Tai Chi And Menopause

Tai Chi And Menopause

Bone Loss, Osteoporosis, Depression, Menopause & Tai Chi
By Bill Douglas

Emerging medical research indicates that an ancient health therapy may be the prescription for the future.  Increasingly the menopausal problems of hormonal imbalance, often resulting in bone loss, are also affected by depression and stress.  Change is stressful for all of us, even good changes, like changes of life.  Maturity is a good thing, yet the stress of major life changes can result in stress and depression, which according to emerging research may further aggravate the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause.  Is there any escape from this catch-22?  Yes, although this may seem overwhelming in its scope, there may be great news.  An ancient Chinese natural health therapy, known as Tai Chi, may help alleviate many of the aggravating symptoms of menopause in profoundly healthful ways.

Of course only your physician can help you decide what is right for your personal therapy as you enter the menopausal transition.  However, you may find that you need to educate your physician regarding the benefits Tai Chi may offer you at this important time in your life.  Or, perhaps if you ask around you may find a physician who has already educated himself or herself about the benefits Tai Chi may offer all women, but definitely has much to offer women entering menopause.

Emerging research indicates that Tai Chi can help reduce the incidence of depression, anxiety, and mood disturbance in regular practitioners.  In a Prevention Magazine report entitled, “Tai Chi May Relieve Anxiety and Depression,” Donal P. O'Mathuna, Ph.D., a lecturer in Health Care Ethics at the School of Nursing in Dublin City University, Ireland says that, “. . . . evidence there is suggests that the benefits of tai chi extend beyond those of simply exercising. The combination of exercise, meditation, and breathing all may help relieve anxiety and depression. . .”  In its article entitled, “Tai chi,” the Mayo Clinic staff at MayoClinic.com stated that preliminary research shows that practicing Tai Chi regularly may not only reduce anxiety and depression, but also increase bone mineral density after menopause.  This was echoed by a report in    http://www.intelihealth.com/ by Natural Standard and the Faculty of Harvard Medical School.

This is a very important finding, and begins to make even more sense, when you consider the National Institutes of Mental Health reports that the stress hormones found in depressed women caused bone loss that gave them bones of women nearly twice their age. Exactly why Tai Chi offers such benefit may be explained by a study from Australia’s La Trobe University that found that Tai Chi reduced levels of stress hormones more effectively than some other forms of activity. (Details at: http://www.seniornet.org/php/default.php?PageID=6055).

But, no matter how you slice it, research is indicating that Tai Chi may be a “very” effective multi-level beneficial therapy for women. A Chinese study reported in the December 2004 “Physician and Sportsmedicine”  found that tai chi could retard bone loss among postmenopausal women significantly.  Bone mineral density was measured before and after the study period.  Both groups experienced general bone loss, but the rate of bone loss for the Tai Chi group was less than in the control group.  In fact, the Tai Chi practicing group of women slowed bone loss by 2.6 to 3.6 times more.  The study reported, “Bone loss was 2.6 to 3.6 times slower (phttp://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?id=382).  The report stated, “…female sex hormone (estrogen) levels tend to increase in men and decrease in women. Three studies indicate that qigong exercise can reverse this trend. The effect of qigong exercise on plasma sex hormone levels was determined for hypertensive men and women. The sex hormones levels were measured before and after qigong practice for one year…”   Results showed that high estrodiol levels in men lowered to near normal, and low estrodial levels in women raised to near normal after qigong practice.

Medline Plus, a service of the National Instututes of Health’s March 3, 2004 update discussed the problems with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which had been the main treatment for menopausal symptoms.  But in the update, Medline Plus, explains, “…the results of a major study -- called the Women's Health Initiative -- has led physicians to revise their recommendations.  In fact, this important study was stopped early because the health risks outweighed the health benefits. Women taking the hormones did see some benefits. But they greatly increased their risk for breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots.”  The Medline article goes on to offer non-drug alternatives to reduce menopausal symptoms that included “yoga, tai chi, or meditation.”  (See entire article at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000894.htm)

In a great article at webmd.com, Dr. Herbert Benson, head of hypertension studies at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital and author of “The Relaxation Response,” goes further to suggest that Tai Chi’s moving meditation is “…vitally important in PMS, infertility, hot flashes, insomnia,…"  (Read the entire article at: my.webmd.com/content/article/25/1728_57992.htm).  Dr. Benson’s comments illustrate the vast multi-dimensional possibilities that Tai Chi offers everyone’s health on so many levels.  The purpose of this article is not to prescribe treatments for you, but to help you expand your dialogue with your health professional to explore more possibilities for your health.  However, the purpose here is also to encourage physicians to begin demanding more focused medical research on what Tai Chi may offer their patients on many levels.

