Menopause and Osteoporosis

Hormones play an important role in women’s health. The decrease of hormones causes many changes in a woman's body. One of them is an increase in the likelihood of developing osteoporosis. In this article, Dr. Dan Purser discusses osteoporosis and menopause – two top women’s health concerns.

As women mature, the most pressing health concern is menopause. Menopause is inevitable; it is unavoidable. And while it can go smoothly for some women, it can be extremely difficult for others. There are 35 known health effects associated with menopause including:

- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Increased wrinkles
- Weight gain and muscle loss (sarcopenia)
- Memory issues

Luckily, progesterone — a naturally-occurring human hormone — can combat or decrease many of these negative effects. Progesterone is known to decrease foam cell formation[1], endothelial inflammation, and plaque formation in the arteries — thus promoting a healthy cardiovascular system.

Unfortunately, as the body ages, levels of progesterone decrease. In order to stay healthy, it is recommended that most women supplement their progesterone levels.

Solution

Dr. Purser’s go-to supplement for relieving the discomfort associated with menopause is Progessence™ Plus Serum.

“In my own office practice,” Dr. Purser attests, “Liberal use of Progessence™ Plus Serum dramatically decreased hot flashes and day and night sweats.”

Progessence™ Plus is an entirely new version of natural progesterone on the market. It combines natural, USP-grade super-micronized (to less than 5 microns) progesterone from wild yam, that is melted into an essential oil infused serum containing vitamin E, and the essential oils of frankincense (boswellia sacara), copaiba, bergamot and peppermint. These specific essential oils promote skin absorption of the progesterone in remarkably even levels.

Progesterone, as mentioned above, is known to mitigate many of the health effects associated with menopause. Progessence™ Plus uses P4 natural progesterone, which is a natural progesterone identical to human progesterone made from wild yams in super micronized form. Only the exact essential oils needed for optimal absorption are used, in precise amounts.

Osteoporosis

Menopause also increases the likelihood of developing osteoporosis — a disease that decreases bone density thereby increasing the chance of fracture. To combat osteoporosis, it’s a good idea to take a supplement that contains both calcium and magnesium[2] and selenium — an antioxidant associated with reduced risk of osteoporotic hip fracture in elderly subjects.[3]

Solution

Super Cal™, a supplement that combines calcium and magnesium with selenium, is Dr. Purser’s first choice to help maintain proper bone health. Super Cal takes the expertly formulated amounts of calcium, magnesium, and selenium and infuses it with pure marjoram, wintergreen, lemongrass, and myrtle essential oils to enhance the synergistic effects of this specially blended supplement.

In summary, women find it is helpful to support their bodies with a combination of natural progesterone as found in Progessence™ Plus and a synergistically formulated calcium, as found in SuperCal.

[1] WEN-SEN LEE, CHAO-WEI LIU, SHU-HUI JUAN, YU-CHIH LIANG, PEI-YIN HO, AND YI-HSUAN LEE. Molecular Mechanism of Progesterone-Induced Antiproliferation in Rat Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells. Endocrinology 144(7):2785–2790. Copyright © 2003 by The Endocrine Society doi: 10.1210/en.2003-0045.

[2] Kitchin B, Morgan SL. Not just calcium and vitamin D: other nutritional considerations in osteoporosis. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2007 Apr; 9(1):85 –92.

[3] Zhang J, Munger RG, West NA, Cutler DR, Wenegreen HJ, Corcoran CD. Antioxidant intake and risk of osteoporotic hip fracture in Utah: an effect modified by smoking status. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Jan 1; 163(1):9–17.

Recently featured in Essential Lifestyle magazine, Dr. Purser has an extensive resume that includes practices in family medicine with an emphasis on women’s health and preventative care of the body. Dr. Purser is a popular speaker and seminar presenter and will be speaking at the 2010 Young Living International Grand Convention.