Show II I II Postage flam iImJ Should women agree to hormone replacement therapy? Do men also undergo “the change"? What Everybody i Should Know About 5 6 m 5 BY DR ISADORE ROSENFELD THE “CHANGE OF LIFE" THAT OCCURS IN A woman when she gels older and her periods end is called menopause (from mens Greek for “monthly" and pau-si- s meaning “cessation") Since men do nul have “monthlies" there can't be a male menopause Or can there? We’ll look into that but let's deal with the women first Sometime in her 40s every woman's ovaries begin to produce less of the female hormone estrogen a replacement advocates say “Let's simply restore what's missing”: estrogen alone if the uterus has been removed or estrogen plus progestogen which protects against uterine cancer The results they add are much more than just feeling better Hormone replacement reduces the risk of bone fractures from osteoporosis by 50 to 75 drops the risk of heart disease by almost 50 low- - process that takes several Give chocolate months or years During this perimenopause women often develop such symptoms as irregular periods insomnia fatigue mood swings hot flashes — a preview of what's to come Finally the periods end sometime between age 45 and SS When they've stopped completely for one year she is officially in menopause Even if such symptoms as hot flashes night sweats depression irritability a dry vagina or loss of libido don't a holiday this Easter ers the incidence of stroke colon and ovarian canct blindness tooth loss and diabetes keeps the skin lookii younger and healthier and the vagina moist modifies tl course of Alzheimer's and compared to women not hormones lowers overall mortality from all causes Before starting hormone replacement however f sure some other process is not causing the “menopausu symptoms Irregular bleedii could be due to a problem the cervix or uterus Fatigu weight gain and mood chany could be the result of an und functioning thyroid glar Treat the thyroid problem aj the symptoms disappear Al women with a history of cc tain cancers or who have h blood clots may not be can dales for hormone rephcemei Thn em against homwno rwpUcemi Replacement opponents v “Don't tamper with nature Pinescribing medications tin argue treats a natural proce- bother you there are bad things going on in your body of which ss a disease— menopause you may not be aware until later The most important are the brittle easily broken bones of osteoporosis and the narrow ing of the coronary arteries (arteriosclerosis) What to do about all this is the subject of a continuing debate in health circles centering on whetfier to lake hormone replacement therapy There is no consensus though lots of rhetoric and passion They emphasize the dow side of hormone replaceme' increased risk of breast a uterine cancer breast tendo ness bloating nausea hem aches blood clots gallstone spasm of the arteries that c cause migraine the return “periods” when proge topi is added to the estrogen and ' cent findings that start iny lv mone replacement in worm who have coronary artm di ease increases their risk heart attacks in the fust seat There are better ways to i duce the risk of osteojxjio Tha no different from pubeny cast for hormone replacement thorapy Once a woman is deprived of estrogen she usually does nut feel so well and is vulnerable to a variety of disorders to which she was resistant when her hormones were flowing Thai being the case Fill their baskets with new KelloggY Rice Krispiei Treats” instead Fun tEi wholesome A nice little change- Mini-Squar- and other consequences es & YM menopause says the naturc ist camp— namely a hcalm lifestyle that includes diet e ercise and weight loss |