Menopause Management

Menopause symptoms varies with each individual and may include anxiety, body aches, forgetfulness, irregular cycles, hot flashes, sleep disturbances, night sweats, irritability and painful intercourse due to vaginal dryness.

Dr Young provide perimenopause/menopause counseling and treatment applying modalities including:

• Acupuncture (Auricular/ Laser/Traditional)

• Natural supplements

• FSM, Frequency Specific microcurrent

• Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Treatment

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Bioidentical hormones are derived from soy or wild yam and bio-engineered to function and metabolize like your body's own natural hormones. They help normalize hormonal balance. High intake of organic soy, organic flax seed, wild yams in the hope of ingesting enough plant hormones for symptomatic relief is insufficient to meet the needed dosage of hormone. Topical/oral/vaginal plant-based hormones are the solution.

Synthetic hormones found in birth control pills, e.g.Premarin or Provera are not bio-identical hormones. These hormones may provide symptomatic relief but their metabolites may negatively impact health. Due to the higher binding affinity to estrogen & progesterone receptors in the body and slower breakdown of these synthetic hormones, these factors may increase risk for hormone related cancer.

Studies show that long term use of hormone replacement may increase risk of breast and uterine cancer especially for individuals who cannot metabolize hormones well. Dr Young can order genetic tests e.g. COMT which may help determine your risk factor.

Additional reading:

Estrogen Metabolism and Breast Cancer https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4505810/

Hot Flashes

As much as 85% of women going through menopause are affected by hot flashes. Hot flashes usually resolves spontaneously. However, 20% of affected women report significant hot flashes 4 years after their last menses.

Hot flashes may be brought on by medications ( Lupron, anti-hypertensives, antidepressants, anti- anxiety medication), hyperthyroidism or cancers. In addition, chemotherapies, ovaries removal surgeries may cause early on-set of menopause and hot flashes. These procedures and treatments impact the body’s hormonal balance and its ability to regulate temperature.

Mechanism of Hot Flashes

Hot flashes is often caused by a drop in hormone levels or imbalance between estrogen and progesterone . These changes affect the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that controls body temperature and other functions, to misread the signal that the body is too hot. The adrenal glands which secrete epinephrine, also known as adrenaline hormone then sends a rush of adrenaline throughout the body.

Hot flashes are the body’s attempt to get rid of this heat quickly. The heart pumps faster, blood vessels in the skin dilate to release heat, and the skin starts to sweat in an attempt to cool the body off.

Hot flashes most often comes on suddenly, especially when you feel stressed or rush and starts with an uneasy feeling, followed by intense heat in the face and/or upper body. The warmth may then spread throughout the body. Hot flashes typically last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes and may be preceded or accompanied by a rapid heartbeat, dizziness, headache, anxiety or nausea. They very often lead to extreme sweating (sometimes called “night sweats” when triggered during sleep) and may leave the body soaked and prevent you from falling back to sleep until the adrenaline hormone subsides. Patient's quality of life is impacted when they experience prolong period of hot flashes.

Treatment of Hot Flashes

Dr Young provide symptomatic treatment using nutraceuticals , acupuncture , laser acupuncture, Qigong, and bioidentical hormones regimen.

Further reading:

Menopausal hot flashes: thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and circulating catecholamine and LH changes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6472126

Hot Flashes and Night Sweats (PDQ®) https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects/hot-flashes-hp-pdq?redirect=true#_207