Nutrition and Health Care

Archive for the ‘Women’s Health’ Category

In the recent times a lot of stress and care have been given to the subject of women’s health. There are certain stages in the lives of women that bring about a lot of change and developments in their mental and physical states. These important changes that come in the lives of women are actually completely physical but they leave very important impacts on their minds and sometimes the impact can be very negative. The irony is that these mental complexities that are brought about by the physical changes in turn gives rise to some other physical ailments.

The first important physical change that comes in the life of a woman is the coming of the menses. Menstruation is a stage that for the first time brings in the feelings of a woman in a girl. She for the first time becomes fully aware of her sex and her sexuality. She is also fed with a lot of additional concepts and thoughts by the people around her. All these conceptions and thoughts sometimes take a toll on her mental state and leave a scar on her psyche.

The second important stage is that of pregnancy. Pregnancy is a stage that brings in a lot of difference in a woman’s life. She is bearing another human being inside her. It is her sole duty to raise the unborn child inside her. She is yoked with the responsibility of two lives at a time. Some women go through complex mental complications or technically speaking pre natal depression during pregnancy. Pre natal depression is increasing at a rapid speed in the ladies and the number of women facing this problem is rising considerably. There are some other women who fall into depression during the period of nursing which is referred to as post natal depression.

Apart from the pre natal depression women also face a lot of mental trauma and irritation during the period or after menopause. Menopause is another very important stage in the life of a woman. The changes that occur to her body sometimes become difficult for her to accept and consequently she falls into what is known as the post menopausal depression.

So these are the myriad forms of depression that are exclusively reserved for the women. Apart from these there are also thousands of other causes that might land a woman in depression or other mental disorders. But in the midst of all these diverse depression causes, one effect that has been established in case of the women is the lack of bone minerals and lessening of the density of the bones. The lack of bone minerals and the weakening of the bones are a very bad sign as these factors make the women vulnerable to fractures and cracks in their old age.

It is sometimes beyond our control to get a grip over the causes of depression but there are definitely ways to get a grip of depression once it has been determined in a patient and so it is important that you keep a close check on the women who are close to you and hold a specific place in your life.

Today we have cures in the form of depression uplifting pills such as valium or xanax online. But these are prescription medicines and so one should buy xanax or related medicines only when a doctor has prescribed them. Besides pills there are many other ways and treatments that can guide you or your loved one out of this slow killing trap. Check with your doctor immediately if anyone in your family is showing any depression symptoms.

The writer dwells on issues relating to anxiety, depression, stress, anti-anxiety treatments such as xanax and other issues associated with mental health. For more tidbits on these matters, visit the website xanax-effects.com
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Perhaps nothing has caused more of a stir in women’s health arena then all of the recent attention placed on natural and bioidentical hormones – plant based compounds that some believe can offer the menopause benefits of traditional hormone replacement therapy ( HRT) without any of the health risks – including breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.

Adding fuel to the speculative fires: Celebrities like Suzanne Somers and more recently, Oprah Winfrey, who have stepped into the spotlight to make a great case for bioidentical hormones – and in doing so encouraged a generation or more of women to give them a try.

Indeed, for these two Hollywood legends – and now many more regular gals – it’s clear the pot of gold at the end of the anti-aging rainbow is , indeed, a bucket of bioidentical hormones!

Certainly some experts – like Wulf Utian, MD, executive director of the North American Menopause Society – believe bioidentical hormones can easily be as risky as any form of HRT. “The claims for safety are entirely without merit”, he says.

But others, like New York physician Erika Schwartz, MD believe the opposite. ” When you give a supplement that is bioidentical to what the body produces, the body knows how to use it to the best possible advantage,” she says.

So where does the truth lie?

A New Side To The Story

While both traditional and “natural” doctors alike have come down on both sides of this treatment controversy, as a journalist who has covered – and followed – this issue in women’s health for more than 20 years, there is one more side of the treatment controversy I have yet to hear addressed or discussed by anyone: Namely, whether or not pumping up your body with any kind of reproductive hormones at a time when nature decides they should decline, can ever yield a positive result – even if those hormones come from Mother Nature herself?

Certainly, if we look to what science has to say about the killer diseases linked to hormone stimulation, it seems clear problems are inherent. For example, it’s a well known fact that women who have an early start to their menstrual cycle or continue to menstruate into their 50’s are at greater risk for estrogen –sensitive cancers – ostensibly because they spend more years under the influence of their own estrogen stimulation.

The same elevated risk profile applies to women who have never had children – ostensibly because being pregnant prevents ovulation, and all the estrogen-related ovarian stimulation that goes with it.

We also know that women who are overweight are at greater risk for estrogen-sensitive cancers –and doctors speculate that one reason is because fat cells produce a form of “endogenous” estrogen. The more fat cells you have, the more estrogen stimulation you experience throughout your lifetime – thus the greater your risk of some diseases.

