Menopause: A Disease or a Transitional Phase?
Natural Hormone Replacement -Longevity and Health

 

by Ely Britto (Certified Instructor: The International Healing Tao Organisation)

Many women who are over 45 years old face problems with menopause. The scientific and medical communities have devoted a lot of time and resources to research in this area, and the specialist press is continually publishing work about progress in the chemical-drug field to counteract the drop in hormone levels that affects women during menopause. But unfortunately no discussion about effective and natural alternative means of hormone-replacement has yet taken place.

When I was diagnosed as having low hormone levels, I decided to discover what could help me through this process without the side-effects of chemical medication. A chemical hormonal replacement was out of the question. My fear of this medication was based on the cases of medical incompetence that I had seen throughout my life: operations that should never have been carried out, women with hair growing on their faces, emotional instability, and the case of a cousin who acquired an Adam's apple by submitting to hormone treatment. Besides that, science still doesn't know the long-term effects of using chemical hormone replacement.

After some months of research, I realised that menopause was not a disease. It is a transitional state. In this phase, women should learn to restore and master their energy, something which had previously been controlled by the endocrine system. Later I met Dr. Paulo Canella, Full Professor of Gynecology at UFRJ and at the postgraduate course in Sexology of Gama Filho University. He had reached the same conclusions about climacteric, as menopause is commonly known in medical circles. Here I reproduce passages from his article: Climacteric -- Reflections on Concept, Age, Sexuality.

"If doctors accept climacteric is a syndrome (a group of signs and symptoms that characterise a disease) they cannot deny that all women are or will be sick someday. As climacteric is inevitable and physiologically women will have it, we can conclude that the concept of disease used by classical medicine does not actually apply to it: an illness or a disease is an organic or functional alteration, which is characterised by falling short of the norm. It would be a medical nonsense to accept that climacteric is a disease. How can this new concept fail to conflict with the classic definition of disease? Nowadays we tend to consider a disease everything that cannot be controlled, everything that disobeys the assumed ideal of perfection that we impose upon ourselves. Hormone-treatments in the climacteric contribute to the ideals of profit and control of the contemporary world."

Big chemical companies sometimes promise to cure these diseases through drugs that are dangerous to the health and hardly ever perform the promised miracles. The only miracles they perform is increasing their manufacturers' bank accounts.

Dr. Canella continues, explaining what actually happens to the hormones:
"After menopause, the ovaries do not respond to the stimulus of the pituitary gland. The level of gonadotrophin, which stimulates the ovaries, is continually increased, but there is no response."

And about the decrease of the sexual activity:
"There is no relationship between hormones and sexually dysfunctional behaviour, such as: alterations of the excitement, of the desire and of the orgasm. The hormones can be the cause of organic alterations such as: pain, burning sensations, and penetration difficulty."

And further on:
"Sexuality in the climacteric is characterised by the transition between the reproductive adult phase and the exercise of sexuality in the third age. After the young adult reaches the procreation period, the moment comes for a plentiful exercise of sexuality in which the only danger is the risk of conceiving. After menopause this risk disappears, although sexuality still remains. This phenomenon is caused by the reduction of the ovarian estrogens, which brings about the change in women's sexuality, although it also happens in men. The hormone estrogen (besides androgens in small doses), is relatively useful. It helps the physical action, but it doesn't have any influence on the behaviour nor on the relationship between giving and receiving in the exercise of genital sex. Hormone replacement is a fundamental therapeutic resource in the climacteric and its contra-indications are minimal when they are used to control general alterations of this phase of life. When applied preventively in customers that present factors of risk, it is proven to bring more benefits than risks. But when prescribed for an undetermined time, it surely presents many risks and it is economically absurd.

"The literature about the risks of hormone replacement therapeutics is vast. The exhaustively repeated studies bear out that no positive results have been achieved so far. There is nothing really safe that could make doctors feel comfortable. Apparently, a reduction of mortality caused by cardiovascular disease on account of age, a decrease in the rate of physiological osteoporosis and the incidence of endometrial cancer have been proved to be associated with progestogen, but if it is continued for more than 10 years, it is no longer doubted that there is a significant increase of mortality caused by breast carcinoma."

It seems that doctors themselves are not sure about the safety of what they advise as treatment for the problems of menopause. I believe that any wise person should come to the consultation well informed on the consequences of the treatment that she will submit to. The doctor, as any other human being, is subject to doubts, to emotional crises and has to make ethical decisions.We should be active partners of our health. The women who choose chemical hormone replacement should be aware of what they are doing, and understand clearly the risks and the benefits they will obtain from such treatment. This article is meant for those who are looking for something less passive than submitting to the various types of medical treatment available. I do not intend to imply here that these treatments are ineffective, but that nobody knows about the side-effects of such treatments in the long run; since they are chemical, they are much more dangerous than natural ones such as changing nutritional habits, physical exercises and herbal treatments.

