Human Hormones

Natural Alternatives to HRT

Ever since The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) report of 2002 slammed the use of HRT, the options for women when it comes to treating the side effects of menopause have been limited. The symptoms (of which there are over thirty) can range from hot flushes to the more serious kind, such as Osteoporosis. The effects of the brittle bone diseases can literally mean loss of bones in a woman’s body. It is no wonder that the general response to the WHI report was of general panic. While the WHI stressed that life threatening conditions can arise from HRT, there was no suggestion as to what women who suffer from these awful symptoms were supposed to do instead.

Some companies have rushed to the aid of sufferers. They have responded to the problem by bringing to market herbal or natural supplements that help the female body to manage the symptoms of menopause.
All of these supplements are easily found, either in the high street r on the Internet. What’s more, they seem to be having quite an effect on the symptoms too. Many women are finding that using the supplements helps to build up defences against hot flushes, for example.

The whole idea is that women should be able to take a treatment for the menopausal symptoms and increase their happiness and general quality of life. What women do not want is a decrease in their quality of life, or to be so miserable that they might as well not take anything.

To gauge how important it is that this whole thing is got right, ask yourself this question: would you rather take therapy that medical professionals are cautioning women about, or would you take a natural supplement that delivers few side effects and helps with the symptoms of the female menopause?

Other things can help a little. Women have known for a long time, for example, that eating well and making sure that they have sufficient exercise goes a long way to helping reduce the intensity of menopause symptoms. So consequently many women have made appropriate changes in their lifestyle.

The new all natural supplements do not require a prescription. It is as simple of logging on and making out an order on the Internet. Within seconds your order will have been picked and packed, and then distributed to you. This is much more convenient than heading down to the doctors and picking up a prescription for a course of therapy that may not actually be any good for your health.

Some drugstores sell alternative treatments too. So there is every chance that you will find an outlet near you. This convenience means that sales of the natural treatments have rocketed since the WHI report was made public.

Whatever happens, women will not be readily signing up for HRT. And if there is more competition on the block due to the natural supplements, so be it. As long as women are getting healthy, that is all that matters.

The secret to a long and healthy life has haunted mankind for centuries. From the mythical Fountain of Youth to the modern day obsession with plastic surgery, mankind has tried to find ways to prolong our lives, and cheat death.

Of course, all human beings die at some point. This is inescapable, and the classic dilemma that human beings experience. However, new research has shown that a hormone, and whether or not it is present in the human body, can be an indicator of whether or not one will live a long and happy life, or a shorter one, relatively speaking, than the rest of the human race. All of the research has centred on the thyroid.

The thyroid is found in the neck. The research has shown that those with lower levels of the hormones that are released by the thyroid are more likely to live longer than those who have higher levels. This is interesting because there are many people who, on a daily basis, go to their doctors for medical help as regards their thyroid gland. Seen as a master gland, that does a lot of work to promote the healthy regulation of the human metabolism, an underactive or overactive thyroid is commonly thought to be the cause of many of the human race’s most common ailments.

Thyroid stimulating hormone is what is released by the thyroid, and it is through the checking of this that scientists can measure the activity of the thyroid on a long-term basis. This means of course that scientists can also see when someone has a thyroid that is underperforming or indeed one that is doing so well that it needs to be put in check.

Levels of thyroid stimulating hormone can be checked and if the thyroid is seen to be over stimulated, then this is called hyperthyroidism. A high level of thyroid stimulating hormone leads to a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. This means that the thyroid is underactive.

Anyone with hypothyroidism can suffer from weight gain, hair loss and a general sluggishness and tiredness. This can be very distressing for them. So they go to the doctor and get a diagnosis of their condition.

Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, leads to considerable weight loss. This can be as distressing as weight gain of course. They can also suffer from racing of the heart, which in older people can be very alarming. This is accompanied by a sever shaking of the hands.

The research showed that a high proportion of people over 100 years of age had thyroid levels that were relatively low compared to other people. This lead to the speculation that low levels as regards the thyroid meant that life could be prolonged.

All that is required now is some thyroid replacement therapy to be used for this reason (prolonging life) and the research will be effective. This, of course, remains to be seen…