Posts Tagged "night sweats"

Wednesday Bubble: Cool like dat

Posted by Liz on Aug 26, 2009 in hot flash, nightsweats | 3 comments

Hey Ladies! Wondering how to rid yourself of those hot flashes forever? Just a drink of ‘GEM Keep it Cool’, and voila, your hot flashes will disappear! Heck, Marie Osmond swears by it.

Evidently, ‘Keep it Cool’ works on irritability and night sweats as well.

A glance at the nutrition panel shows that ‘Keep it Cool’ contains black cohosh as well as a proprietary blend of adaptogen herbs. ( Adaptogens are agents that theoretically, boost the body’s ability to fight off physical, chemical, or biological stressors by raising its resistance level.) GEM also makes drinks that relieve stress, boost mental acuity, promote bone strength and prevent aging.

If only it were that easy. Cool like dat….not!

One drink a day.

What do you think? This bubble’s bursting so wide that I can hardly stand it.

What’s your chill factor?

Posted by Liz on Aug 24, 2009 in hot flash, nightsweats | 1 comment

Brrrr…it’s getting cold in here. No, it’s hot, no, it’s cold. Sound familiar? Maybe the ChiliPad™ is for you. This new technology, brought to you from ChiliTechnology, is like a sleep number for the menopausal set.

The ChiliPad cools and heats the entire surface of the bed to a desired temperature to promote a more restful sleep without bothersome hot flashes or night sweats. Got a partner? The dual remote control allows him/her to stay warm while you chill yourself to the bone.

A few months ago I wrote about the Bedfan, a tongue-in-cheek, futuristic wish list item for hot flashes. Who knew that someone had actually taken it one step further to create an entire chill experience for your nighttime pleasure?

My question, however, is this: if you are chill all night long, what happens when the flash stops and you need some warmth? Short of snuggling up to your partner, do you instead, spend the entire night messing with the wireless remote? Hmm, doesn’t sound very restful, does it?

So… what’s your chill factor?

Wednesday Bubble: Maca what?

Posted by Liz on Aug 19, 2009 in herbal medicine, Uncategorized | 0 comments

I love it when I run across an item that’s perfect for a Wednesday bubble; whether or not this one is “burstable” remains to be seen. There are accumulating data supporting the use of a Peruvian herb known as “Maca,” which reportedly balances hormones and consequently, alleviates certain perimenopausal symptoms.

In scientific communities, Maca is better known as Lepedium Meyenii (or more recently, Lepedium peruvianum Chacon ) and is a plant in the mustard family. In Norway, Maca is considered a medicinal substance and requires a prescription.

There have been a lot of claims about the aphrodisiac and energizing properties of Maca. For this reason alone, I am quite skeptical about whether or not the science behind the plant’s use in menopause is sound. Nevertheless, I did find several evidence-based, published studies examining Maca in peri- and post-menopausal women:

In two of the largest studies, a standardized, concentrated Lepedium peruvianum formulation (Maca-GO®) was compared to placebo tablet in 168 women who were in early post-menopause; treatment was provided for up to four months. Significant, beneficial changes were seen in balancing and normalizing hormones (estradiol, progesterone, follicular stimulating hormone and lutinizing hormone) and reducing menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats.

In a much smaller, four-month study among perimenopausal women, all participants received Maca-GO® for two months and then a placebo tablet for two months. Two months of the active tablet resulted in anywhere from a 74% to 87% reduction in frequency of hot flashes and night sweats, as well as improvements in sleep interruption, nervousness, depression and heart palpitations. The authors, while acknowledging what is known as a placebo effect (i.e., “I want to believe it works so it does”) suggest that Maca-GO acts a hormonal toner. In this study, as in the one mentioned above, a balancing of hormonal levels was observed.

