Posts Tagged "menopause"

Spray that forgetfulness away

Posted by Liz on Oct 12, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Australian researchers are suggesting that a daily testosterone skin spray can boost brain function and memory in menopausal women. If that’s all it takes, heck, sign me up. Thing is, do you grow more hair in unexpected places as well?!

The study, which was presented last month at the North American Menopause Society annual meeting, examined the effectiveness of a daily spray in 10 menopausal women, ages 45 to 60, for 6 months. All women participated in computerized testing for visual and verbal learning and memory before and after treatment and also had MRI scans to examine brain activity.

Visual learning, the ability to recall items after seeing them (i.e. verbal learning) and memory significantly improved after treatment. More importantly though, Interestingly, while the speed at which women performed cognitive tests were the same after as before treatment, MRI scans revealed that less brain activity was required to complete the tasks.

The researchers say that women in menopause experience dementia and memory loss at rates that are twice those of men of the same ages. They believe that this may be due, at least in part, to lower levels of testosterone, both in relation to men and in women about half their age. If you believe the results of this study, it’s possible that testosterone treatment may eventually prove effective in preventing declines in brain function that occur with age.

Importantly, delivery of testosterone via a spray as opposed to a skin patch may also account for fewer side effects. However, because this study was only conducted in a small number of women, no conclusions can be drawn at this time.

Sometimes I think it’s better to lose half my brain than to grow hair in unwanted places or set myself up for unwanted side effects. But then again, other times I forget that I feel this way!

Got sleep?

Posted by Liz on Oct 9, 2009 in sleep disturbance | 0 comments

How many nights do you lie awake, staring at the clock and just hoping for a wee bit of shut-eye?

If you are like many women in peri- or post-menopause, the answer is probably “a lot.” However, data presented at last month’s North American Menopause Society Annual meeting show that sleep problems do not change uniformly across menopause, which is why addressing them effectively can be difficult for some women.

Researchers examined the sleep patterns and symptoms of 286 women who participated in the Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study. All participants completed daily menstrual calendars, which were used to track their experiences across the menopausal transition and rate the severity of all symptoms. For five years, they also provided the researchers with first-morning urine samples so that estrogen, fallopian stimulating hormone, and stress hormones could be measured.

The result? Depending on your sleep pattern, the relationship to certain factors changed. For example, nighttime awakening was mostly associated with age, being late in the menopausal transition (before moving into full-blown menopause), early menopause, hot flashe, depressed mood, joint pain and stress. Early morning awakening was associated with age, hot flashes, depressed mood, anxiety, joint pain, stress, and lower estrogen/higher FSH levels. On the otherhand, difficulty falling asleep was associated with menopausal symptoms in general, stress, and lower stress hormone levels.

However, regardless of whether women were having trouble falling asleep, awoke several times during the night or awoke in the early morning hours, sleep disruption was consistently associated with hot flashes, depression and stress.

In light of these findings, the researchers concluded that interventions to improve sleep might be more effective if they were targeted and focused, for example, towards night-time awakening and hot flashes, or difficulty falling asleep and depression, rather than clustered under the category of “sleep disruption” without examining exacerbating factors.

Of course, the greater implication here is that sleep-associated disorders during the menopause do not fall under the “one size fits all” approach and are better treated with individualized therapy. This is not to say, however, that certain interventions, like yoga or acupuncture can’t help address the cluster of sleep issues, hot flashes and stress, etc. Still, it’s best to consult with your practitioner before embarking on your own approach to solving the sleep woes. Personally, I find that I will be awake for hours in the nights preceding my menstrual period, regardless of the use of herbs, exercise or meditation. It just “is.” Yet, I’m glad to know there might be a better approach to addressing my specific woes.

What about you? What are you doing to get sleep?

Wednesday Bubble: breast cancer during menopause- move your body

Posted by Liz on Oct 7, 2009 in breast cancer, exercise | 0 comments

[Credit: Stephen diFilipo, Fountain at the Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor ©2009. With permission]

October is National Breast Cancer month. In honor of family and friends who have survived breast cancer, I am dedicating this month’s Bubbles to posting choice bits of information about the topic this month. I admire these women greatly – for their strength, their tenacity and their hope. Rock on ladies!

Nothing like a bit of good news to kick off the month!

Early this year, I wrote about a study showing that exercise could help reduce breast cancer risk. Today’s post provides evidence that the timing and intensity of that activity makes a huge difference.

In this study, which appears in BioMed Central Cancer, researchers examined and compared the relationship of light physical activity to moderate to vigorous activity and its association to breast cancer risk in 118,699 women in menopause. Activity levels were studied during four periods of life: ages 15 to 18, ages 19 to 29, ages 35 to 39 and the past 10 years. Light activities included bowling, golf (riding in a cart), table tennis, slow walking/slow dancing, light calesthenics, light gardening, fishing, horseshoes/croquet and light housework. Moderate-to-vigorous activities included tennis, golf (walking), biking, swimming, heavy gardening, weight lifting, basketball/baseball, football/soccer, cheerleading/drill team, handball/raquetball, hiking/mountain climbing, fast walking/fast dancing, rowing, aeroboics, jogging/running and heavy housework.