Currently all alternative therapies research is only about one half of only one-percent of the National Institutes of Health’s budget, meaning that Tai Chi research is only a tiny fraction of that tiny fraction.  Given the emerging possibilities of benefit Tai Chi is showing already with such limited research, this is inexcusable.  Massive resources should be used to fully explore what Tai Chi offers, so that all hospitals can not only offer classes, but prescribe them.  Tai Chi should be covered by medical insurance and national health insurance programs.  The future is ours, by beginning to demand of our health system a natural and cost effective approach to our health and well-being.  Share this article widely with everyone you know, but especially your health professionals, and your local media’s health reporters.

Copyright 2005 Bill Douglas

Bill Douglas is the Tai Chi Expert at DrWeil.com, Founder of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day (held in 50 nations each year), and has authored and co-authored several books including a #1 best selling Tai Chi book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to T’ai Chi & Qigong.”  Bill’s been a Tai Chi source for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.  You can learn more about Tai Chi & Qigong, and also contact Bill Douglas at http://www.worldtaichiday.org.

Article Source: Bone Loss, Osteoporosis, Depression, Menopause & Tai Chi

Acupuncture Treatment For Menopause Symptoms

If you're interested, acupuncture treatment for relieving menopause could be just what you need. But if you have don't fancy being probed with needles, there's always other options to investigate. Combined with herbal medicine, acupuncture could be an alternative method for treating perimenopause or menopausal symptoms.

Video: Acupuncture For Menopause -- Hot Flashes & Nightsweats

Treating Menopause With Acupuncture and Herbs

By Toni Narins, L.Ac.

Menopause is the cessation of the menstrual cycle, which usually occurs slowly, as the ovaries gradually lose their ability to produce estrogen. The reduced levels of estrogen in the body reduces fertility, making reproduction more and more difficult until it eventually ceases altogether. Menopause is a natural part of the physiological aging process, but can also be induced surgically, when a woman undergoes a hysterectomy - if the ovaries are removed with the uterus. The average age of onset of menopause is 50.5 years, but can occur much earlier in cases of premature ovarian failure, or slightly later.

Some women can sail through menopause with hardly a symptom. Most women experience something - from mild to severe hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, to irritability. Other possible symptoms can include vaginal dryness, urinary urgency or incontinence, osteoporosis, joint pain, decreased libido, fatigue, depression, memory loss and mood swings. One decade, estrogen replacement therapy is touted to be the best thing since the water faucet, and the next decade it is deadly. Nowadays there are bio-identical hormones available, progesterone creams, and a host of other options. The risks of such treatments are still unknown, especially for women who have had a history of breast cancer.

One of the many options available to women is acupuncture and oriental medicine, sometimes called Chinese medicine. The roots of this medicine go deep. It has been treating women for all the symptoms associated with menopause and perimenopause for around 5,000 years. Does it work? Well, if it didn't, someone would have noticed by now. But how does it work, and what can you expect from being treated by this ancient form of medicine?

To answer the second question first, you can expect a soothing environment, and a sense of deep relaxation. Some people can actually feel something "shift" inside them during treatments, describing it as a sense of something being released. Some people feel a slight tingling, and some a heavy sensation. Sometimes patients report that they experienced fewer hot flashes, mood swings or night sweats after one treatment. But since Oriental medicine relies on the body's ability to correct and heal itself, it usually takes more than one treatment for you to get lasting results.

So what is happening here? How does this work? What we say is that before you experience any kind of a symptom, the body's energy is out of balance. First energy goes out of balance, and then matter follows energy. The principle that underlies the theory of acupuncture is the principle of energy. When the energies of your organs and tissues are in balance, then they function properly. Over time, with different stressful situations, different life events and choices, our energies lose their equilibrium. Factors such as diet, emotional stress, overwork, lack of exercise, etc. affect the bodies energies. It's like a stream with too many rocks in it - on the upstream side you get a puddle, and on the downstream side you get a trickle. What acupuncture needles do is take the rocks out of the stream.

Starting with perimenopause, women begin to lose what's called their "yin" energy. Yin relates to quiet, moist, calm, receptive energy. It's as if you forgot to put enough coolant into the engine of your car, so the engine heats up. It's not that there's too much heat, it's that there isn't enough coolant. So while acupuncture can balance your bodies energies, you can also expect that your acupuncturist will recommend an herbal formula. Herbs are a way of putting something into the body - in this case, some "coolant". Chinese herbs are almost never taken singularly. They are meant to be taken in formulas, with specific amounts of each herb, prescribed to match each patient's specific condition or conditions, body type, etc. When searching for an acupuncturist to treat your menopause or perimenopausal symptoms, you should make sure that he or she is a qualified herbalist, too, as this will make a big difference in the results you can expect. But it is important to understand that many of the herbs which are typically used in treating perimenopause or menopausal symptoms contain phytoestrogens, they are generally contraindicated in treating women who have had a history of breast cancer. Only a qualified herbalist will be able to decide if it is possible to compose a formula without any phytoestrogens, which would effectively treat your symptoms.

