Menopause is not disease!

Ever since the women’s health initiative study in 2002 started getting data about women who were randomly selected to either take or not take hormone replacement therapy, our ideas on menopause have changed.  Menopause was treated like a disease until the study showed that in fact it is a stage of life.   Modern health professionals know that life style can be a significant aid as women pass though this stage of life.

Menopause occurs when a woman’s body changes from trying to prepare to accept and carry a pregnancy (a body that is growing or building) to a body that no longer needs to provide a procreative function (and has begun to start the process of decay).   Prior to menopause our hormones help protect us against things like heart disease and bone loss.  After menopause, the rates of bone loss in women doubles and we soon catch up to men who have already started experiencing heart disease.  

As our bodies go through this transition, it experiences symptoms.  More than half of women have hot flashes and mood swings.  When our blood vessels dilate,  warm blood comes to the surface of the body and we experience flushing and redness of the skin.  As part of that, sweating often increases and scientists at Shisedo cosmetic company discovered that a particular substance, noneal is produced which gives a characteristic odor when it is present.   Persimmon tannin has been shown to eliminate that substance and reduce the oror.