standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which has a record of producing undesirable side effects in many women. Indeed, this herb is widely regarded as a natural medication for menopause, that is, an effective herbal remedy.

Another widely acclaimed herb in relieving menopause symptoms is Dong Quai. Donq Quai is a member of the celery family and well known for its ability to regulate the female reproductive system. Its greatest use is to relieve women’s ailments such as premenstrual stress, menstrual cramps, irregularity, and the various symptoms of menopause, including relieving hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

The third main herb that is important to be aware of is Red Clover. Red Clover is rich in phytoestrogens whish is a naturally occurring plant compounds. Research has found that herbs rich in these plant-based compounds may relieve symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. Red Clover is particularly rich in isoflavones, an important class of phytoestrogens. It may even be effective in delaying the onset of osteoporosis.

Other herbs useful for the relief of menopause symptoms are Sage, which contains phytoestrogens, Sarsaparilla and the root of the Wild Yam, which are natural estrogen promoters.

Other than herbs Soybeans contain a class of isoflavones. Studies suggest that high consumption of soy reduces menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes. Like Red Clover, Soy may also reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis. Vitamin E is also thought to reduce the intensity of hot flashes.

There are many different menopause herbal formulas, that is a combination of herbal ingredients, as well as other formulas containing herbs combined with other natural substances. In fact, some such comprehensive formulas are known to, not only help combat menopausal symptoms but also increase sexual desire. It is important therefore to understand what makes these products useful-an important factor in making an informed decision about a natural way to deal with menopause.

Often better results are achieved using a menopause comprehensive product that is professionally and scientifically formulated by accredited and reputable manufacturers of herbal products that can ensure the proper blending of ingredients to maximize the therapeutic benefits needed to combat menopausal symptoms. Such comprehensive formulas using carefully selected ingredients many times can offer greater therapeutic benefits, often better than taking a single herb or nutrient on its own.

Do not, however, try mixing and matching nutrients and herbs on your own. This can be very dangerous to your health and your purse. Ratios of ingredients need to be balanced perfectly in order for it to be optimally effective.

Ian Finlayson is the Webmaster and author of The Herb Spiral and a number of other websites dealing with medicinal herbs and has had numerous articles on medicinal and culinary herbs published. More information on herbal treatments and products specifically used for the relief of menopause symptoms can be found here

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Finlayson

Menopause and the early signs of menopause is just a part of life. The symptoms that follow are physiological changes that occur in the lives of every woman.

Menopause is a normal and natural body change in a woman, and this may halt the menstrual cycles each month. Menopause occurs in a woman, as she grows older. A much more simple way of putting this is “the change” in the life of a woman.

The early signs of menopause are clues to the commencement of the symptoms of menopause. It generally occurs in women aged between 40-50 years. If a woman younger than 40 experiences the symptoms of menopause, this is usually referred to as a sequence of a future event.

Some of the early signs of menopause, or perimenopause and premenopause may be:

· Mood swings
· Depression
· Chronic fatigue
· Headaches
· Monthly cycle changes
· Body hair change
· Pain, aches and cramps
· Yeast infections
· Blood sugar fluctuations
· Water retention
· Night sweats
· Sleep pattern changes
· PMS increase
· Love life interest loss
· Vaginal lubrication decreases

Below are a few early signs of menopause, and with it are the reasons behind them.

Monthly Cycle Changes

These cycles are determined by the ovaries of a woman. Hormones allow women, during ovulation, to produce the egg. Menopause modifies a women’s cycle, resulting in hormonal imbalance. However, this can also occur in a woman, way before menopause, and the reason could be that the woman has poor nutrition and diet.

PMS Increase

This occurs in every woman at the start of puberty. During menopause, the PMS could either increase in intensity or in frequency. PMS is a very common form of imbalance, and intensifies during menopause. Women, who experience PMS very early in life, will experience severe effects before they enter the stage of menopause.

Depression and Mood Swings

This is not something that is just in your mind. Research has shown that hormonal changes affect the moods of people. There are hormones that can make a person passive while others make them more relaxed. Some hormones can also make a person energetic and active. When a person enters menopause, the hormonal imbalance affect the emotional state of the person, and this can cause aggressive behavior, mood swings and depression.

Hot Flashes

Does the lack of estrogen in a woman’s body during menopause result in hot flashes? If it is true then hot flashes should continue from the start of menopause to the end of a woman’s life. But this does not happen. The truth behind hot flashes is that, it is the result of the woman’s body trying to deal with hormonal imbalance by boosting the metabolism. In addition, a woman’s adrenal glands get the “wrong” signals because of these imbalances and this comes down to a lot of unwanted energy being pushed out.

Pains, aches and chronic fatigue

Aches, pains and chronic fatigue are symptoms that result from other warning signs. If you suffer from a lack of sleep and depression, these could lead to pains, aches and the result is low energy. Older women try crash diets in order to stay looking young and slim. However, it has been proved that crash diets can drop energy levels, because they lack nutrition.

Vaginal lubrication decreases

When a woman’s estrogen levels drop during menopause, this causes a drying and thinning of the vaginal walls, leading to less lubrication. Intercourse becomes painful and this could result in this activity coming to a stop. There is also a chance that the cause could be that the woman does not consume enough water, and the simplest solution to this problem could be increasing the water intake.

Love life interest loss

This usually is the result of a lack of estrogen. Hormones are the fuel that is needed for sexual intercourse. With hormonal imbalance, most women lack the desire to have intercourse. This coupled with depression- that comes with menopause- can leave the most beautiful woman feeling unattractive and old.

Dawn M. Olsen is an Advocate for Better Women’s Health through Education, Recipe Developer, Soy Food Enthusiast and the Author of “Menopause A to Z - A Definitive Guide to Modern Menopause available online now at a www.menopauseatoz.com Find out more about how to deal with early menopause symptoms.