Healthcast 658 - News Flashes about Menopause, Metabolic Syndrome, Dementia and Cancer!

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog

There is a lot of New Medical Information that is important for patients to make healthy decisions about their care or the care of their loved ones that you won’t hear about on the news.

For new research to reach you, the public, a researcher or a drug company has to spend a great deal of money for the public relations people to push information into the light.  I compiled the research I thought you might want to know about that has been discovered during the past 6 months. I always use these studies to educate my patients and to change my protocols for treatment, although many of them have been part of my practice for quite a while, because they just confirm what I have been seeing in my Integrative and preventive medical practice for years.

The First Group of Discoveries Relate to Menopause,  and the Risks of Being Menopausal

The most recent article in Lancet confirmed what has been obvious to me in my GYN practice for years. I am not sure why this actually required a study to prove that Menopause is tied to a higher rate of depression and anxiety, in conjunction with insomnia, higher stress perception, and hot flashes.  This study documented what the loss of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone can do to women in menopause.  The sad fact is that this article doesn’t tell the reader what they need to know, how to treat these symptoms.

However, I will let you in on a self-discovered fact:  The replacement of the hormones that disappear before and during menopause can be replaced in a non-oral delivery system to treat these symptoms.  I have 40 years of medical practice that proves my findings that agree with the problem, and my treatment with hormones.

The Lancet:

Menopause tied to mental health issues in certain women

A study found that when certain women are menopausal, they increase their risk of Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder who experienced stressful life events, had poor sleep related to hot flashes, or had previous depressive symptoms of depression were more likely to develop menopause-related mental health problems. Researchers wrote in the journal The Lancet that some women escape the mental health effects of menopause altogether.

HealthDay News (3/6)

Another recent study about menopause discovers that a lack of estradiol in the post menopause causes women to have trouble thinking. I agree with that revelation, but why doesn’t the research take the next step and suggest a treatment to prevent this result of hormone loss?  Why doesn’t the research tell us how to help women think by replacing their estradiol? Many other studies confirm that replacing estradiol will delay the onset of dementia by 10 years.  Another study reveals that the replacement of testosterone will delay dementia it 10 more years. These studies occurred over 20 years ago, but this study doesn’t cite them.

Poor and worsening cognitive function is one of the most frequent complaints of my new patients coming to BioBalance Health® for treatment of menopause and low testosterone with bioidentical hormone pellets.

Dr Maupin:

I am continually reminded of the importance of testosterone and estradiol replacement is to aging men and women when they come back for their second pellet insertion and review their list of the symptoms they complained of before they started E and T pellets The most frequent response I witness when I ask if a woman’s ability to think, do her job and stay organized is completely better after 3 months of Estradiol and Testosterone pellets, is crying with relief!   Many patients are deeply worried that they are developing dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s Disease when they first come to me, but are able to go back to work and or experience a renewed quality of life because their ability to think, they can now feel confident in their professions and careers. Dr M

Estradiol associations with brain functional connectivity in postmenopausal women

Testo, Abigail A. BS1; Makarewicz, Jenna BS1; McGee, Elizabeth MD2; Dumas, Julie A. PhD1

Author Information

From the 1Department of Psychiatry 2Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.

 The results illustrate the relationship between estradiol level and functional connectivity in postmenopausal women. They have implications for understanding how the functioning of the brain changes for individuals after menopause that may eventually lead to changes in cognition and behavior in older ages.

© 2024 by The Menopause Society

I have another problem with studies that should be shared with patients is that they often imply that menopausal women are “crazy” instead of saying that women after menopause develop mental health issues that can be treated with hormone replacement. Women who are menopausal are not mentally ill they are hormone deprived!

I view this as a “slam” and divisive attack on aging women. The fact that if we gave women what they need …hormonal replacement ….they would not suffer the symptoms of mental health disorders.

Menopause tied to mental health issues in some women

A study found that women who experienced stressful life events, who had poor sleep due to nighttime hot flashes, or who had previous depressive symptoms or depression were more likely to have menopause-related mental health problems. Researchers wrote in the journal The Lancet that some women escape the mental health effects of menopause altogether.

Full Story: HealthDay News (3/6)

The Second Group of Articles Is About The Loss Of Estrogen In Menopause Causes Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation.

