Dr. Jenifer Worden
How homeopathy can help with menopausal symptoms by Dr. Jenifer Worden
The menopause is that stage of a woman’s life when her reproductive system starts to wind down, causing a wide range of symptoms, some of which can be very distressing and debilitating. The vast majority of women will start to experience the so-called “change of life” in their late 40s but symptoms may persist after a woman has passed her 60th birthday.
The main symptoms experienced are hot flushes, night sweats, bladder problems such as cystitis and infections, depressed mood, reduced sex drive, forgetfulness and reduced concentration. For most women, symptoms will last two to three years, starting with an irregularity of periods and ending with the periods completely stopping. After 12 months, a woman who has not experienced any periods is commonly said to have gone through the menopause and to be “post-menopausal”. Any vaginal bleeding after this time should always be reported to a doctor or practice nurse as it could be an early sign of endometrial cancer (cancer of the womb).
As a GP I am often asked by worried women to carry out blood tests to see whether or not they are going through the menopause but such tests do have drawbacks. They only give a “snapshot” of the hormone levels a woman is experiencing at a certain point in time and are notorious for being returned from the testing laboratory as being within the normal range when the patient is quite clearly experiencing some or all of the symptoms of the menopause. Patients often feel let down by the results, which is why GPs tend to advise against these tests in general. The exception to the rule is where a woman has a congenital lack of a womb or has had a hysterectomy with preservation of her ovaries. Changes to the menstrual cycle are not apparent in these women and early subtle changes of the menopause can be confused with a mild depression, perhaps leading to incorrect treatment of the underlying problem. In the end, the best way to judge whether a woman is going through the menopause is to listen to her and to look at her as a whole which is the holistic approach.
Often all a woman will need at this point in her life is reassurance that her symptoms are normal and that she is not suffering from a mental illness. The ups and downs of teenage girls at puberty are echoed in women at the menopause but without the ability to scream and shout and to flounce out of the house, slamming the door. Instead, most women will either be looking after a family or working, which can lead them to feeling trapped emotionally and physically by their symptoms. Why some women sail through the menopause with the minimum of symptoms and others regard it as the worst time of their lives is not understood by the scientific community and exactly what causes hot flushes is also somewhat of a mystery. Although we know that it is the reduction of levels of oestrogen (the principle female hormone) that seems to be responsible for hot flushes and night sweats, the exact means by which this happens is not clear. What is clear is that for women with debilitating symptoms and a markedly reduced quality of life, HRT can literally be a life-saver, increasing the hormone levels back up to normal and often having a dramatic effect, reducing symptoms to a more manageable state within a week or so of starting treatment.
The problem with HRT
So if HRT is so wonderful, why has it fallen from grace recently? The main reason is research showing that HRT could increase the risks of having a heart attack or stroke. The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study (2002) was carried out in the United States on a population of women ten years older than would commonly be prescribed HRT in the UK and who also had existing risk factors for heart disease. Although the older and less fit women in the research could have biased the results against HRT as they were inherently more likely to suffer from heart disease, the medical profession was concerned enough by the results to significantly reduce their prescribing of HRT.
This course of action was backed up by the Million Women Study, funded by Cancer Research UK, which looked at an increased risk of cancers linked to taking HRT, principally cancer of the womb. It is estimated that at least 340,000 women stopped taking HRT after the WHI research was published and that of the 300,000 women estimated each year to enter the menopause, many will now look at alternatives to conventional treatment. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) currently recommends HRT for the relief of debilitating vasomotor and urogenital symptoms (hot flushes, night sweats, cystitis, recurrent urinary infections, vaginal dryness) in women over 50 and for two to three years only, with an annual review of symptoms. Women under fifty (the most common age for the menopause), particularly those having hysterectomy with removal of the ovaries or undergoing an early (premature) menopause can still be prescribed HRT as they are only receiving hormones that they would normally have.