Finally, since menopause, or climacteric, is a transitional phase between sexuality for reproduction and sexuality for pleasure, what treatment can we use to help this transition? How can we go through this transition without damage caused by problems that we don't know how to deal with? To what extent does our standard of sexual behaviour affect the organism and bring about the inconveniences of the menopause? How is this transitional phase processed in cultures with healthy sexual behaviour and a natural life? Is there a natural form of restoring the hormones in the body? These answers will only be found if we carry out serious research on different cultures and their sexual behaviour, as well as on methods that offer a natural and independent way of facing this transition: by appropriate diet, herbal remedies, and the techniques of mastering energy that I personally use. I have personally researched this subject. All the alternatives require personal effort and time, but are cheaper than chemical hormone replacement, and none of these alternative possibilities places us in the hands of others who will manage our "hormone levels". What I like best about these methods is that the body knows how to balance itself when we provide it with the suitable conditions.

These possibilities can range from a healthy, natural and appropriate diet to a change in the lifestyle. The optimal life includes pleasure, objectives and appropriate exercises practiced every day. As far as the appropriate diet is concerned we have lots of good books teaching us how to choose what to eat. Here are some words of advice given by Dr. Mo Lerner, from the United
States.

Tips:
1 -- Stay outside in the sun everyday in order to absorb the vitamin D. If this is not possible, try to eat yogurt and products rich in calcium.
2 -- Eat tofu and soy bean as well as foods rich in phytoestrogen and flavonoides, which help to decrease the symptoms of menopause.
3 -- Walk everyday.

Good herbs for the feminine glandular system which are rich in phytoestrogen
Angelica sinensis
Aletris farinosa -- Starry Herb
Cimifuga racemosa is a uterine tonic

How do the plants help relieve the symptoms of menopause?
Dr. Lerner explains that these plants balance a women's hormone level. Research shows that women deficient in hormones start to produce them when using these plants, and women with estrogen excess return to the normal level. The phytoestrogen has the property of linking to the estrogen receivers, competing with the personal estrogen and, by so doing, decreasing its production. Some of these herbs, such as Angelica sinensis (Dong Quai), affect the vascular system and reduce the temperature in menopause.

The recommended diet should be rich in fruit and vegetables. Avoid eating meat, fat and carbohydrates. Foods rich in phosphates should be eliminated, as well as excessive alcohol and cigarettes, because they remove calcium and other minerals from the body.

The other alternative, the one that led me to Thailand to balance the hormone levels in my body, consists of exercises originating in old Chinese civilisation known now as Chi Kung, the management of internal life-forces or energy (Chi). Chi Kung is a technique that manages the bio-electromagnetic energy and circulates it through the meridians of the body. It can be described as a type of acupuncture without the use of needles. In Chi Kung this energy is moved and managed by the power of the mind, by the hands, by the contraction of certain muscles and by the glandular system which recovers when nurtured by this energy. In the type of Chi Kung systematized by Mantak Chia, natural energy is multiplied by transforming sexual energy. We use the energy that generates children, the creative or sexual energy, and we transform it into Chi. We circulate this subtle energy through the channels of the body and it accomplishes its wonderful curative and balancing work.

It is known that Chi is bio-electromagnetism or vital energy. The greatest exposition of Chinese philosophy, the Yi Ching, affirms that everything that exists is energy: energy generates the numbers and the numbers generate everything that is under heaven and on the earth. The Chinese have been studying this energy for five thousand years.

This is the process:
The first part is the control and transformation of negative emotions into positive ones, because emotion is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed; it can only be transformed, never destroyed. We learn how to recycle emotions and how to transform them into pure Chi. Chinese medicine explains that all diseases come from negative emotions that crystallize in the organs, and this blocks the flow of vital energy in these organs.

The second stage of the exercises is the cleaning and opening of the channels through which this energy must circulate in the body. At this stage we learn how to subtilise our perception and how to enable our senses to notice the flow of this energy circulating through the body.

The third stage teaches how to multiply our vital energy. In the human body this energy can only be multiplied through sex. We learn how to use the pubic-coxal and urogenital muscles to stimulate certain glands in the body that generate what is called sexual excitement. When this creative energy is at its maximum potential, we learn how to transform it into life force and to raise it through the spine as far as the brain, filling the backbone with cerebrospinal fluids stimulated by the sexual excitement that has been transformed into Chi.