 This article from the European Society of Cardiology reveals that the longer women live without estrogen (e.g. is menopausal), the higher risk of developing heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Once again, there is no mention about how to prevent this disease!  Why can’t they study the women who replaced their hormones and compare them to the women who didn’t?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hormone Therapy May Boost Weight Loss for Postmenopausal Women Who are Overweight or Obese On Semaglutide, Study Finds

My practice BioBalance Health® has a weight loss program that is very effective for weight loss using Semaglutides, and terzipatide.  For women who are menopausal we have found that they lose weight much more quickly if they are on E2 and T pellet hormone replacement.  This research article confirms the findings of this study. If you are menopausal and have gained weight after menopause that is hormonal and the faster, you can get on non-oral estradiol and testosterone replacement then you will be more likely to get to your ideal weight!

March 18, 2024

Hormone therapy may boost weight loss for postmenopausal women on Semaglutides.

Healio (3/18, Welsh) reports, “Hormone therapy was associated with an improved weight-loss response for postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity treated with Semaglutides, according to cohort study results published in Menopause.” In the study, “postmenopausal women on hormone therapy had a higher percentage of total body weight loss at 3 (7% vs. 5%; P = .01), 6 (13% vs. 9%; P = .01), 9 (15% vs. 10%; P = .02) and 12 (16% vs. 12%; P = .04) months of semaglutide treatment compared with no hormone therapy.”

How and Why to Treat Metabolic Syndrome

 Metabolic Syndrome is a combination of hypertension, high lipids, insulin resistance, obesity, prediabetes or diabetes, large abdominal measurement.  This combination puts patients at risk for heart disease and early death.  Many conditions and outcomes have been associated with metabolic syndrome, but now we have a treatment that can prevent one of the outcomes of this syndrome, the generic drug Metformin ER.

Metformin, Cognitive Function, and Changes in the Gut Microbiome Endocrine Reviews, Volume 45, Issue 2, April 2024, Pages 210–226, Published: 21 August 2023 Article history

Abstract

The decline in cognitive function and the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders are among the most serious threats to health in old age. Metformin can preserve cognitive function by treating metabolic syndrome and improving the gut biome that produces neurotransmitters.

I am not naive enough to believe that the only thing that your brain needs to perform well is two sex hormones (E2 and T).  This new research from the Endocrine Society describes how the generic, inexpensive medication Metformin ER, can help preserve an aging patient’s ability to think.  That is primarily because the brain has insulin receptors, and when a patient has insulin resistance brain cells don’t receive enough blood-sugar to be able to think!  By taking metformin ER (extended release) plus replacing estradiol plus testosterone in pellet form, the brain gets what it needs (blood sugar) and patients can think again!

The second factor the researchers found to be important to brain health and problem solving, is healthy gut bacteria in the intestines.  This requires eating whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables every day, and not eating fast food, alcohol, simple sugars, and preservatives that kill good bacteria. We recommend a daily probiotic by Mega + the lifestyle changes above.

If you want to keep your ability to think for your whole life then you need E2 and T in pellet form if you are a woman and T if you are an aging male, plus Metformin ER daily and the above lifestyle changes.

Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, is the Biggest Risk for Cancer

Metabolic syndrome may increase cancer risk by 30%

People with metabolic syndrome had a 30% higher chance of developing cancer over the course of a decade after diagnosis, according to a study published in the journal Cancer. The researchers also studied inflammation by tracking C-reactive protein, concluding that elevated levels of the protein along with metabolic syndrome were “significantly associated with subsequent breast, endometrial, colorectal and liver cancers.”

Full Story: National Public Radio (3/11)

The struggle to stay young and healthy is a difficult fight but the most important battle that you will wage as an adult.  If people knew the whole truth, would they stop overeating, drinking, smoking, avoiding exercise, or stop taking illicit drugs?  I can only hope that if we convince people to take care of themselves better and replace the hormones that are missing as soon as they are clinically deficient, then they will also listen to the truth about the various ways to support their health and prevent disease.  I also hope that the doctors who write articles and do research stop treating women like crazy people instead of the gender that actually runs the world and not only nurtures the children but also organizes homes and businesses.  We are NOT crazy when we need hormones to be replaced (PMS, MENOPAUSE), we are experiencing symptoms of hormone-deprivation, and we just need to be treated with the hormones that are missing!