Toni Narins, L.Ac. is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist in San Diego, CA. She maintains a busy clinical practice in Mission Valley, treating women for menstrual problems, menopausal symptoms and a wide variety of pain. Aside from acupuncture and herbs, she addresses her patient's diet, exercise, and lifestyle. http://www.missionvalleyacu.com

Article Source: Treating Menopause With Acupuncture and Herbs

Hypnotherapy For Menopause

Video: Hypnotherapy : Holistic Remedy for Menopausal Hot Flashes by certified clinical hypnotherapist, Jennifer Schaefer

Menopause, Hot Flashes and Natural Remedies - Menopause Treatment With Hypnotherapy

By Sue Beilby

Who would have thought that hypnotherapy is a natural menopause treatment? Did you know that hypnotherapy could help menopausal women lower the number and intensity of hot flashes? Well, it's true! Hypnotherapy is one of the natural remedies for menopause symptoms. A recent study from Baylor University has shown that menopausal women, who specifically visualized images associated with coolness in their mind's eye during their hypnotherapy sessions, had a dramatic reduction in the number of hot flashes.

An estimated 85 percent of menopausal women experience hot flashes. Many of those women seek out medical treatments to relieve menopause symptoms. These treatments include hormonal and pharmaceutical therapies, each of which has distinct systemic disadvantages aside from any benefits. Because of this, many menopausal women seek out alternative natural remedies. While the use of herbal remedies is relatively well known, the use of hypnotherapy as an effective treatment is less widely known.

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, Dr Gary Elkins has conducted several studies into hypnotherapy. He believes that the latest research suggests that the areas of the brain which are activated by imagery, may be exactly the same areas of the brain which are activated by actual perceived events. This then explains why women, who imagined a cool place while suffering hot flashes, felt cool rather than feeling the intense heat of a hot flash.

Participants in the Baylor study were 51 female breast cancer survivors, who agreed to hypnosis intervention for the treatment of their menopausal hot flashes. Prior to hypnotherapy, each participant was asked to identify their own personal preference for mental imagery to be used for the reduction of their hot flashes. Not one participant used imagery associated with warmth. All participants voluntarily showed a preference for images associated with coolness, such as cool water or waterfalls, cool mountain scenery, cool air, cool wind, snow, trees, leaves and cool forests. Interestingly, when asked to visualize images associated with warmth, unlike when visualizing cool images, the hot flashes did not decrease, even though they became relaxed.

Since menopause symptoms, like hot flashes frequently occur during the night, they can interfere with a woman's sleep pattern and even be associated with insomnia. Reducing the number and severity of hot flashes therefore could dramatically improve sleep for menopausal women so affected. Hypnotherapy which utilizes cool images has been shown to be one of the viable natural remedies for menopause, and self- hypnosis is not difficult.

However, if you have never experienced hypnosis before, it would be beneficial to attend a qualified hypnotherapist to understand the process prior to trying self-hypnosis at home. When ready for home menopause treatment using self-hypnosis, there are many hypnotherapy resources available, including audio CD's, books and tutorials.

Just remember to visualize cool images while relaxing and concentrate on your breathing. When you breathe in, for example, breathe slowly and deeply, and see yourself breathing in cool, calm, blue air and let it completely surround you. Feel its coolness touching every part of your body. Then, as you breathe out, see all stress exit your body through your fingertips. Feel and see the heat and stress float away. Next, slowly and deeply inhale again and see yourself inhaling cool, calm, blue air, as before, and continue to repeat the process. When ready to enter a deeper state of relaxation, utilize the cool images you have chosen and experience the relief.

Unlike hormonal treatments and pharmaceutical therapies for addressing menopause symptoms, hypnotherapy utilizing cool imagery does not come with harmful side effects. It is one of the natural remedies for menopause and hot flashes. So take advantage of this valuable modality and reduce the number and frequency of hot flashes with hypnotherapy. It is definitely worth a try!

Sue Beilby is a freelance writer, Registered Nurse and hypnotherapist with more than 30 years of experience as a health care professional.

Article Source: Menopause, Hot Flashes and Natural Remedies - Menopause Treatment With Hypnotherapy