Menopause and Hormones

Hormones play a role in almost every function of our bodies. Think of them as biological messengers, telling tissues what they should do and when. Estrogen is one hormone that almost all women have heard of but may not fully realize how and why it’s needed. Especially when reaching perimenopause, estrogen becomes a familiar term - in more ways than one. While estrogen is present in both females and males, for the purpose of this article we’ll be concentrating on its role for women. What Is Estrogen?

Estrogen is a vital hormone provided by the ovaries and, in the case of pregnancy, also produced by the fetal-placental unit. It plays several different, important roles in a woman’s life, depending on her age.

When a female reaches puberty, the ovaries begin to release estrogen with each menstrual cycle. It’s also likely to be one of the reasons she experiences the mood disturbances that come with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Estrogen serves to help regulate the menstrual cycle, trigger ovulation, and create a productive environment for fertilization and pregnancy. Estrogen also affects body shape, body hair, voice pitch, bone formation, vaginal PH levels that protect against bacteria, blood flow to the uterus, contractions during delivery, breast growth, and more.

Estrogen’s Role In Menopause

Perimenopause (the two to eight years leading up to menopause) is brought about by erratic estrogen levels. The fluctuation of estrogen (varied ranges of high production and deficiency) causes both physical and emotional changes such as hot flashes, depression, irregular menstruation, headaches, loss of libido, and mood swings.

Eventually, the ovaries stop releasing eggs. At this point menstruation ceases. When a woman has gone 12 consecutive months without menstruation, she is considered officially menopausal.

Unfortunately, lack of estrogen may continue to cause issues after this point. Symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings can continue for some time. They may even be worse or better due to the fact that, unlike perimenopause, you no longer have any ups and downs since your body is now producing much less estrogen. Replacing the missing estrogen in the body with medication can help relieve many of these discomforts.

The Benefits of Estrogen Treatment

Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) comes in several different forms and methods but with the same goal: replenish the hormone that is missing from your body so the areas affected by the deficiency can resume normal, balanced function. In a nutshell, so you can feel like yourself again.

Estrogen treatment comes in four primary methods:

• Oral pills - Taken once per day, pills are the most common form of ERT.
• Skin patches - Available with estrogen or estrogen combined with progestin, patches are worn on the stomach and changed once or twice per week.
• Topical cream, gel or spray - Like patches, these methods allow the estrogen to absorb through your skin and enter into your bloodstream. They are typically applied once per day.
• Suppositories, rings, and vaginal creams - These methods involve administering the hormone directly to the vaginal area. It is especially beneficial for women who’ve experienced severe vaginal issues such as dryness or pain during intercourse. These therapies are required to be administered anywhere between daily to once every several months, depending on the method chosen.

Sexual desire as Important in Elders

A new study by University of California researchers, just published in the journalPsychology and Aging, surveyed 5,500 users, aged 20-95, of the dating site eHarmony and found that desire was considered just as important as companionship by those aged 60 and over. It’s not the first, nor will it be the last, piece of research to find that sexual desire doesn’t expire. But what’s interesting is that this has to be rediscovered again and again, as though it so contradicts the dominant narratives around both ageing and sex that we somehow can’t believe it.

Our thinking about sex has been so colonized by the gymnastic model – all acrobatic contortions, supposedly inimical to arthritic hips and dodgy knees, that the finding simply seems counterintuitive. The old saw about the most erogenous zone being between the ears is buried when this kind of position-speak prevails.

Then there’s the presumption that desire thrives on, even demands, novelty, as if it were some transnational corporation that needs to come up with ever-changing products to keep us interested (hence the cliche about passion inevitably declining in long-term relationships). We undervalue, perhaps, the experienced lover, as against the rookie. Certainly, enshrined in the idea of the asexual old are some pretty dubious stereotypes. It appears that sexual desire is too fierce an emotion to reconcile with the caricature of old age (don’t get yourself too excited, dear, you’ll have a coronary).

