New Way Approaching Menopause symptoms VS HRT Treatment

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Dr Christine Cui 19 Apr 2023

Menopause symptoms?

Menopause is a condition where a woman’s menstrual period stop and she is unable to get pregnant naturally. There are some symptoms that women need to watch out for before they experience menopause. The average age of women who have menopause is around 50 years old (this may vary).

When hormones of estrogen and progesterone start to drop due to menopause, women will experience the following signs:

  • Hot flushes/night sweats
  • Mood changes
  • Thirsty
  • Low sex drive / Vaginal dryness
  • Thinning hair and slower metabolism
  • Insomnia / Nightmares Etc.

Hot flushes may produce very inconvenience feeling of intense heat and in some cases can disrupt their pattern of sleep.

It is still possible for women to conceive although there may be irregular menstruation. It is a common thing to have skipped periods during peri-menopause. However, it is also necessary to check whether or not you are pregnant when you have skipped your period.

During the transition from peri-menopause to menopause, it is recommended for women to have regular visits to a doctor. The doctor will often suggest you to have screenings such as mammography, lipid, thyroid testing or colonoscopy.

What is HRT?

HRT is Hormone Replacement Treatment is a treatment used to augment the body’s hormone level, either estrogen therapy or progesterone therapy.  This HRT is usually for women who undergo a stage of menopause where the level of estrogen and progesterone drop significantly.  HRT is usually recommended to those who have menopause symptom in late 40.

However, the use of HRT has changed significantly when a large clinical trial found that it actually posed more health risks than benefits for one type of hormone therapy, especially for older postmenopausal women. As there are health hazards about HRT, doctors try to avoid prescribing this to patients. Dr Christine advises that using acupuncture is a more natural way of eliminating menopause symptoms.

Menopause dietary advise

  1. Take supplements of Vitamin E, Zinc, magnesium, Vitamin D and calcium. These nutrients can prevent dry skin and normalise hormone levels
  2. Eat rich protein foods such as Turkey, cottage cheese, legumes and oats.
  3. Take calcium as your supplement and try to avoid food that is high in phosphorous; which you can find in red meat.
  4. Reduce caffeine, sodium and alcohol
  5. Increase your vegetables, fruits and yogurt consumption. This food is good for your bones.
  6. Soya milk, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, tempeh, tofu, green beans and celery. These foods are high in Phyto-oestrogens, which going to help you ease the hot flushes.
  7. Try to eat at least two servings of fish per week, preferably salmon or trout. If this is hard for you, take fish oil daily will help reducing heart disease risk.

How Acupuncture may assist in balancing the hormones and rejuvenating internal organs such as kidney, liver and spleen

Acupuncture with the conjunction of Chinese medicine may reduce or eliminate all of the symptoms in most of the cases.