Women Speaking Out About Menopause

For years talking about menopause was a taboo topic for normal conversation. Today's climate towards menopause is changing. With more than 40 million women in the menopausal age range, women are finding new ways to confront their challenges.

Now you can find t-shirts that say "I don't have hot flashes, I am on my summer vacation." Media drawing attention to menopause symptoms you would have never seen 20 years ago.

Most people think they are the only one having issues. The more women talk the more they can find that they are not alone and there is support.

Heart Rate Training Optimizes Your 5k Training Program

Are you looking for a 5k training program? When you start looking you see many program offering beginner programs and advanced programs. What is interesting is that most beginner programs are too many miles for the average beginner. The key to effective 5k cardio plans is for every person to have their own heart rate profile. With optimal heart rate training every workout will be optimized for the greatest impact for your results. Heart rate training is for advanced and beginners; the difference is the heart rate profile not using a heart rate monitor.

The most effective cardio workout for running faster races and burning fat is interval training. Interval training is short durations of high intensity followed by short durations of low intensity and then repeated. Most programs only offer interval training for advanced programs though effective programming is good for all levels. The key is a person's heart rate profile. The most advanced you are the higher heart rate you want to train at for your interval.

Each person has a different level of fitness associated by their heart rate. As you run the energy required needs a certain consistent heart rate produce the energy. The more fit you are the lower your heart rate is for a given speed. This is why heart rate training is so effective. By finding a person's targeted heart rate profile you can make sure each workout is training in the right zone to optimally improve your performance. Often, people's lack of results comes from not training hard enough, or very common with cardio runners is overtraining by running with too high of a heart rate on every workout.

What is important for your metabolism and race speed is the rate at which you burn calories not how many calories you burn. This is why walkers and people who run mile after mile seem to never achieve their results. The more calories you burn the more calories you need to eat to restore energy back to your muscles cells. It is challenging your muscles to burn more energy by going harder relative to your fitness level forces your metabolism to improve and than makes you fun faster and burn more fat. People after completing an interval workout burn more fat 24 hours after their workout than any other form of cardio or strength exercise.

Though the interval workout is important it isn't the only workout that makes an effective 5k running program. Two other key workouts is a threshold workout and a long day. The threshold workout is a medium intensity workout that almost no person does. The reason why is people can always go harder and there is this myth that you have to push yourself in every work to your max. The other reason is people go on their slow steady pace never picking up the pace for a shorter run. An optimal threshold workout is between 15-30 min. If you can last longer than 30 min. you should run faster. When you run at your threshold level you are at the max at what your aerobic metabolism can burn for energy. When you go harder your anaerobic metabolism is kicked in to produce the needed extra energy. A threshold workout trains your body to burn energy the most effectively utilizing oxygen. It is the best workout for creating a good race pace.

The long day is the last workout you need every week in your 5k training program. Having running session that go for slower speeds and longer durations trains your body to burn fat and increases effectiveness of burning energy while running. You only need to do one long day a week and spending hours doing cardio during every workout may be a key reason why you are no longer seeing results.

To truly see your results you want a program that creates a personal heart rate profile. The charts on most treadmills are not accurate and the doctors who came up with the charts admit they made them up as a best guess for insurance companies and were never supposed to use as training heart rates. The other major key as you continue to run is a 5k program that uses specific and multiple threshold and interval workouts. The workout that worked for the first month won't work for the second as your body needs a new stimulus. With proper heart rate profiles you will be running your first or fastest 5k in no time.

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Smoking May Cause Early Onset of Menopause

According to Norwegian scientists, daily smoking may cause the start of menopause to happen early. As menopause normally starts around 50 with common symptoms being mood swings, hot flashes, and insomnia.

The research showed that women who smoke are 59% more likely to start menopause before the age of 45. The heavier you smoke is the risks seem to double.

This is just another problem that is now being linked to smoking which is already linked to many cancers including lung cancer.

An Evalution of Andropause and Menopause

These conditions can both be very difficult to go through, and can sometimes make men and women alike feel as if they are going crazy! There are significant differences and similarities with these conditions. In this article, I will provide you with some useful information on Andropause and Menopause, their similarities and differences, symptoms and treatments.

What is Andropause?

Some males will experience Andropause between the ages of 40 and 55. In males at this age, a drop in the amount of testosterone in their bodies occur. The drop is gradual, even spanning decades, and some men may experience the symptoms of Andropause, while others will not. Andropause has been termed 'the female menopause,' although men probably don't want to hear it called that! Until recently, doctors didn't study this condition seriously, telling patients that they were just 'getting older,' and that it was natural to feel depressed or upset about not being as young anymore. Now, doctors and specialists are learning that Andropause is in fact a real condition, and are doing more to help their patient's symptoms.

What is Menopause?

