Menopause affects every woman by the time she reaches her fifties, and will affect each woman differently, as well as resulting in different approaches to menopause management. Each woman, depending on many social and mental factors, will react differently to the symptoms of menopause. How a woman chooses to approach treatment also varies woman to woman. Many women will choose a natural approach, while others take a doctor’s advice and begin what is known as hormone replacement treatment, or HRT. A woman’s overall physical and mental health will need to be evaluated by a doctor during this time of her life, to determine the best course of living with the changes she is facing.
Menopause Management
While doctors and patients do not deny that there are great benefits to HRT, studies have shown that some medications, like estrogen, may increase a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease. At the same time, HRT increases the bone mass density in a woman, and may actually aid in increasing bone mass as a woman ages. Choosing the best approach to menopause management depends on many factors, however the best approach to menopause treatment may well be in combining medicines with natural remedies.
A natural approach to menopause management includes lifestyle factors like exercise and diet. Diet and exercise have proven to benefit women suffering from menopausal symptoms just as well as prescribed medications like estrogen and provera. It is important to keep in mind that HRT patients have a better chance of avoiding osteoporosis than those treating menopause naturally. If a woman suffers from bone mass deficiency, or is at high risk for osteoporosis, she would better benefit by treating any menopause symptoms with HRT.
Hormone replacement medications include estrogens, which is available in a transdermal patch that is applied and replaced twice a week, and in oral medications and creams. For the purpose of an even distribution of hormones, the transdermal patch is preferred among doctors and patients. Women going through menopause will develop symptoms that include hot flashes, urinary tract infections, changes in their ability to concentrate, and insomnia. Hot flashes are the most common complaint, and is caused by dilated blood vessels that make the skin appear red and flushed, due to a rise in body temperature. The body seems to recover from the hot flash after a few minutes with a brief period of cold chills. In menopause management, hot flashes will soon subside with treatment, time and a drop in estrogen levels.
Menopause Management – The Conclusion
The use of herbal drugs, nutritional supplements, and a well planned diet will make a great deal of improvement in the quality of life for a woman going through menopause. For every woman experiencing menopause, a doctor should be consulted to evaluate her medical history, update all procedures, including mammograms, pelvic exams and all other laboratory tests. While a medicinal approach to menopause management may artificially suffice against the symptoms of menopause, a natural approach to these symptoms may well improve a body’s overall functions during this change-of-life period.
