Protandim

In her latest January “Oprah” magazine issue, Oprah admits that the past two years have been difficult for her. Why? Menopause is knocking on her door.

She tells her readers that she couldn’t focus, didn’t want to participate in her favorite activities like reading, and was depressed and lacked energy. Her friend Kate immediately recognized the symptoms because she had been dealing with them herself. She told Oprah to call a doctor and ask about bioidentical estrogen.

Bioidentical estrogen is made from chemicals to exactly represent the hormone made by woman’s ovaries. It’s more ethical than traditional hormone therapies because it doesn’t use the hormones from pregnant horses’ urine—horses that are bred over and over again every year just so they’ll stay pregnant and continue to produce estrogen.

Unfortunately, many of their foals are slaughtered.
You can rest easier using bioidentical estrogen, on the other hand. Literally. Oprah reported positive results just days after starting the treatment…she slept well, could concentrate, and her depression lifted.

Something that does not usually come up when discussing anti-aging is changes in health. When women get older, their risk of certain diseases and illnesses increase greatly and it is imperative to get screened for these things to keep healthy. Also, even some common changes in the body that are expected, like menopause, can have emotional effects on the person that are unexpected.

It is important to keep an open conversation with your doctor, because little things that come up may not be so little at all. See a physician who you are comfortable talking with, and do not be afraid to ask questions. All too often things go undiagnosed or are missed because a patient did not bring them up. Do not assume that your doctor knows everything about every disease out there, because they don’t. And do no assume that they can predict everything going on with you either, because they can’t. Doctors are facilitators of medicine and knowledge; they cannot predict the future and they cannot read minds. That’s why it is so important to let them know about any changes in your health, whether they be physical or emotional, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

Know what your health risks are, such as prevalence of breast cancer in your family or history of past illnesses. Know what factors increase and decrease your chances of remaining healthy. For example, smoking and stress are huge factors in being unhealthy, whereas a healthy diet and healthy weight are healthy attributes. Lastly, remind your friends to get screened for certain things too. Keep up on the latest information about diseases that concern you and know your body. These are just a few things you can do to stay healthy, there are many more, and remember to take your healthy very seriously, because if you don’t, who will?