Menopause is signified by the drop in levels of the hormone estrogen. When the levels of estrogen drop, females stop having their monthly menstruation cycles, and are no longer able to have children. Menopause has been treated as a real condition for longer than Andropause, however, not that much longer. Women used to be waved off by doctors, and told the same sorts of things as men were. The reason that Menopause has been taken seriously for a longer period of time, is probably because of the actual physical symptom, the cessation of menstruation.

Similar Symptoms of Menopause and Andropause.

Men and women going through Menopause and Andropause can experience similar symptoms. These include hot flashes, a lower sex drive, emotional and physical changes, gaining of weight, depression, and irritability. They are also both at a higher risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

Differences in Symptoms of Menopause and Andropause.

While men experience a slow drop in testosterone, the drop in estrogen in women happens rather quickly. The onset of Menopause is quick, and women have a clear marker of the beginning of Menopause. That is the cessation of menstruation. Men don't have a clear marker to show that they are in Andropause.

Treatments.

Some of the treatments are the same, such as hormone replacement therapy. This is a process where doctors replace testosterone levels in men, and estrogen levels in women. There are a variety of different ways to do this, including injections, patches, and supplements. Most doctors will also recommend some type of support system for men and women who are going through Andropause and Menopause. Talking to people who are going through the same thing as you can help, whether you are a man or a woman.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_M._Williams

Common Symptoms of Menopause

Many women enter into menopause at different times of their life. Some experience a few of the symptoms while others can have more.

Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling is most likely the most common sensation but, Irregular heart beat, irritability, mood swings, sudden tears, difficulty sleeping, irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, phantom periods, shorter cycles and longer cycles often occur.

One of the most troubling symptoms is Loss of libido. However it is not limited to a drop in desire but also a dry vagina, crashing fatigue, anxiety, feelings of dread, apprehension, depression, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion, memory lapses, incontinence upon sneezing, or laughing.

Women have also report having Itchy, crawly skin aching, sore joints, muscles, breast tenderness, headaches, gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, nausea, bloating, increase in allergies weight gain, hair loss, but with an increase in facial hair. Many have experienced dizziness, light-headedness, tingling in the extremities, gum problems, increased bleeding, burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor.

One of the biggest problems of menopause is Osteoporosis (porous bones).

A select few have noticed changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier. Tinnitus: ringing in ears, 'whooshing,' buzzing etc. Reason For Symptoms

Hot flashes are due to the hypothalamic response to declining ovarian estrogen production. The declining estrogen state induces hypophysiotropic neurons in the arcuate nucleas of the hypothalamus to release gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in a pulsatile fashion, which in turn stimulates release of luteinizing hormone (LH). Extremely high pulses of LH occur during the period of declining estrogen production. The LH has vasodilatory effects, which leads to flushing. Loss of libido for some women the loss is so great that they actually find sex repulsive, in much the same way as they felt before puberty. What hormones give, loss of hormones can take away. Aching sore joints may include such problems as carpal tunnel syndrome. Depression different from other depression, the inability to cope is overwhelming. There is a feeling of loss of self. Hormone therapy ameliorates the depression dramatically. Weight gain often around the waist and thighs, resulting in 'the disappearing waistline'. Tingling in extremities can also be a symptom of B-12 deficiency, diabetes, alterations in the flexibility of blood vessels, or a depletion of potassium or calcium Tinnitus is one of those physical conditions that seems to manifest in some women at the same time as menopause. It can be associated with health conditions such as hypothyroidism and heart disease, and is a known side-effect of many medications, including aspirin (salicylates) and Prozac.

SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS MAY ALSO BE SIGNS OF THE FOLLOWING: *hypothyroidism *diabetes *depression with another etiology other medical conditions

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Natural Menopause Supplement Review

Femestra is a leading nutrition and herbal supplement
using the same rigorous manufacturing standards
reserved only for pharmaceutical products. The raw
material and entire production process are subjected to strict quality control using state-of-the-art echnology and chemical analyses.

In Femestra, we have been able to formulate a special
blend of Rice Bran Oil and Gamma Oryzanol. Our Oryzanol is from a specific part of Japan, and is considerably more potent than any other Oryzanol. Our special blend (Femestra) has proven to eliminate most of the harmful effects of menopause. Femestra may eliminate your hot flashes, your sleepless nights, and will help your body naturally ease into the menopausal changes.

Femestra ingredients include:

• Calories 5
• Calories from fat 5
• Total Fat 1g
• Gamma Oryzanol 500mg
• CLA 625mg

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
Gelatin, Rice Bran Oil, Lecithin, USP Purified Water, Carob Extract, Titanium Dioxide. Contains Soy.

DIRECTIONS:
Take 2 gel caps daily, preferably in the morning prior to a meal, as a dietary supplement or as recommended by a healthcare professional.

Information from Femestra.com