Women’s Wellness

Recently I attended the A4M (American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine) conference in Nusa Dua for three days covering the topic of women’s wellness with doctors from Indonesia, India, Singapore and Malaysia in attendance. I was virtually the only non medical attendee and learned much from these professionals.

The key speaker for the first two days was Dr. Shabnam Das Kar, MD, FAARFM a specialist in Anti-aging, Regenerative and Functional Medicine from Mumbai, India. In Regenerative and Functional Medicine doctors look at addressing the actual causes of disease, rather than treat only the symptoms & make a treatment plan that is personalised to the individual.

The main topics were anti-aging strategies for aging gracefully by counteracting the effects of aging and the natural decline of hormones in women. It happens to everyone eventually. Are you over the age of forty (or even younger) and having sleep problems, feeling tired, developing wrinkles, have dry skin and hair, moody, hair loss, vaginal dryness, weight gain or waistline increases? These may be signs of having a hormonal & nutritional imbalance.

As our bodies age our levels of estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and melatonin begin to slowly deplete creating changes in our body. The thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland. Apparently there is a high incidence of an underactive thyroid called hypothyroidism, which lowers the metabolism, making it difficult to lose weight, fatigue, sensitive to cold, dry skin and hair, muscle aches and feeling depressed.

The only accurate way to find out if your thyroid is underactive is to have blood tests and then hormone replacement medication is prescribed (bio-identical is the best). However, in addition to hormones, many nutrients like iron, vitamin D, selenium and iodine are very important for an optimal thyroid function. Both men and women are affected by hypothyroidism but women have a much higher percentage. If you’re having difficulty in losing weight you may have a low metabolism.

The skinny on hormones

Pregnenolone is the ‘mother hormone’, which is created by converting cholesterol into pregnenolone that produces all steroid hormones such as DHEA, progesterone, estrogens and testosterone.
Estrogens have over 400 functions in the body, some are: increases metabolic rate and insulin sensitivity, maintains muscle mass, regulates body temperature, maintains collagen in the skin, improves sleep, helps maintain memory and bone density.
Progesterone functions include: regulating blood sugar levels, building bones, conversion of fat into energy, regulates thyroid hormone production, anti-depressant, affects sleep and normalizes blood clotting.
Testosterone is associated with sexual desire, muscle strength and brain function in women and men.

As we age our hormone levels decline and it’s recommended that women go on Hormone therapy (HT) within ten years of last menstruation to decrease the risk of heart disease and prevent mental decline. The safest HT is with Bioidentical hormones that are natural compounds identical to chemical and molecular structure as hormones that are produced in the human body.

You will need to visit a doctor and have your hormone levels tested prior to beginning a HT program.

Preventing Breast Cancer

Contributing factors to put a woman at risk of breast cancer are: family history (only 5 -10% possible hereditary), exposure to radiation to chest or face before the age of 30, overweight, first pregnancy after age of 30, early menarche or late menopause, dense breasts, smoking, drinking alcohol more than three times a week and low melatonin.

Studies have shown that women working at night have a higher incidence of breast cancer due to a reduction of melatonin. You can increase your melatonin by sleeping in a cool dark room. Food containing melatonin: bananas, walnuts and cherries. Melatonin is used for jet lag, a sleep aid and is known to suppress the development of endocrine cancer.

Breast feeding and exercising 5 -7 hours a week is preventative. Consuming Omega 3 and soy products have shown to prevent cancer. However, it’s better to eat soy products rather than drink soy milk which contains sugar. Having adequate levels of vitamin D prevents several diseases, breast cancer being among them. You would think that living in the tropics would provide an adequate amount of vitamin D; however, most people are insufficient. Broccoli sprouts are a rich source of enzymes that protect against carcinogens.
Reducing your exposure to toxins in the environment like plastics, pesticides, etc is very important.

Exercise & Health

There was an entire section at the seminar devoted to exercise. Prof Rano Rehmat shared his inspiring story of how he used exercise to recover from stroke. By going to the gym two or three times a week for strength training can increase your metabolism by 50%, aerobic exercise of high intensity can increase the resting metabolism, you can do this by a short burst of jogging during a walk.

Drink adequate water, approximately 1-3 litres daily. A dehydrated body burns fewer calories. Also snack on fresh fruit and vegetables, which contain water rather than chips or biscuits. Eat several small amounts of food several times a day, rather than a large meal taking several hours to digest.

Studies show that eating snacks throughout the day helps people to eat less at mealtimes. Add red and green chillies to your diet to boost the metabolism. The body burns more calories digesting lean protein than fat or carbohydrates.

Choose fish, lean beef or white chicken meat, tofu, nuts, beans, eggs and low-fat dairy products. Drink black coffee for an energy boost or green or oolong tea (2 -4 cups) to rev up calorie burning during exercise by 17%. Avoid crash diets, which may help you lose kilos quickly but also lose muscle and back-fire later with the weight gain.

To help you maintain your health: contact in Bali for HT
E-mail: jamu.medicalspa@gmail.com

Copyright spa inspirations 2014
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