The researchers found no association between activity intensity and breast cancer risk in the time periods leading up to menopause. However, Women engaging in more than 7 hours per week of  moderate to vigorous activity during the past 10 years had a significant, 16% lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who were inactive or only engaged in light activity. This benefit remained even when the researchers took factors such as age, body mass index, family history, or hormone use into consideration. The type of tumour cancer stage also had no effect.

Although researchers have been aware that a high versus low level of physical activity may protect against developing breast cancer during menopause, this is the first study to actually examine activity during other time periods and then compare them to more recent time periods.

Clearly, it’s time to move your body if you’ve not been doing so. A 16% reduction in breast cancer risk is significant.

The Roundup: September News and Tidbits

Posted by Liz on Sep 30, 2009 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

[Credit: Special thanks to artist Darryl Willison of whimsicalwest.com. Please visit his site and support his work!]

Because October starts tomorrow, I’m replacing this week’s Wednesday Bubble with the monthly Roundup. Here’s an overview of September’s post in case you missed one or want to revisit it.

Enjoy!

• Wednesday Bubble: Big dietary changes one small step at a time. A guest post by Miz Fit – Carrying around a “freshwoman forty” (or ten)? Fitness expert and author Carla Birnberg shares some tips on how to change your habits, and your body.
• Cougar 101: Pimp your hide -The Cougar Convention hits the West Coast with a roarrrrr. See what a bit of botox, plumped lips and a nip and tuck yield.
• Sinking your teeth into…osteoporosis – Time to bone up on osteoporosis as researchers now link the disease with tooth loss.
• Wednesday Bubble:  Turmeric… too good to be true? – Is this Indian spice hiding some important benefits beneath its yellow facade?
• Overworked, overextended, overstressed and underserved – A global survey reveals that women are not only busier than ever, but they are also shouldering a burden of extreme proportions. What can we do to change this burgeoning problem?
• A is for adiposity, F is for falls, M is for muscle weakness. Together they spell “D” – Research shows the Vitamin D is more important than ever for postmenopausal women: what you need to know.
• Wednesday Bubble: the best medicine – A laugh a day keeps disease at bay. No kidding.
• Calcium conundrum: which supplement should I choose? -When it comes to preventing bone loss, calcium supplements are all the same. Or are they?
• More on breast cancer and HRT – Time to take this killer off the market. More bad news for women who use HRT.
• Wednesday Bubble: Blame it on – Hormones. Women are suicidal and more unhappy than thirty years ago. The reason? Must be menopause.
• Keep it greasy – with Zestra® – Feeling a bit hot below the belt? Despite all the hype, this sensual oil is unlikely to improve your sex life. Or your aroma.

Keep it greasy…with Zestra®

Posted by Liz on Sep 25, 2009 in sexual desire, sexual health | 8 comments

Sexual desire an issue? Not feeling it?

That isn’t my problem but when I was approached by the folks at Semprae Labs to test Zestra®, their hormone-free, topical “Essential Arousal Oils™, I thought, hey, what the heck? I’m all for research! And they sent me clinical data supporting its theoretical effectiveness, which peaked my interest even more.

What is Zestra, you ask?

Zestra contains a proprietary blend of borage seed and evening primrose oils (purportedly to increase blood flow and nerve sensitivity), angelica root extract (to improve arousal/desire) and coleus forskohlii extract (to boost performance/orgasm). On its packaging, it says that “Zestra works effortlessly and within minutes by heightening your sensitivity to touch — for deep, pleasurable sensations, sexual satisfaction and fulfillment.

Zestra was tested in a small clinical study comparing its effectiveness versus a placebo oil in 20 women with and without difficulties with arousal. During the study, participants were asked to use Zestra 5 times and then complete a questionnaire on side effects and sexual function (i.e. desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain). Study findings showed the following:

• Participants with normal function reported highly significant improvements in arousal while those with female sexual arousal disorder reported highly significant improvements in arousal, orgasm and satisfaction.
• The most commonly reported side effect was a burning sensation in the genitalia that subsided within 30 minutes.

So, this was the study population.

What about me?

Zestra ain’t “zesty.” The oil has a unpleasant smell. Following application, it heats up the vaginal area but that’s about it – heat – and not the sexual, I want to/have to have you kind of heat. Nope. No increase in desire, arousal or sensitivity to touch.  No added improvements in satisfaction. Just one unpleasantly warm, greasy vagina.

Is it just me? Evidently not. Here’s what some friends have to say about Zestra:

“Smells like an overly-sweet candle shop or bad potpourri. Not an enticing scent. Taste is chemical and bitter. Too greasy. Nice, slightly warming effect, but felt no unusual or heightened sensation. Actually had to work harder because I was so turned off by the Zestra scent. Zestra will be sleeping alone from now on!!!”

“OH. MY. F***ING. GOD. I hated that shit. It burned and I couldn’t even wash it off afterward. Who the f**k knows if it increased arousal? I was too busy burning to notice.”

Like my gal pals, I couldn’t wait to shower Zestra off. In fact, Zestra left me wanting less, not more.

I’ve got lots of zest. But not for Zestra.  Zestra – you underwhelm and underwow me.

Sorry Semprae. This one’s a dud.