3 Natural Menopause Solutions

Menopausal women may experience symptoms ranging from hot flashes and low sex drive to insomnia and night sweats. For decades, women have been prescribed long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) consisting of horse-derived hormones estrogen and progestin for the treatment of menopausal symptoms. However, large studies such as the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) have linked HRT with increased breast cancer risk and other significant adverse effects.

Women have been searching for alternatives to HRT to manage menopause symptoms. Now research reports the following alternative therapies can help relieve menopausal symptoms.

Yoga Relieves Menopause

A 2011 prospective, controlled, randomized and interventional study, published inMenopause International, found yoga can effectively relieve menopausal symptoms. All the participants were not on hormone therapy.

Researchers at NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Lata Mangeshkar Hospital, in India, assigned 180 menopausal women to a yoga group or no treatment (control) group for three months. Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) questionnaires evaluating menopause symptoms and health-related quality of life were obtained from the participants on the first and last days of the study.

The yoga group participated in daily one-hour yoga practice for three months. The yoga program included yoga poses, yoga breathing and meditation.

The researchers found that MRS scores were similar in both groups on day 1. By day 90 MRS scores showed the yoga group had significant improvement in menopausal symptoms, and no changes in the control group.

"Yoga is effective in reducing menopausal symptoms," the study authors conclude. It "should be considered as alternative therapy for the management of menopausal symptoms."

Maca Menopause Remedy

The Peruvian plant maca (Lepidium meyenii) was used by the ancient Incans to promote libido and improve stamina.

A study, published in the International Journal of Biomedical Science, reports maca can help relieve menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, low sex drive and night sweats.

Australian and Polish researchers administered 2,000 mg organic maca or a placebo daily to 124 postmenopausal women with low estrogen and high follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels for four months. Greene's Score (GMS) and Kupperman's Index (KMI) measurements of menopausal symptoms were obtained from the participants after one, three and six months. Lipid profile and hormone levels were also obtained from the participants.

The researchers found that maca group had significant improvement in menopausal symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats. Furthermore, FSH levels were lowered while estradiol and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were increased. The placebo group had no significant changes.

Natural Hormone Help

Bioidentical or natural hormones are the chemical equivalent to those produced naturally by humans. Bioidentical hormones are typically produced from plant sources (such as soybeans and yams) or can be synthetically derived.

A review, published in Alternative Medicine Review, reveals bioidentical hormones can relieve menopausal symptoms and may have less negative side effects than hormone replacement therapy (HRT). However, longer term human studies are needed to determine if bioidentical hormones are completely risk free.

The researcher reviewed 138 published studies on bioidentical hormones and hormone replacement therapy. "The use of bioidentical hormone therapy is well tolerated, provides symptom relief, and can address many of the health needs as well as the individual preferences of menopausal and perimenopausal women," the study author writes. "Physicians are encouraged to take the time and effort to help women determine the regimen that best suits their needs, including testing hormone levels directly prior to supplementation and using the least amount necessary to achieve the desired results."

Treat Migraines Naturally

Migraine headaches can severely affect your daily life, bringing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light. Migraines are more common in women and may be provoked by lack of sleep, menses, stress or muscular tension. Certain types of foods can provoke migraines, such as processed foods, foods that contain MSG or foods that contain tyramine, such as red wine and aged cheeses.

Doctors usually diagnose migraines by the symptoms. Imaging is not typically necessary unless your doctor thinks there may be another cause.

Treatment of migraines includes ibuprofen or acetaminophen for mild types and triptans or ergot medications for more severe migraines. There are other natural ways to treat migraines:

Food: Figuring out what foods trigger your migraines can be very helpful in preventing and treating headaches. An elimination-challenge diet may be recommended to figure out what food triggers are specific for you.
Herbs: Studies show that herbal remedies such as butterbur and feverfew can help prevent migraines.
Lifestyle: Getting approximately eight hours of sleep per night and regular exercise can support your system in the prevention of migraines.
Vitamins and minerals: Riboflavin, B12 and magnesium all are useful in reducing the frequency of migraines and preventing them.
Migraine headaches are quite common, but they need not to be common for you. Consider making an appointment with a naturopathic doctor to explore other means of prevention and treatment.

— By Emily Lesnak, ND, naturopathic doctor and resident at Bastyr Center for Natural Health.

Scientists Grow Human Heart Tissue; Beats on its Own

In an interesting step in the direction of transplantable human organs, a team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh has grown human heart tissue. This tissue can beat on its own in a Petri dish.

Scientists used pluripotent stem cells (IPS) for achieving their aim. The process included the reprogramming of human cells and then spurring the cells for developing into special cells. The IPS cells were spurred to develop into multi-potential cardiovascular progenitor cells, which are heart cells. These cells are then divided into three more categories needed for the cardiovascular functions. The IPS cells for this test were taken from the human skin.

