by Lauri M. Aesoph, N.D.
A woman menstruates approximately 500 times in her lifetime. Yet, how much do most women
know about their cycle? Throughout history, women have been told they are unclean during
this time. Doctors have advised their female patients to rest, restrict activity, and by
no means have sex. A majority of women suffer some sort of discomfort during their
periods. There seems to be only misery associated with this womanly function. Are we
missing something? Let's examine some of the mysteries surrounding menstruation, and learn
how we can turn this monthly event into one of health and appreciation.
What is Menstruation
Very simply, menstruation is house cleaning. Each month a woman's body lines her uterus
with a rich bed of blood vessels, glands, and cells in anticipation of new life. The
ovaries sprout a harvest of eggs and then pop out the best one for conception. When the
egg doesn't meet a sperm, the womb must shed its lining and start anew.
A woman's monthly cycle can be artificially divided into
three segments: menstruation, the follicular phase, and the luteal phase.During the
middle, or follicular, segment follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) prompts eggs in the
ovary to mature and sprout a follicle, or layer of cells, which secrete estrogen. Estrogen
levels then build until at their peak FSH is turned off and luteinizing hormone (LH) takes
over.
LH causes ovulation, the departure of the egg from the
ovary. Progesterone, master hormone of the last, or luteal, stage continues development of
the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. When conception doesn't occur, all hormone
levels drop and menstruation begins.
Occasionally a woman may experience problems with her
period. She may suffer from cramps during menstruation called dysmenorrhea. Premenstrual
syndrome, a condition consisting of 150 recorded symptoms ranging from irritability to
sugar cravings the week or two before her period, may be her problem. Sometimes its not
the symptoms accompanying menses, but the flow itself that needs help. Irregular bleeding,
spotting, bleeding too much, clots or a total absence of blood are all signs that a
woman's reproductive system needs attention.
Faizi Medeiros, ND of Norwich, Vermont has developed a
protocol specially designed to treat female disorders. "I've had great results with
menstrual problems by treating the bowel, liver, and immune system," she says. One
reason why treating the liver using substances such as methionine, choline, dandelion, and
milk thistle work in these cases is because the liver is responsible for clearing potent
forms of estrogen from the blood. When the liver becomes sluggish, blood estrogen levels
can rise and cause problems.
Getting to Know Your Cycle
Even if your periods are problem-free, you can improve your overall health by becoming
more aware of how your cycle functions. For hundreds of years, women have used certain
physical signs as a form of birth control. Today, this system is known by many names:
natural family planning, fertility awareness method, ovulation method, sympto-thermal
method, and others. What they all have in common is their own means of observing and
recording fertility signs in order to avoid or achieve pregnancy. These methods can also
be used to increase the effectiveness of other contraceptives.
These very same signs, cervical mucus, basal body
temperature, and positioning of the cervix, can be used for other purposes. When a woman
charts these changes in her body, as well as her moods, her libido, what foods she craves,
breast tenderness, the quality and quantity of her menstrual flow and anything else that
seems pertinent, she becomes more familiar with her body.
This information can be used to track PMS and thus allow
a woman to make lifestyle alterations which may improve it. Because a woman becomes
familiar with her body's monthly metamorphosis, she learns to differentiate between breast
changes and vaginal discharge that are normal and abnormal. By recording such information
on a daily basis, a woman can widen the doors of intimacy with her mate and enhance sexual
understanding. Most of all, a woman gains knowledge of how her body cycles through each
month.
Taking monthly charts along to physical exams is
extremely beneficial for your physician. Not only does the information give your doctor a
concise picture of your health, but opens communication lines between you and your
practitioner. This allows you to ask and answer questions intelligently, and in the long
run improve your health and the care you get.
Something else that is being discussed within scientific
circles and among health care providers is the relationship between immunity and menstrual
cycles. Research suggests that a woman's immune system peaks before ovulation and begins
to decline after the egg is released. At New York's Cornell University, investigators
confirmed a common medical observation that women are usually struck by vaginal yeast and
chlamydial infections just before their periods (1).
A Swedish team from Uppsala University proposed that
immunity rises prior to ovulation in order to rid the body of germs in preparation for
conception and pregnancy. After ovulation or conception has taken place, however, the
immune system is depressed because you don't want the body to fight two very important
foreign elements: the sperm and fertilized egg (2).
Suzannah Doyle, a Fertility Awareness educator, says
that women "tend to feel better, look better, feel their strongest, and most able to
handle things during the fertile time before ovulation." These physical
characteristics such as clear skin and increased sex drive are the secondary fertility
signs that are often discussed during natural family planning classes. Not only are they
indications of a woman's peak in health, says Doyle, but on an anthropological level they
increase her attractiveness to her mate so the species can propagate.
Investigations are beginning to show, adds Doyle, that
surgery, vaccinations, and prescription drugs are less harmful when used on a woman before
ovulation. "I don't think anyone has professionally or scientifically recommended
this. Although a lot of individual studies have noticed that if you have surgery during
your fertile time, your outcome is going to be much better than if you have it during your
premenstrual phase. Recovery rates are better, incidence of death is less, rubella
vaccinations done preovulatory have less side effects. Women get more drunk having a beer
premenstrually than during their fertile time too.
"I'm proposing that in the future," concludes
Doyle, "that observing fertility signs will be a way that doctors can actually adjust
drug dosages for their patients. I really see looking at fertility signs as a way to
increase diagnostic and drug therapy effectiveness eventually."
Menstruation: A Time of Healing
Armed with the knowledge that immunity and menstruation are more complex than we first
thought, the question remains: "Should we treat ourselves differently during this
time?" Kisma Stepanich, author of Sister Moon Lodge: The Power & Mystery of
Mensturation (Llewellyn Publications, 1992) states that menses is a period of healing and
regeneration. She says that bleeding is a release and women are instinctively more inward,
quiet, gentle, and slower during this time.
Medeiros agrees with Stepanich's views. She advocates
that her patients eat a clean diet, low in fats and sugars, drink lots of fluids, indulge
in gentle outdoor exercise like walking, and practice meditation during their periods.
Doyle reports that her clients tell her they feel more
powerful, energetic, and aroused during menstruation. She says this makes sense
considering that menstrual flow is not that much different from the flow of fertile
cervical mucus near ovulation. Doyle warns, however, that one of the most overlooked
precautions regarding menses is intercourse and tampon use during heavy menstruation. Many
studies now indicate that such activity is associated with a higher incidence of
endometriosis.
Healthy menstruation is more than treating PMS or
menstrual cramps. It is a woman understanding and honoring her unique monthly cycle.
Coupling this knowledge and respect with a healthful lifestyle and, when needed, natural
treatments, women can learn to enjoy and tune into their own rhythm.
References
- Kalo-Klein A, Witkin SS. Candida albicans: cellular
immune system interactions during different stages of the menstrual cycle. American
Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 1989; 161(5): 1132-36.
- Edelstam GAB, Lundkvist OE, Klareskog L, Karlsson-Parra
A. Cyclic variation of major histocompatibility complex class II antigen expression in the
human fallopian tube epithelium. Fertility and Sterility 1992; 57(6): 1225-29
(© 1993, by LM Aesoph. All Rights
Reserved
This article first appeared in Delicious! Magazine.)