It’s all part of the pastel-isation of old age, the notion that when the hair goes grey so does the emotional palette: that advancing age requires a winceyette nightdress and mug of cocoa, a companion (a word that carries a whiff of the commode) not a lover.

Wrinkled old bodies are often described as though they were inherently repellent. While women are particularly vulnerable to this kind of disgust and often internalise it, the sexually active old man is also the subject of jokes and distaste, regarded as either an inadequate Viagra needer or a dirty old man.

How ill-served men – and women – have been by the hydraulic view of male sexuality: sex as mechanics, pressure, angles.

In reality, and despite cultural differences, sexual desire for many (but not all) is a basic human appetite: while some people may grow less interested in, say, food as they grow older, or eat less, we wouldn’t therefore assume that old people in general don’t get hungry or enjoy eating.

Indeed old people often report a craving to touch and be touched. Though there are many other, non-sexual ways that can happen, sex is a pretty good one. But this has proved particularly problematic in the more paternalistic care homes where any hint of sexual congress between residents is frowned upon.

Indeed, many older people’s reactions to the new study will be a frank “if only”. It’s lack of opportunity and not desire that they rue. The new study is based on users of a dating site, and it’s conceivable that the older people using these are a touch racier than the rest of their age cohort. Yet where’s the evidence that long-term relationships inevitably get less sexy? Might it not be the case that when men become less sexually impatient and women more sexually assertive, when a couple get to know each other’s needs and bodies better, the sex – while different – can get more and not less erotic? Or, when there’s no need for contraception, or no prospect of children wandering in, at any rate less anxious?

We know that the experience of ageing is changing. The current cohort of older people came of age sexually in the 1960s – they’re the generation of the pill, gay liberation and so on. Caitlyn Jenner, new trans poster woman, is 66. Polymorphous sexuality isn’t the preserve of the young.

It would be a pity if successive findings that desire doesn’t necessarily decline with age are used as another edict – you must keep at it – to add to all the other punitive norms about “good ageing”.

Some men, and women, are only too pleased to be rid of the whole business. But then, this applies to people of all ages.

Processed meat causes cancer, says WHO

Like your daily hot dog or bacon sandwich?

You may want to think again. The World Health Organization said Monday that eating processed meat such as sausages and ham causes cancer, while unprocessed red meat may also be carcinogenic.

The WHO's cancer research unit now classifies processed meat as "carcinogenic to humans" based on evidence from hundreds of studies, and linked it specifically to colon, or colorectal, cancer. The report outlined that simply eating 50 grams of processed meat each day -- the equivalent of two slices of ham -- can increase the risk of such cancer by 18%. However, the authors say the risks are relatively small to begin with. The organization defines processed meat as any type of meat that is salted, cured or smoked to enhance its flavor or preserve it. Processed meat generally contains pork or beef, but may also contain poultry.

The WHO now classifies processed meat in the same category as smoking and asbestos, based on its certainty of a link with cancer, but stressed that did not mean they were equally dangerous. Unprocessed red meat such as steak and lamb shanks is classified as "probably carcinogenic."

Balancing risks and benefits The WHO said the finding was important for public health since processed meat is so widely consumed. However, it said red meat still has "nutritional value." "These results are important in enabling governments and international regulatory agencies to conduct risk assessments, in order to balance the risks and benefits of eating red meat and processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations," said Christopher Wild, head of the WHO's cancer agency, in a statement. According to estimates cited by the WHO, about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to diets that are high in processed meat. That's a small fraction of the 8.2 million deaths caused by cancer in 2012, according to the latest WHO data.

Meat industry cries foul Meat industry groups slammed the WHO report as biased and misleading. "They tortured the data to ensure a specific outcome," said Betsy Booren, vice president of scientific affairs at the North American Meat Institute. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association said the scientists who issued the report were split on their decision to make an explicit link between red meat with cancer. "As a registered dietitian and mother, my advice hasn't changed," said Shalene McNeill, an executive director at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "To improve all aspects of your health, eat a balanced diet, which includes lean meats like beef, maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and, please don't smoke."