And so the really big question for me is, once a woman reaches a certain number of years of estrogen stimulation – even her own, natural estrogen stimulation – can using hormone replace therapy of any kind, be it bioidentical or not – increase her risks of these diseases?

Moreover, could the difference between those who take hormones and suffer the consequences and those who don’t actually be the total number of years each woman was exposed to her own estrogen stimulation? And should this be a factor to consider when deciding whether or not hormone therapy of any kind is right for any one particular woman?

When you get right down to it the nitty gritty … we do not have these answers!

“We are, in many ways, in a no-data zone – bio identical hormones have not been specifically studied in a randomized trial on any wide spread level, and if you are to use that as a criteria, then it’s true that we don’t know if they are any better- or any worse – than synthetic hormones,” says Marcie Richardson, MD, Clinical instructor, Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School, and the director of the Menopause Consultation Service at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.

Indeed, it’s important to remember that no so very long ago everyone thought traditional, synthetic HRT was the answer – until the Women’s Health Intiative (WHI) study proved otherwise.

And while bioidentical hormones have, indeed, undergone some testing, the reality is that it has been nowhere near the level of the WHI trials . More importantly, until that happens, can we really feel confidant about a treatment decision – no matter who is doling out the advice?

What DOES the Future Hold?

I’m hopeful that in the next 5 or even 10 years we DO NOT read that Suzanne Somers is facing yet another breast cancer – or that Oprah Winfrey has found herself facing this same – or worse – fate. I adore both of these women – and the thought of losing either one is a loss to great to even consider.

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder how many women’s lives might be lost because they blindly took the otherwise well-meaning advice of those who, while certain they have found their own fountain of youth , could in fact be drowning in the tidal wave of enthusiasm and
high hopes ?

All I’m saying here is that if you are suffering with symptoms of menopause – be it hot flashes and night sweats, mood swings or memory loss, or any of the other 101 things that can wrong during this wacky time of life – you owe it yourself to stop, think and consider what we know and don’t know and then consider all your options before making a treatment choice.

It could be the second thought that ultimately saves your life.

(This blog was condensed from the new women’s health book “The Hot Flash Solution ” by Colette Bouchez )

To read more about bioidentical hormones, and other natural treatment options for menopause symptoms visit wwwRedDressDiary.com - the Source for fabulous women over 40!

Colette Bouchez is an award-winning health journalist with over 2 decades of experience including content producer at WebMD and senior medical reporter at the New York Daily News. As a Healthy Lifestyle Expert she is the author of 8 books on women’s health and wellness and the director of 3 prominent womens wellness websites including YourMenopause.com, PamperingMom.com, TheVzone.net, and GettingPregnantNow.org.
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Weight gain is a lot easier as you grow older particularly as the motivation to exercise also wanes, but you can turn it around it does not matter how old you are.  You should start to weave some sort of exercise into your daily life. 

One type of exercise that you should consider to do is weight training, also known as strength training or resistance training.  Weight training will not only help with losing weight but will also trim and tone your body. Age does not matter it has been shown that women as old as 70 who have started to weight train and have improved their body strength within a very short while.

Weight training is an important element in fighting flab; maybe it is the most important.  If you do aerobic exercise you only burn fat during the exercise but with weight training you burn fat even when you have finished.  The body is still burning fat for up to as much as twelve hours after finishing the exercise whilst it is building the muscles worked, so you can still be burning fat while you are resting.  But that is not the end of the story.

A body full of muscle uses far more calories than a body full of fat, so you will find that you will need to eat more to maintain your weight and your muscle.   You do not need to worry that you will bulk up like a body builder, as you do not have the right makeup to do this, as a woman you will only elongate and define your muscles, and build lean muscles.

When you first start to weight train you might find that your weight will actually increase. This is because muscle is heavier than fat but as muscle is smaller so you should notice the body getting smaller even if the scales do not show an decrease in weight.

The additional benefits from weight training are:-

1. It helps to strengthen and increase the density of your bones because the act of the muscles pulling and flexing the bones helps to lay down more bone fibre.

2.  Stronger muscles helps your body to be more steady and so helps to prevent falls.

3.  It has also been found that it can fight the build up of abdominal fat by lifting weights at least twice a week.  

Finally when weight training make sure that you change your routine around so that the body can not get use to the routine.  It only takes the body about six weeks for it to learn how to work efficiently if keeping to the same routine and therefore you will stop seeing any weight or body changes.

So have fun and start weight training to lose weight and tone your body. Women’s Health and Fitness

Shannon Spoon has been a long time fitness and health promoter. Being someone who knows how to lose weight and keep it off. He enjoys article writing, social networking and is the proud dad of a 12 year old daughter.
http://quickweightlossonline.info
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