Thursday 22 October 2009

Alternative Hormone Replacement Therapy For Menopause Symptoms Include Exercise

By Renee Altmann

Are you afraid of conventional hormone replacement treatments? When looking toward alternative hormone replacement therapy, exercise is used to strengthen the heart and bones, as well as to regulate weight while, at the same time, elevating mood and giving a sense of well-being.

Inactive people are more at risk to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, and being overweight. Sedentary women may also suffer more from back pain, stiffness, insomnia, and irregular periods.

They often have poor circulation, weak muscles, shortness of breath, and loss of bone mass. Mood disorders can also be a problem.

Women who regularly walk, jog, swim, bike, dance, or perform some other aerobic activity can more easily avoid these troubles. Lack of exercise affects bone health too.

Bones diminish in size and strength without some sort of exercise. In postmenopausal women, moderate exercise preserves bone mass in the spine helping reduce the risk of fractures.

It is probably likely that regular exercise contribute tremendously to mental alertness by allowing for an increased supply of oxygen to the brain. One study done of inactive older women who exercised regularly and those who led a sedentary life-style showed the group that exercised to perform better on tests of brain function.

Other than increasing oxygen supplies to the brain, exercise helps to slow down the causes of shaking and stiffness that are normally part of aging. It has been noted that exercise plays a role in the prevention of slowed reaction times.

Professionals believe exercise can help with the body's positive response to stress by raising blood levels that heighten moods. According to some doctors, this mood heightening effect usually lasts for hours if not days.

When estrogen is low during menopause, the elevated moods are decreased, as well as the body's ability to control temperature.

A life-style that includes regular exercise before, during, and after menopause may increase the activity in the brain to assist with body temperature regulation, therefore, decreasing hot flashes. Night sweats and severe hot flashes happened only half as much to women who were consistently active during a Swedish study.

Exercise can be more attractive to those who enjoy meeting and socializing by being involve with games such as tennis, squash, or badminton. Similarly, as an alternative hormone replacement therapy method, by joining clubs that offer exercise classes makes it more of a social event.

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