Health News » Hormonal http://topdrug.net Information on popular complementary and alternative medical topics Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:27:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 ALTERNATIVES TO HRT/HEART AND BLOOD VESSEL HEALTH: THE TIME OF DAY AT WHICH YOU EAT YOUR MAIN MEAL http://topdrug.net/2009/04/alternatives-to-hrtheart-and-blood-vessel-health-the-time-of-day-at-which-you-eat-your-main-meal http://topdrug.net/2009/04/alternatives-to-hrtheart-and-blood-vessel-health-the-time-of-day-at-which-you-eat-your-main-meal#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:00:14 +0000 admin http://topdrug.net/2009/04/alternatives-to-hrtheart-and-blood-vessel-health-the-time-of-day-at-which-you-eat-your-main-meal The time of day at which you eat your main meal also seems to be important. A recent study, which compared US and French eating habits, concluded that eating the main meal at lunchtime and snacking only once later may reduce the risk of heart disease. The study is one of a series of investigations into the ‘French paradox’ – the fact that, despite a diet that is higher in fat than typical diets of other nations, the French have a relatively low rate of death from heart disease. Many Australians get most of their calories at dinner time, watch TV and go to bed. They are sitting on their rear ends or lying horizontally while their main intake of calories is being metabolised. By contrast, the French continue to work for more than five hours after their largest calorie intake, and this is thought to be beneficial for their blood fat levels.

Herbs credited with having a specific effect on the heart and blood vessels include Chinese angelica, ginseng, motherwort and lime blossom. Heart specialists have noted with interest that vitamin E decreases clot formation, which is also an effect of low-dose regular aspirin. Taking both vitamin E and aspirin appears to multiply this effect. Other studies suggest that beta-carotene, a component of fruit and vegetables, also reduces heart attack and stroke risk. Five or more daily servings of fruit and vegetables are required to produce the desired effect.

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]]> http://topdrug.net/2009/04/alternatives-to-hrtheart-and-blood-vessel-health-the-time-of-day-at-which-you-eat-your-main-meal/feed 0 HRT AND PREVIOUS BREAST CANCER http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hrt-and-previous-breast-cancer http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hrt-and-previous-breast-cancer#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:56:11 +0000 admin http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hrt-and-previous-breast-cancer Women with a previous breast cancer are usually advised against having HRT, although there are exceptions. Occasionally a woman whose breast cancer has been successfully treated, or who is having palliative care for breast cancer, may have such crippling menopausal symptoms that she decides to go onto HRT to get some relief.

Linda, for example, faced this dilemma when she developed severe hot flushes in her late forties. She had been well for fifteen years following a mastectomy and, after discussions with her breast specialist, decided to go ahead with HRT at the minimum dose needed to relieve her symptoms. Linda’s doctor prescribed a natural oestrogen, similar to the oestradiol her ovaries had been secreting until not long before, and kept a close watch on all aspects of her health.

HRT AND PREVIOUS ENDOMETRIAL CANCER

Women with a recently treated endometrial cancer are generally advised not to have HRT. However, several years after successful treatment of early-stage endometrial cancer, hormone therapy incorporating both oestrogen and progestogen may be considered suitable.

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]]> http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hrt-and-previous-breast-cancer/feed 0 HORMONE COMBINATIONS AND SINGLE-DRUG FORMATS: OESTROGEN ALONE http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hormone-combinations-and-single-drug-formats-oestrogen-alone http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hormone-combinations-and-single-drug-formats-oestrogen-alone#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:50:38 +0000 admin http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hormone-combinations-and-single-drug-formats-oestrogen-alone With one exception, oestrogen on its own in any form is considered safe only if you no longer have a uterus. Since about 30 per cent of Australian women have had a hysterectomy by the age of sixty-five, the number of potential users of this relatively straightforward form of HRT is large. The exception is women with an intact uterus whose menopausal problems are confined to vaginal dryness, urinary frequency or recurring urinary tract infections. If this is your situation, you can use oestrogen alone in the form of vaginal creams, tablets or pessaries two or three times a week (but no more frequently) after using it for seven to ten days in a row initially if your doctor so advises. If vaginal or urinary symptoms are still quite troublesome, this form of therapy may be inadequate and you may be advised to consider a hormone format (for example oestrogen pills) that will have more widespread effects on the body.

