You already know it, but the steps to better health include:

• Exercise – a minimum of 3 x per week, for at least 30 minutes, or as much as you are able to tolerate. No time for the gym or to go for a jog? Throw on one of your favorite CD’s and start dancing…get your heart pumping while you have some fun! A great CD to try is Dance Like No One Is Watching from Soft Surroundings, www.softsurroundings.com.
• Eat Right – you know the drill…lots of complex carbs (whole grains, fresh fruits and veges, nuts, seeds, beans), plus watch the fats and avoid sugar. (also see Eat Right For Your Body, and Food/Organic)
• Reduce Stress – stress is the underlying cause of so many illnesses…find something that works in helping you to relax and release tension. (see Meditation or Visualization)
• Turn off the news – the constant barrage of bad news we are exposed to on a daily basis is overwhelming and can have an adverse effect on your health and wellbeing – turn off the news and meditate instead, you’ll feel better and sleep better, too!
• Good Sleep – is vital to your health, this is the time your body does very important work! Dr. David Simon suggests you gradually decrease mental activity after 8 PM, an hour before bed take a warm bath, listen to soothing music…then write in a journal for 10 minutes to download your day and clear your mind.

MENOPAUSE/PERIMENOPAUSE

Perimenopause is the period of hormone fluctuation that leads up to menopause, which is when you have not had a menstral period for one year as the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone. This can be a challenging time for a woman as these hormone fluctuations can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms including: mood swings, headaches, irregular periods, hot flashes*, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, hair loss and weight gain, and vaginal dryness.

In recent years there has been quite a bit of controversy about hormone replacement therapy as it has been linked to certain cancers among other diseases. After menopause women are already at a higher risk for heart disease, cancer and stroke, so it is a difficult and very personal decision.

*Hot Flashes:

One study by the Mayo Clinic found the incidence of hot flashes was reduced as much as 50 percent by consuming flaxseed.  It is also thought to be very promising because, along with phytoestrogens, it also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can aid in mood stabilization. According to A.D.A.M., an online health content provider, when compared to hormone replacement therapy, 40 grams of flaxseed was reported to be equally as effective in reducing hot flashes, vaginal dryness and mood disturbances.

First I made sure to add some soy to my diet, which is rich in phytoestrogens. Since there is some controversy about the benefits of soy, I decided to use moderation and not overeat it…so twice a week I eat one of the more natural sources of soy protein – organic tofu. My personal favorite is the Whole Foods brand, extra firm. I sauté broccoli and cauliflower (wonderful veges loaded with antioxidants) in olive or grapeseed oil with lots of garlic…when almost cooked I add the tofu, which I have cut into bite-size chunks. It is really delicious and can be served over organic brown rice if you like.

Other things to try to ward off those hot flashes include:

• Dress in layers
• Wear breathable fabrics, like organic cotton
• When you feel a flash starting have a cold drink and or apply a cold compress to your neck
• Keep a diary to find triggers, and then avoid those things if possible

During menopause make sure you are doing all you can to support your body, which in addition to eating right and exercising*, includes not smoking, making sure you are getting adequate amounts of calcium and Vitamin D, and having an annual pelvic and breast exam. It is really important to make sure you have these exams as if a problem is developing, it is always better to discover it early!

(*A Penn State University Study found that women who are involved in a regular exercise program reported a better quality of life during menopause compared to those who did not exercise.)

And keep in mind that Calcium and Vitamin D become particularly important after menopause to help prevent osteoporosis. The body is continually breaking down old bone and replacing it with new bone. Estrogen helps control bone loss, so when the body is no longer producing it women can lose more bone than is replaced.

