Word: estrogen
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...every woman will feel the symptoms so intensely. Heavy women tend to have an advantage at menopause, since fat cells manufacture a form of estrogen called estrone. Some lucky women, regardless of weight, simply churn out more estrone once estrogen from the ovaries shuts...
Personal circumstances may matter as much as chemistry. The decline in estrogen often coincides with many life changes. "Your children grow up and move away. You don't look as gorgeous as you used to, and your husband leaves you for a younger woman. These things may leave you vulnerable to depression," says Dr. Stotland of the University of Chicago. "The more a woman feels valued in her life, the less likely she is to have emotional symptoms at menopause. Working women tend to do better than women who stay home...
...proper diet and not smoking can also help. (Women who smoke reach menopause an average of two years earlier than nonsmokers.) For 85% of women, the symptoms will stop within one year of their final period. But for those who are in too much misery to wait it out, estrogen can do wonders...
Patricia Thomas, 56, of Baltimore suffered nearly five years with hot flashes, night sweats and sleeplessness. Estrogen completely halted her symptoms and made her feel "wonderful." Barbara Williams, 47, of Chicago was so irritable, she says, that "my family would hate to see me coming home from work." An estrogen patch (plus progesterone pills) evened out her moods. HRT can sometimes alleviate vaguer woes -- the generalized achiness that some women feel and a sense of mental fogging. There is a "euphoric effect or general improvement in mental state," says Cleveland endocrinologist Wulf Utian, co-founder of the North American Menopause...
...Utian is quick to point out that not every woman should take estrogen. It is not advisable for those with a history or a high risk of breast or uterine cancer. Nor is it recommended for women with clotting problems...