It is very important, if you have an intact uterus and are using oestrogen creams, tablets or pessaries intermittently in your vagina without added progestogen for an extended time, to be assessed by a doctor at least every six to twelve months. Monitoring is necessary because endometrial hyperplasia (excessive thickening of the uterine lining) and subsequent endometrial cancer may occur after some years if the oestrogen dose is too high. Even a single spot of vaginal blood could indicate a problem and should immediately trigger a visit to your doctor.

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]]> http://topdrug.net/2009/04/hormone-combinations-and-single-drug-formats-oestrogen-alone/feed 0 THE MENOPAUSE – CHANGE AND CHALLENGE: MARGARET’S STORY http://topdrug.net/2009/04/the-menopause-%e2%80%93-change-and-challenge-margaret%e2%80%99s-story http://topdrug.net/2009/04/the-menopause-%e2%80%93-change-and-challenge-margaret%e2%80%99s-story#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:45:39 +0000 admin http://topdrug.net/2009/04/the-menopause-%e2%80%93-change-and-challenge-margaret%e2%80%99s-story It was a typical sort of day for Margaret: travelling, making speeches, needing to keep focused, forever in the public eye. She was speaking confidently, in full flow, when suddenly the words stopped. Her mind went blank — as if her brain had seized up or disengaged from everything around about. ‘It was like my brain switched off’ she recalled later. ‘I couldn’t conceal it and tried to laugh it off. But it was very embarrassing and frustrating, on a different scale altogether from ordinary forgetfulness. I hoped that no one realised how bad I felt about it and how frightening it was for me.’

That episode and others like it were among the major reasons why Margaret, then in her mid-fifties and a prominent figure in Australian public life, sought medical help. (Like many other women whose stories are told in this book, Margaret prefers not to use her real name; in her case it is because many of the men in her line of business are liable to make her menopausal symptoms the butt of their feeble jokes.) At about the same time as her memory lapses occurred, she was having hot flushes day and night. She would wake feeling wet along the folds of her skin. Before sleep had a chance to return, her mind would swing into action with details of the busy days ahead. For about six to eight months she also experienced painful abdominal cramps similar to those she remembered from her adolescence; her periods at this time were irregular and sometimes heavy.

Given her frantic lifestyle, the bleeding was quite worrisome. ‘I never knew when my period was going to arrive. It was hard to be prepared, and I felt it was all getting too difficult to handle.’ The first doctor Margaret consulted recommended HRT, but seemed hesitant about the options when she experienced sore breasts and very heavy periods. ‘I went back a couple of times to get a different brand or dose. All up, I tried about three or four different combinations.’

After attending a seminar on the menopause she realised that her doctor was not well informed, and decided to try another medical practitioner. ‘She put me onto a patch, which gave me no bothersome side effects except a rash. I changed the position regularly, but eventually I had to give the patch away because I had rash marks all over my buttocks. I was very cross that I was one of the minority of women who experience this reaction.’ At the doctor’s suggestion she tried several non-drug techniques, including vitamins E and B and evening primrose oil, and these proved helpful within a matter of weeks. Drinking glasses of water before she went to bed also had a beneficial effect.

Margaret still gets flushes but they are less frequent and less severe than previously, and they seem to coincide with times when she neglects to take her vitamin and herbal tablets for a few days. It pleases her that neither her skin nor her vagina is dry, her periods have stopped, and she has no breast soreness. As for the forgetfulness, it doesn’t seem so bad these days. ‘I still forget things, but it’s not like before. At least the computer screen doesn’t go completely blank.’

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