Test your knowledge about menopause on the Women to Women website: http://www.womentowomen.com/community/survey/

For learn more about menopause check out the following resources:

• Dr. Chrisitane Northrup, author of two great books, The Wisdom of Menopause and Women’s Wisdom, www.drnorthrup.com
• Women to Women, a clinic for women located in Maine that specializes in combining traditional and alternative therapies, they publish monthly e-newsletters that are very informative, plus offer analysis and product recommendations on the website: www.womentowomen.com
• North American Menopause Society: www.menopause.org
• National Institute of Health: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/womenshealthissues.html

A personal note about Hot Flashes: In the beginning I found myself viewing my hot flashes in a very negative way, really dreading them and feeling anxious when they happened - and it seemed they were getting worse and more frequent. I decided to try the mind-body principles of turning my thoughts around and trying to find the positive in what was happening. So I started reminding myself that a hot flash is a temperature fluctuation due to hormone adjustments in the body and is a completely natural occurrence.. and when I started to embrace the sweating - viewing it as a natural detox for my body (which it is - sweating is a great way for the body to eliminate toxins, no matter what your age or sex), and began visualizing all of the toxins that were being released during my "flush", I found that they seem to pass more quickly and without causing as much discomfort. The entire experience is a more positive one, which makes life much easier. Other articles that may assist you in redirecting your thinking about this, or any other physical symptom, are Mind-Body Connection and Visualization.

BREAST CANCER & THE CHEMICAL CONNECTION

Note: See section below for updated information about Vitamin D and the breast cancer connection.

According to an article on WebMD there may well be a link between breast cancer and exposure to chemicals, and although other factors, including genetics, can have an impact on your chances of getting this disease, there are things you can do to reduce your risk.

Janet Gray, PhD professor and chairwoman of the Department of Psycology at Vassar College says, “…we do have a compilation of epidermological studies, cell culture studies and annual data that are consistent and I believe are coming together to show us that some of what women are exposed to every day may be increasing their risk of breast cancer.” She also says, “…evidence is starting to mount indicating that steady personal exposure to low levels of lots of different chemicals does matter.”

We are all exposed to numerous toxic chemicals every day – they can be in the foods we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the products and cosmetics we put on our bodies, and in our homes. The good news is our bodies were designed to filter and remove these chemicals, but repeated exposure to the ever growing number of these toxins, can be cause for concern. You can’t live in a bubble, but you can do your best to reduce exposure. If you are interested in finding ways to reduce your exposure, please check the following pages on this website: Chemicals Can Make You Fat, Detoxification, Food/Organic, Natural Lawn & Garden, Natural Pest Control, Reduce Toxic Exposure.

Outside links include:

• http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/features/common-chemicals-breast-cancer-link (Web MD article)
• http://www.epa.gov(The US Environmental Protection Agency, also at 1-800-490-9198)
• http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/inde.htm(National Institute of Health)
• www.ewg.org (Environmental Working Group – a watchdog agency that monitors these kinds of issues)
• www.foodnews.org (part of EWG above, focused on food safety issues)
  

HYSTERECTOMY

Hysterectomies are currently the second-most performed surgery in the country. By the age of 60, one in four American women has had a hysterectomy according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are many doctors who feel that there are situations where less invasive treatments may take care of the troublesome symptoms. For example, in an article in The Orlando Sentinel by Linda Shrieves, Dr. William Parker, head of OB & GYN at St. Joseph's Hospital in Santa Monica, California says unless they are causing pain or heavy bleeding, many fibroids don't need any treatment. Another treatment for fibroids is Myolysis, in which a doctor uses an electrical needle that is passed directly into the fibroid to kill the tissue and cauterize the blood vessels feeding it. A Laparoscopic Myomectomy is a procedure in which the doctor removes fibroids through two or three small incisions near the bikini line. This option requires only a one-day hospital stay and women return to a normal routine within one or two weeks.

If you and your doctor decide hysterectomy is the way to go there are different types to consider: traditional abdominal in which there is an incision across the abdomen, requiring a 3-4 day hospital stay and 4-6 weeks of recovery; a vaginal hysterectomy requires only 1-2 days in the hospital and 3-4 weeks recovery; and a laparoscopic hysterectomy in which the uterus is removed through a tiny incision in the abdomen. Patients normally go home that evening or the next day and are fully recovered in two weeks.

