The interesting thing is that in most anciet cultures, tribes, etc, there is no such thing as menopausal symptoms or PMS symptoms for that matter. When one bleeds or stops bleeding, that is just the natural rhythm of the body. From altered nutrition and lifestyle principles, our society has created these symptoms from altering internal hormonal levels.

Dr. Lee coined the term estrogen dominance, which means there is not enough or low levels of progesterone to oppose estrogen. It is estimated that 50% of the women in America are estrogen dominant. Estrogen causes cell proliferation, loss of mineral absorption, increase in body fat, reduces oxygen levels in all cells, increases blood clotting, causes salt and fluid retention and is the cause of many cancers when it is unopposed by progesteron. Progesterone is just there in the body to oppose the unwanted side effects of estrogen. It is there for homeostasis.

Unfortunately women have most of these hormones and men do not. Being estrogen dominant and experiencing some of the dysfunctions above, would make sense why more women these days are experiencing heart disease.

What to do:
1. Follow a holistic approach to nutrition and living
2. Get your hormones tested through a practitioner that does saliva testing to see if you are estrogen dominant. This can be treated easliy with progesterone, which in 100% of the cases, will increase libido, mood, decrease body weight, increase the chance of conceptioin, increase osteoblasts (bone building), normalizes blood sugar levels, mineral levels, blood clots and prevent most cancers.

A great book to read on this is by Dr. Lee, What You Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause or his other one on Menopause.

I heard a report on the news yesterday that the guidelines for women over 65 were going to change.  It stated that a women's LDL cholesterol should be no higher than 70 and that women should take a daily aspirin.  As a woman, who has struggled with heart disease, I am very upset that our nation's elderly women will further risk their health by these reccomendations.  Women respond differently to aspirin than men. I feel that these guidelines are only going to benefit the maker's of anti-cholesterol meds and aspirin and do more harm than good to the women following them. It is my prayer that more people will learn the truths that can be found on Dr. Mercola's web-site and that women and men will recover from heart disease and other problems as I have.

Another interesting note:
1. Cholesterol is the precurser to all the hormones in the body. We actually need cholesterol to stay healthy. society has been programmed that it is bad and to stay away from it, that is the problem. When you do not eat enough good quality fats, the liver will take the excess sugar that is taken in, and will turn it into LDL. This is one reason why I work with so many vegetarians that have had bypass surgeries. They eat very little protein, no fat, and all grains and veggies.