Menopause And Exercise - 6 Great Reasons To Do It

Exercise Can Help Menopause

Regular, vigorous exercise at menopause time can help reduce many of the commonest symptoms of menopause. It will also help deal with heart disease and osteoporosis. Use exercise as part of a holistic 'menopause programme' which should include attention to diet and relaxation as well as use of natural remedies including herbs.

Here are the 6 great reasons to exercise at menopause time:

1. Exercise, Menopause And Feeling Good

Aerobic exercise improves your mood and relieves tension. This helps to reduce the depression and anxiety which can accompany menopause. This is thanks to the hormones called endorphins released by exercise. For some people the good feelings last for several hours after the exercise has finished.

2. Exercise, Menopause And The Brain

Exercise improves blood circulation to the brain. This helps to counteract the poor memory and fuzzy brain which often accompany menopause.

Use ginkgo herb at this time too. Ginkgo helps memory and other brain functions. Try a 3-month course.

3. Exercise, Menopause And Abdominal Fat

Aerobic exercise helps to reduce abdominal fat. This is the place where weight easily goes on during menopause.

Aerobic exercise involves continuous, moderate exertion over an extended time. For example, running, hill walking, swimming and tennis are aerobic; golf, weights and exercise machines are not, because of the frequent breaks.

4. Menopause And Osteoporosis

Strength training (at a gym) stimulates bone growth and delays the progress of, or onset of, osteoporosis. If possible, start this before menopause begins; the earlier the better.

5. Exercise And Heart Health

Exercise helps to improve cholesterol levels. This adds to the benefits for the heart and arteries provided by increased physical fitness.

6. Menopause, Exercise, And The Immune System

The lymphatic fluid is an essential part of the immune system. Exercise is the main factor making this vital fluid flow through the body. So exercise helps ensure maximum health both during menopause and at other times because it stimulates the immune system.

What You Can Do

* Take up a sport and play several times a week.
* Take long, regular country walks over rough terrain.
* Try yoga; once learned, you can do this yourself at home conveniently and at low cost.
* Go to the gym and set up a training programme in consultation with a qualified member of staff.

Start To Exercise Now

Start a programme of regular exercise at menopause time and see how great you feel for it. Start slowly but regularly and you will often see your symptoms improve steadily. In addition you will help your weight to stay moderate and benefit every organ and system of your body. This must make sense!



Max Hill, a practitioner for 20 years, loves sharing what he knows. On www.herbal-menopause.com he gives valuable information about menopause symptoms. Get the benefit of Max's experience and knowledge.


Article Source: Artipot

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Birth Control

Methods of Birth Control

Male birth control methods include withdrawal of the male before ejaculation (the oldest contraceptive technique) and use of the condom, a rubber sheath covering the penis. The condom, because of its use as a protection against sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, has become a frequently used birth control device.

Contraceptive methods for women include the rhythm method—abstinence around the most likely time of ovulation—and precoital insertion into the vagina of substances (creams, foams, jellies, or suppositories) containing spermicidal chemicals. The use of a diaphragm, a rubber cup-shaped device inserted before intercourse, prevents sperm from reaching the uterine cervix; it is usually used with a spermicide. Contraceptive sponges, which are impregnated with a spermicide, also are inserted into the vagina before intercourse and work primarily by acting as a barrier to the sperm. Intrauterine devices, or IUDs, are variously shaped small objects inserted by a doctor into the uterus; they apparently act by creating a uterine environment hostile either to sperm or to the fertilized egg. The birth control pill, an oral contraceptive, involves a hormonal method in which estrogen and progestins (progesteronelike substances) are taken cyclically for 21 or 84 days, followed by 7 days of inactive or no pills. The elevated levels of hormones in the blood suppress production of the pituitary hormones (luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone) that would ordinarily cause ovulation.

Sterilization of the female, often but not always performed during a Cesarean section or shortly after childbirth, consists of cutting or tying both Fallopian tubes, the vessels that carry the egg cells from the ovaries to the uterus. In male sterilization (vasectomy) the vas deferens, the tubes that carry sperm from the testes to the penis, are interrupted. Sterilization, in most cases irreversible, involves no loss of libido or capacity for sex.

No contraceptive yet devised is at once simple, acceptable, safe, effective, and reversible. Some, such as the diaphragm, condom, and chemical and rhythm methods, require high motivation by users; the pill, which must be taken daily, sometimes induces undesirable side effects, such as nausea, headache, weight gain, and increased tendency to develop blood clots. The IUDs, although requiring no personal effort or motivation, are often not tolerated or are expelled, and they sometimes, particularly if poorly designed, cause uterine infection, septic abortion, and other problems.

New birth control techniques, some still experimental, include the use of progestins that can be given by injection every three months; progestins embedded in inert carriers and implanted under the skin to release the hormones slowly and continuously; progestins incorporated into a plastic ring that a woman could insert in the vagina and would need to change only periodically; and IUDs carrying an antifertility agent. If birth control fails (or is not used), doctors may prescribe several large doses of certain oral contraceptives as "morning after" pills; the high level of hormones can inhibit the establishment of pregnancy even if fertilization has taken place. Mifepristone, or RU-486, the so-called abortion pill, is effective within seven weeks after conception and requires close medical supervision. It was first approved in Europe and was tested in the mid-1990s in United States, where it was approved in 2000. Another experimental technique is immunization against human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone secreted by a developing fertilized egg that stimulates production of progesterone by the ovary; the effect of the anti-HCG antibody would be to inactivate HCG and thereby induce menstruation even if fertilization occurred.

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