It is always a good idea to get a second opinion. Ask questions. And if you want more information check out these websites:
*www.healthywomen.org
*www.gynsecondopinion.com
*www.nuff.org

OVARIAN CANCER

Although it has always been know as the "silent killer", the American Cancer Society and other medical groups are now issuing new guidelines as to early warning signs of ovarian cancer. The most common symptoms are:

*Bloating
*Pelvic or abdominal pain
*Decreased appetite or feeling full quickly
*Urgent or frequent feelings to urinate

But do not panic if you have these symptoms as they can be the sign of other problems. According to Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of breast and gynecologic cancer at the American Cancer Society, "Even if women have these symptoms, it is unlikely they have ovarian cancer. They could have irritable bowel syndrome or a urinary tract infection."

If symptoms persist contact your doctor who can do a pelvic exam, ultrasound or blood tests. Remember that early detection can save your life!

Vitamin D and the Breast Cancer Connection

According to information from an Associated Press report in May of 2008 a Canadian study examines the connection between Vitamin D levels and breast cancer:

The results are sure to renew arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a good thing.

The skin makes vitamin D from ultraviolet light. Too much sunlight can raise the risk of skin cancer, but small amounts - 15 minutes or so a few times a week without sunscreen - may be beneficial, many doctors believe.

While the vitamin is found in certain foods and supplements, most don't contain the best form, D-3, and have only a modest on blood levels of the nutrient. That's what matters, the Canadian study found.

Only 24 percent of women in the study had sufficient blood levels of D at the time they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. Those who were deficient were nearly twice as likely to have their cancer recur or spread over the next 10 years, and 73 percent more likely to die of the disease.

"These are pretty big differences," said study leader Dr. Pamela Goodwin of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. "It's the first time that vitamin D has been linked to breast cancer progression."

But people shouldn't start downing supplements, she warned. Experts don't agree on how much vitamin D people need or the best way to get it, and too much can be harmful. They also don't know whether getting more vitamin D can help when someone already has cancer.

"We have no idea whether correcting a vitamin D deficiency will in any way alter these outcomes," said Dr. Julie Gralow, a cancer specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The study was released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be presented at the group's annual meeting later this month.

Lots of earlier research suggests vitamin D may help prevent prostate, breast and especially colon cancer. In lab and animal tests, vitamin D stifles abnormal cell growth, curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors and has many other anti-cancer effects.

Other evidence: People who live in northern regions of the world have higher cancer rates than those living closer to the equator, possibly because of less sunshine and vitamin D.

The Canadian researchers wanted to see whether it made a difference in survival. They took blood from 512 women at three University of Toronto hospitals between 1989 and 1995, when the women were first diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.

A decade later, 83 percent of those who had had adequate vitamin D blood levels were alive without extensive spread of their cancer, versus 79 percent of those whose vitamin D levels were insufficient and 69 percent of those who were deficient, as defined by widely used medical standards for measuring intake.

One red flag: The few women with the very highest levels of vitamin D seemed to have worse survival.

Though the study was too small and those results were not conclusive, "there may be an optimal level of vitamin D in women with breast cancer and it may be possible to take too much," Goodwin said.

The federal government says up to 2,000 international units of vitamin D a day seems OK. Taking 800 units per day will, on average, raise blood levels to the middle of the range that seems best for bone and general health, Goodwin said.

Vitamin D is in salmon and other oily fish, and milk is routinely fortified with it, but dietary sources account for little of the amount of D circulating in the blood, experts say.

"It's very hard to make a recommendation" because how much difference a supplement makes depends on someone's baseline level, which also can be affected by sunlight, skin type and time of year, she explained.

Doctors do suggest breast cancer patients get their vitamin D levels checked to see whether they are deficient. The simple blood test is available in many hospitals and labs for about $25, Goodwin said.

Dr. Nancy Davidson, a Johns Hopkins University cancer specialist who is president of the oncology society, said those tests are growing in popularity, even in ordinary medical care.

"Rightly or wrongly, I'm increasingly seeing physicians who are measuring this," she said.

The Canadian study was paid for by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York, established by cosmetics magnate Evelyn Lauder.

"It's a very provocative paper. It's confirmatory of a tremendous amount of evidence that vitamin D is an important component of health," said Dr. Larry Norton, chief of breast cancer programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a medical adviser to the foundation.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. About 184,450 cases and 40,930 deaths from the disease are expected in the United States this year.

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or to submit questions and comments email me: andrea@healwithhope.com