After achieving this aim, the researchers transplanted the cells on the stripped heart of a mouse. After a period of few weeks the human cells started reproducing and rebuilding the mouse heart that could beat on its own.

In the past few years, many tests have been conducted for developing heart tissue. This latest development is dependent on embryonic stem cells. However, it will still take few more years to develop a fully functional scientific heart. But this achievement has surely opened the doors for developing patches in order to treat the damaged human organs. The research and findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Excessive Smartphone Use Leads to Risks of 'Screen Sightedness' Among Kids

Recently, a report about increasing use of Smarthphone has been published in 'Daily Express'.

There has been noticed an increasing obsession for Smartphones, not only in adults, but also in children. It is the set of games that lure them to spend lots of time on the handsets and that too with a very close vision. The handsets are put only 18 to 30cm away from the eyes whereas while reading newspapers and books, a distance of 40cm from the face is maintained.

Considering this, it has been recently warned by a top UK eye surgeon that sight problems are becoming common among children as young as seven.

At such a young age, their eyes are getting affected, which is a sign of big stress.

It was in 1997 when Smartphones were launched for the first time. According to David Allamby, a leading laser eye surgeon in the UK, since then there has been noticed a 35% increase in patients suffering from advancing myopia (short-sightedness).

After analyzing the ongoing trend, he has further warned that if an immediate ban is not put over the use of Smartphones by children, in next 10 years, this ratio will increase by 50%. Yes, a large number of young adults and children would then suffer from this condition.

4G / LTE MOBILE NETWORK POSES GREATER CHRONIC HEALTH RISKS THAN THE PREVIOUS 2G & 3G TECHNOLOGIES

If you're one of the people who has suspected cell phones/cell towers were bad news, get ready for the latest affront to our health: The 4G/LTE network. This is the latest scheme cooked up by the greedy telecommunications industry. It promises much faster bandwidth than the previous 3G incarnation, thereby providing lightning-fast mobile internet on your mobile phone or device (great for watching YouTube/Hulu). Unfortunately, there is a major downside to 4G technology (and all wireless technology that emits radiation for that matter), and it comes as a cost to our health and well-being.

The problem with 4G/LTE: The contrived need to have internet access with us at all times

As the internet age has evolved, cellular phones and devices have evolved along with it. Cell phones used to be for making calls on the go. Eventually, text messaging came onto the scene, and that was the new craze. Now, 4G mobile internet and mobile video streaming is the new novelty. Unfortunately, the bandwidth required for mobile internet and video streaming on a cellular device is greater than what can be provided over older, conventional 2G/3G cell phone tower networks. So for 4G, there have been many new high-powered cell towers erected around the world, with little thought about the adverse effects that the addition of more radiation-emitting technology will cause.

4G/LTE handset "smart" antennas

4G designers needed to increase bandwidth receiving capability in 4G handsets/devices, so they developed "smart antennas" - a series of 4 antennas in a single phone handset. This is like the equivalent of having four cell phones in one device rather than one (tumor, anyone?). The mobile telecom industry is fully aware of the potential carcinogenic effect of their products, but instead of searching for ways to reduce the potential threat to public health, they are multiplying it. This is just plain unethical business practice.

Radiation overload and wireless plankton

Over the last 10 years, physicians have noticed a continuous increase in the number of people with chronic complaints. Doctors have taken blood draws or saliva from patients, and determined in 2012 that one in three patients has radiation overload. In 2002, only one patient in 30 were radiation stressed. In 300 patients with chronic health complaints, 138 of them were caused by radiation (from wireless internet or cell phone tech). These numbers have gotten worse with 3G and ubiquitous Wi-Fi hot spots around the world. How bad are these numbers going to get with the 4G/LTE network?

Plankton were used in experiments to test the adverse properties of wireless signals in lab tests. In these experiments, the wireless-exposed plankton died or were deformed within several days of chronic exposure. With Wi-Fi it took 96 hours, 3G took 72 hours, and with 4G the plankton died within 48 hours. Since all living organisms ultimately escape the effects that unnatural radiation has on them, we must ask ourselves this: If wireless radiation is killing or deforming plankton, what is it doing to us?

Sources for this article include:

http://www.faim.org

http://risk-monger.blogactiv.eu

http://mybroadband.co.za

http://news.heartland.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:

Zach C. Miller was raised from an early age to believe in the power and value of healthy-conscious living. He later found in himself a talent for writing, and it only made sense to put two & two together! He has written and published articles about health & wellness and other topics on ehow.com and here on NaturalNews. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Applied Science.