There is a new supplement called Femmenessence™ with two product lines – MacaPause for postmenopausal women and MacaLife for perimenopausal women. Like many other supplements, both claim to support the body’s ability to balance hormone and by default, address the many troublesome symptoms associated with menopause. Recommended dosage is twice-daily 500 mg capsules for the first four months with a one week break every two to three months. The manufacturer also recommends that women first speak to a healthcare practitioner before using Femmenessence.

As I’ve written time and again, the one-size fits all’ framework doesn’t work too well when it comes to hormones, let alone any other disease. Nevertheless, I am curious about Maca. What about you? Have you heard of or tried Maca? What were the results?

Menopausal magnetism

Posted by Liz on Jul 13, 2009 in humour | 3 comments

Think you’ve got magnetism? You ain’t got nothing until you get LadyCare.

Normally, I’d reserve this piece for a Wednesday Bubble but it’s just too good to pass up for the beginning of the week post.

What is LadyCare you ask? LadyCare is a “small, discreet comfortable device….that attaches to women’s underwear.” Using patented technology, LadyCare relies on a magnetic field to stimulate blood flow, which then improves the “body’s ability to self heal and restore natural hormone balance.” What’s more, LadyCare “may prove to be one of the greatest natural solutions for alleviating menopausal symptoms.”

In addition to its  positive effect on hot flashes and night sweats, LadyCare promises to:

• Promote weight loss
• Improve skin tone
• Increase energy levels
• Improve the ability to control emotions
• Increase confidence
• Improve sex life

Evidently, wearing the LadyCare device has also been shown to improve blood sugar levels in diabetics.

Proponents of magnetic therapy (or bioenergy therapy) believe that magnets can penetrate the boy and correct disturbances in electromagnetic impulses that cause disease. In terms of menopause, the manufacturers of LadyCare claim that the magnetic field created by LadyCare helps to stimulate estrogen production.

Seriously, I am speechless.

I think I’d rather spend the $49.95 on a pedicure and a bottle of wine. Does wonders for that menopausal disposition….

Wednesday bubble: age ain’t nothing but a…

Posted by Liz on Jun 10, 2009 in hot flash, menopause, nightsweats | 2 comments

Number?

Sometimes it is just that. And sometimes it’s not.

Confused yet? I certainly am.

Australian researchers suggest that many of the more common complaints of menopause may be possibly related to aging in general and not specifically the transition. In fact, in a study presented during last month’s 8th European Congress on Menopause, they reported that menopause is strongly associated with some but not other common complaints.

So what about the other symptoms? After reviewing data from 58,724 women (ages 45 to 50) participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, the strongest associations were seen between menopause and hot flashes/night sweats. These findings remained after adjusting for age during the study, age at menopause, smoking history, body mass index, sociodemographics (i.e. education, income, marital status and geographic location) and other factors that might influence outcomes. Other symptoms, including difficulty sleeping, stiff/painful joints and poor or fair self-reported health were also associated with menopause but to a much lesser extent. Headaches, migraines and incontinence appeared to be more strongly related to the aging process.

The researchers say that treatment (in this case, HRT) should be geared primarily towards alleviating vasomotor symptoms. Less clear, however, is how long therapy should be continued, since some symptoms can last for more than seven years. This study is scheduled to appear in Menopause.

Last September, I wrote a post about a survey being reported at the North American Menopause Society’s Annual meeting suggesting that women can actually discern the symptoms of menopause from those of aging.  Interestingly, many of the symptoms overlapped; in fact, 84%, 72%, and 77% of respondents associated vaginal dryness, urinary stress incontinence and weight gain, respectively, strictly with menopause, even though they can also be caused by aging as well.

So, what’s the primary point? It can be difficult to tease apart the effects of aging and the effects of menopause. Clearly, these new Australian data add a bit more to the confusion, and reinforce the point that more research and funding is needed in this particular area.

In the interim, I am just as happy to blame the ‘pause for my symptoms as I am to blame age. And equally as happy to take positive steps to overcome some of the more troublesome effects of the transition, regardless of whether it is a direct effect of menopause or not.

All in all, a good thing, right?