The last and fourth stage of the exercises is the circulation of this energy through the same routes and channels used by acupuncture -- special channels that are opened through visualisation exercises and purification.

This energy, when circulated properly through these channels, can re-establish and balance any faulty or inadequate energy that has been housed in the organs of the body, and by so doing, cure what needs to be cured in a natural and healthy way.

In the case of hormone replacement in menopause, the circulation of this energy re-establishes the power of the glands, the lymphatic and sexual systems, substituting for the work of the ovaries which can no longer manufacture the hormones. The ovaries start to generate the energy that is used by the brain to accomplish this replacement and to balance the whole sexual organic system.

We learn how to vastly increase our potential for sensitivity, which generates enormous pleasure, very similar to the experience described by the mystics as ecstasy or the blessedness. In the beginning we need to practice for at least two hours a day, but as soon as we feel the circulation of the energy, it is enough to exercise for 20 minutes a day to maintain our body's health and a balanced hormone level.

I believe that, if menopause is just the transitional phase between reproductive sexuality and the sexuality of pleasure, a method that intends to restore hormone levels also needs to take into consideration any dysfunctional behaviour in relation to sexual life. I believe that only a therapy that transforms us into sexually fit people, capable of feeling all the benefits of a healthy sexual life, can help us in this wonderful, rather than preoccupying transition, as it is considered now, namely menopause.

Dr. Paulo Canella and I have been developing a programme of scientific research in Rio de Janeiro on the application of these techniques to natural hormone replacement in women that are unmistakably in menopause and show low hormone levels. As an Instructor of these techniques, I was the first to submit to these tests successfully: my hormone level is perfectly normal now. If you want to participate in this research, further information is available over the telephone.

Requirements to take part in the research:
a) To have been in menopause for at least one year.
b) Not to be on any form of chemical hormone replacement.
c) To submit to regular screening (every six months), which will provide information on hormone conditions before and during the exercises.
d) If you live outside Rio, you should regularly mail the results of your examinations to Dr. Canella.
e) To keep us informed about your practice of the exercises, and their duration.

The Benefits of these techniques are:
By doing simple exercises daily you strengthen your body's immunological defence system and build a fulfilled and healthy life full of happiness, gaining rejuvenation and longevity.
By transforming the negative emotions into positive ones, you free yourself from the neurosis and stress of modern life.
The overcoming of problems relating to menopause, prostate, premature ejaculation, impotence, menstruation, and chronic diseases such as insomnia, headaches, pains in the stomach, etc.
The increase of the immunological defenses prevents diseases.
The irrigation of the cerebral cells with the sexual energy transformed into Chi leads to an increase both in intelligence level and mental clarity. Efficient decisions are made when our brain is energised.

For information regarding learning these techniques, or about participating in the research that we have been developing:
Ely Britto - Certified Instructor for Healing Tao International in Brazil
Tel (021) 294 1134

Dr. Paulo Canella
190/626 Voluntarios da Patria
Rio de Janeiro
Tel (021) 266 3546

Bibliography:
In Portuguese:
A Energia Curativa Através do Tao- Editora Pensamento
O Orgasmo Multiplo para o Homem - Editora Objetiva
Climatério -- Reflexões sobre o conceito, idade, sexualidade- Artigo do Dr. Paulo Canella -- Professor Titular de Ginecologia IG-UFRJ e do Mestrado of Sexologia da Universdade Gama Filho (inédito)
A Filosofia da Medicina Oriental - George OSAWA - Associação Macrobiotica de Porto Alegre - 1969

In English:
Ordered at Site Amazon Books - Internet
Menopause, Naturally -- Sadja Greenwood MD - Volcano Press

Books by Mantak Chia:
Order: www.healing-tao.com
Taoist Way to Transform Stress Into Vitality
Chi Self Massage - The Taoist Way of Rejuvenation
Iron Shirt Chi Kung 1 - Internal Organs Exercise
Bone Marrow Nei Kung - Iron Shirt Chi Kung III
Awaken Healing Light of the Tao
Taoist Secret of Love - Cultivating Sexual Male Energy
Healing Love Through the Tao: Cultivating Sexual Female Energy
Fusion Of the Five Elements I
The Multi-Orgasmic Man 

Items found on the Internet
The Effects of Relaxation Response Training on Menopausal Symptoms.
J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 17(4): 202-7. Dec 1996.

E-mail: elybritt@domain.com.br