Every day we are reminded that we are getting older. Whether it’s your doctor suddenly ordering tests after the age of 35 that you had deemed for, “old people” or your body itself suddenly not acting the way it did just a couple of years ago.
It’s a fact of life that we all age and it should be accepted. What I believe shouldn’t be accepted is that there is nothing to be done about it and we should get used to being in pain or discomfort.
One common theme I consistently see when reading client feedback about my program concerns menopause. This is the time in a woman’s life when her menstrual cycle ends.
While at one time in our history, this did mark the beginning of the end of the lifecycle of women, this is no longer true today. With advancements in diet, medicine and technology, women now spend over a third of their life in the post-menopausal stage.
Common health ailments actually tend to start in the perimenopausal stage which can last between 5-10 years before menopause (defined by not having a menstrual cycle in over a year).
During this time and into menopause, women typically experience the following symptoms at least temporarily: Hormone changes affecting mood, hot flashes, fatigue, headache, and anxiety and depression, although women in this age group are no more likely to suffer long term depression than young adult women.
For some, though, other more serious medical conditions can arise. Migraine headache is one example of typical menopausal symptoms gone awry.
Studies have shown that migraines can start during the perimenopausal phase and are usually worse if the sufferer has experienced migraines in the past. Taking hormone replacements like estrogen has proven to be a migraine trigger.
Vertigo is another disorder reported in some perimenopausal and menopausal women. Sudden dizziness or feeling like you or objects in the room are spinning when they are in fact not.
Occasionally, women suffer from a combination of these two conditions known as migraine associated vertigo (MAV). This is dizziness which accompanies the migraine.
Another health concern for women at this stage in life is weight gain. While yes, our metabolism and physical activity tend to decline as we age, studies have shown that it is during menopause that many women gain weight when they never did before.
Given that weight gain can affect one’s health in so many ways, this is important. Overweight people tend to have more fat in the throat and neck area which compresses the airways and can lead to snoring and sleep apnea. Left untreated, this can lead to an enlarged heart, high blood pressure and other heart diseases which one is already at risk for if she is overweight.
Smoking and drinking to excess are two other bad habits that tend to increase during menopause. These on their own can lead to heart disease and stroke, let alone when combined with weight gain.
No matter what the reason if you find yourself suffering from headache or migraine headache, vertigo, MAV, weight gain, snoring, mild sleep apnea or high blood pressure, I highly encourage you to try one or more of my all natural programs. You can find links to each of them on the right hand side of my blog.
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