Menopause Forum - Traditional Chinese Medicine For Menopause

For chinese women, hot flashes and night sweats are uncommon experiences, and very few of them are ever put on hormone replacement therapy by their doctors. It is an interesting fact that only 10% of asian women experience noticeable menopausal symptoms, compared with 75% of the women in the united states. Why has this natural transitional period in a woman’s life become a dreaded event for american women? What explains the difference between the typical chinese woman’s experience of menopause and the typical american woman’s experience? These are important questions for women to ask, and for health care professionals to answer.

Dietary therapy. The use of food as medicine is a basic idea in chinese culture, and a fundamental principle in traditional chinese medicine. Most people who have seriously studied the effect of diet on health are prepared to say that more than 75% of health problems are related to diet. Just consider that the three leading causes of death in this country -- heart attack, cancer, and stroke -- are all closely correlated with poor diet. For a chinese medicine practitioner, evaluating the patient’s diet is a fundamental part of the diagnostic and treatment process. The deficiencies and imbalances that a patient has are taken into account, and recommendations are made regarding what foods to eat and what foods to avoid.

Some of the most interesting research for those concerned with women’s health issues has been done in the field of plant chemistry, and specifically in studies of chemicals called phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are chemicals produced by certain plants which resemble the estrogens that are produced by the human body, and which bind readily to estrogen receptors in the human body, but which are "weaker" forms of estrogen than human estrogen. Scientific studies suggest that higher levels of "strong" estrogen correlate with higher incidence of breast cancer in women. That is why women with a history of breast cancer, or a high risk of developing it are not recommended to be on hormone replacement therapy. Unfortunately, women in western countries are exposed to higher levels of environmental estrogen than women in undeveloped countries. It is estimated that our environment adds 40% more "strong" (and harmful) estrogens to the body than are produced naturally. This could explain why the incidence of breast cancer is higher in developed countries, and is probably a complicating factor in many hormone-related conditions. The benefit of eating foods which are high in phytoestrogens, like soy beans, is that the "weak" estrogen of the plant binds to the body’s estrogen receptors, displacing the "strong" estrogens, which are then discharged harmlessly from the body.

Studies indicate that a diet rich in phytoestrogens can reduce the adverse symptoms associated with menopause. The phytoestrogens that are bound to the body’s estrogen receptors release slowly and naturally into the blood stream, providing a continuing source of estrogen as the body’s naturally-produced estrogen supply diminishes. As long as phytoestrogens are replenished by eating phytoestrogen-rich foods, there will be a safe, natural supply of estrogen to cushion a woman through the process of menopause and into her post-menopausal years. One study suggests that a diet high in soy could increase the number of cells in the vaginal epithelium, which would prevent the thinning of the vaginal wall. Although soy has never been a popular food in the united states, it is the richest source of phytoestrogens known, and it forms a major part of the typical asian diet. Soy beans and soy food products like soymilk and tofu are eaten at every meal. The average asian woman eats 50-60 grams of soy per day, compared with less than five grams eaten by an american woman. It is never too late to change over to a healthier way of eating, but it is true that soy foods have to be eaten in large quantities over a long period of time in order to receive the full benefit. A woman who wants a trouble-free menopause should begin to eat soy in her twenties or thirties. Included below is a recipe for a typical chinese meal which utilizes tofu and other healthy vegetables.

Acupuncture. To achieve the most effective level of treatment, acupuncture is combined with chinese herbal medicine. There are very few women who don’t respond well to acupuncture treatments. Many feel an improvement after just a few sessions.

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