MENOPAUSE IN THE AGE OF AQUARIUS

by Dr. Linda Guastella

It was the summer of 1969. As we barreled down the highway in my little Volkswagen Beetle, the hot August breeze blew our long hair back. We drove from Detroit, Michigan all the way to upstate New York and the Woodstock Music Festival. We were in the middle of The Revolution…the movements that were more important to the 20th century than any others. The Sexual Revolution, Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Movement; they were all ours. As the Moody Blues sang “Tuesday Afternoon” on the radio, we didn’t have a care in the world. It was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius and we were right in the center of the sunrise.

Meanwhile, our mothers were getting older. They were becoming obstinate and obsolete – a condition called aging. Their hormones were depleted and they were getting heart disease, cancer and dementia. They developed arthritis, gained weight, lost their hair and grew moustaches. But, we never thought it would happen to us. As we held on for dear life, the roller coaster of time took us tumbling, turning, soaring - fast-forward forty years into the future and in the blink of an eye we young women of the 60’s were now mature women of the new millennium and we hit a brick wall head-on…menopause.

It is estimated that in 2006 sixty million women will go from the Age of Aquarius to the Age of Menopause. Many of us will experience its deleterious effects such as hot flashes (talk about global warming!), depression, anxiety, heart disease, weight gain, and the dreaded plague of modern times – cancer. We will face the hormone replacement question.

When I experienced my first hot flash, I visited my gynecologist who told me something I will never forget. She said I had reached “that age.” “As we get older, our bodies betray us.” I left her office feeling as if there was no hope and I was doomed. She had given me the usual conventional prescriptions, Premarin and Prozac. I tore them up and instead called a Naturopathic associate of mine who was an expert in hormonal replacement.

She recommended books on menopause and hormone replacement by such authors as Christiane Northrup, M.D. and Elizabeth Vliet, M.D. She was having great success with bio-identical hormone replacement creams and suggested I try them. These are plant derived, real hormones in their pure form…not synthetic chemicals made from horse urine or hormone-like drugs altered in the lab to create the unnatural HRT drugs.

It finally hit me…menopause is not a disease! It’s a right of passage. We need not be afraid of our hormones, but afraid of being without them. Young women, producing very large amounts of hormones in rhythmic, cyclical patterns, don’t get osteoporosis, heart disease, dementia and cancer. Post-menopausal women do. Young women are protected by their sex hormones, not endangered by them.

Men can experience hormone depletion as well which can compromise their health and well-being. It is known as "Andropause." Often less sudden in onset than menopause, it can be more severe in its long-term consequences. Depression, irritability, reduced libido and potency (ED), and loss of drive in professional or business life are some common symptoms. This change is surprisingly often overlooked or ignored as a man assumes it is an inevitable part of growing older.

I recommend an anti-aging program, for both male and female patients, consisting of good nutrition, exercise, stress-reduction and hormone replacement (natural, pure, bioidentical hormone replacement creams based on a protocol of graduated doses of estrogen and progesterone). I’m not hormone depleted anymore and it feels wonderful.

I don’t paint flowers on my face anymore, and can no longer fit into those hip-hugger, bell-bottom jeans from 1969. But, I can close my eyes and feel that burning hot August breeze warming my face again…and thank goodness this time it’s not a hot flash!!

Dr. Linda Guastella is a Naturopathic Doctor and Holistic Nutritionist at the Lifelong Health & Wellness Center, Inc. Visit her website at www.drellegee.com, call
(586) 739-0531, or email her at drellegee@comcast.net