Menopause Treatment Overview

Sorting Through the Choices
By Kate Bracy Kalb
Sometimes women are insulted or upset that menopause is seen as a medical “condition” that needs “treatment,” instead of as just a normal part of life. Like pregnancy or puberty, it is a time of life when hormones – and your body’s response to those hormones – can have unwanted or uncomfortable symptoms and side effects. It is those symptoms that may need treatment, especially if they are causing trouble in your life.
There are many schools of thought on the best way to deal with these symptoms. If you are menopausal, you will need to sift through the information and decide which approach, or combination of approaches, is just right for you. There are medical treatments that require prescription medications, including hormones. There are lifestyle factors that you can adjust to lessen your symptoms and make your body healthier; and there are alternative treatments and supplements that may help you cope with your symptoms. Any and all of these solutions may play a role in your menopause, and it’s up to you to choose a path that works for your unique set of symptoms, risks, and values.
Briefly, here are some things to consider when you are deciding which menopause treatments are best:
Medical Treatments
Medications and hormones can ease transition through the menopause period. They can be prescribed by your medical provider, and they all carry some risks.
Hormone treatments
As your own natural estrogen and progesterone decrease, you may have symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness and mood swings that have an enormous effect on the quality of your everyday life. A course of estrogen, probably with progestin, can reduce those symptoms so that your life is not so disrupted. But recent studies have shown that estrogen can cause an increased risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and blood clots. Depending on your personal and family health history, your other risk factors, and how bad the symptoms are you might be a good candidate for some hormone therapy.
Non-hormone Medications
Other medications can also alleviate menopausal problems, and are usually targeted at particular symptoms. Some antidepressants and selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) medications are showing promise in relieving various menopausal difficulties. They don’t have the same risks as estrogen therapy, but they have risks and side effects of their own. Anti-seizure medications, blood pressure medications and anti-anxiety agents are all used to treat problems that surface in menopause. Again, your unique symptoms and risks are the key to deciding how – and whether – to treat the effects of decreasing estrogen.

Lifestyle Factors
Many of the problems that rear their heads during menopause are extensions of problems that have been ongoing, but get worse with age. Menopause can be the perfect time – emphasis on the “pause” – to take stock of your health and make changes that will benefit you as you move into the next phase of your life. Things that seemed rather optional before (exercise, diet, sleep) can make all the difference in managing your menopausal symptoms. Lifestyle changes are low risk, and offer lots of advantages beyond symptom relief.
Diet
Any change that increases the antioxidants in your diet – green leafy vegetables, fruits, bright orange and red vegetables – will help you weather menopause. Also, adding calcium now can help keep your bone density higher and fight osteoporosis.
Stress Management
Stress management – including plenty of sleep, exercise and some sort of “quieting” practice like meditation or breathing techniques – is worth whatever changes you have to make in your lifestyle. Managing stress keeps you younger, makes losing and maintaining weight easier, and gives you mental energy for your life.
Activity
Move more. Increasing exercise is the simplest, most effective way to improve almost every menopausal problem you will face. Women who exercise have fewer hot flashes, burn more calories, have less pain and report less depression than those who don’t. Even fifteen minutes a day can help, especially if you do it every day. What are you waiting for?

Alternative Treatments
Many women want to treat their symptoms, but they don’t want the risks that come with hormones or other medications. These remedies have been around for centuries, and we are just beginning to study which ones are effective, and why. There are herbal remedies, plant estrogens and dietary supplements among other alternative treatments to choose from.
Herbal Remedies
Herbs such as black cohosh, gingko biloba, and kava are commonly used by women for combating menopause symptoms. Plant estrogens derived from yams and soy are used to easy the transition from natural levels of estrogen to the lower ones following menopause. And vitamin E and flaxseed oil are known for cooling hot flashes and helping memory problems.
Other Alternative Approaches
Other alternative treatments include hot flash and stress management with movement and stretching of Tai Chi or yoga; cooling hot flashes with slow, deep breathing exercises; and stress or pain relief with acupuncture and chiropractic medicine.
There are menopause choices for every woman, and most of the distressing symptoms can be treated or managed so that your life can go on uninterrupted. Keeping your body healthy, well rested and moving is literally the first step toward solving most menopausal woes. Talk your symptoms over with your medical provider, and find the combination that makes the most sense for you.
Sources: National Institute on Aging, “Menopause,” Age Page , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, 03 Nov. 2007.
For more information about Menopause prevent and treatment, visit: Natural Menopause Aid