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For the Ladies
Menopause and Midlife Weight Gain
I thought you'll might like to see this. It's kinda long but it helps explain why we start gaining weight when we reach midlife. Hormonal Changes Linked to Appetite Increase By Salynn Boyles WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 Nov. 12, 2003 (NEW ORLEANS) -- It's well documented that as women go through menopause they tend to gain unwanted pounds but is there a link? The question remains controversial, but a new study offers compelling evidence that the hormonal changes associated with menopause may play a direct role in midlife weight gain. Researchers from the Oregon National Primate Research Center report that monkeys who had their ovaries removed, resulting in a more rapid drop in female hormone levels as oppose to the gradual drops changes seen during the menopausal transition, had an almost immediate and dramatic increase in appetite that led to weight gain. "This has been well documented in studies in smaller animals, but this is the first study to show that it is true in primates," researcher Judy L. Cameron, PhD, tells WebMD. "Studies in humans have been confounded by the fact that eating and exercise habits often change around the time of menopause." Pears and Apples It is clear that as we age there are age-related changes that slow our metabolisms. This, along with a decrease in physical activity can cause weight gain during menopause. "We know that most women change from pear shaped to apple shaped as they age," says North American Menopause Society spokeswoman Pam Boggs. The 'pear' shape to 'apple' shape refers to a change in the distribution of where we carry our weigh -- whether it's predominately in the hips or around the belly. "But the evidence does not suggest that menopause on its own is associated with weight gain," she notes. The study reported by Cameron, graduate student Elinor Sullivan, and colleagues included 47 adult female monkeys, 19 of whom have had their ovaries surgically removed. The surgery resulted in a drop in estrogen and progesterone levels, allowing the researchers to try to mimic the hormonal effects of menopause in these animals. Within four weeks of having their ovaries removed, the monkeys had a 67% increase in food intake and a 5% increase in weight. The surgically altered monkeys also had higher levels of the hormone leptin than the monkeys who still had their ovaries. Leptin is produced by fat cells, and increases in body fat means more leptin is produced. This hormone has been shown to play a role in food intake and metabolism but how it does this remains largely unknown. Researchers reported results at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans. Findings from the same group of monkeys also show evidence against the popular belief that nighttime eating is associated with weight gain. The researchers found that monkeys who ingested most of their calories at night were no more likely to gain weight than those who ate more during the day. Cameron says the idea that eating at night leads to packing on the pounds is an "urban myth" she has seen in countless fitness and women's magazines. "This does not appear to be based on solid science, but it is a very popular notion," she says. Monkey Model Menopause expert Nanette Santoro, MD, says studying primates instead of people allowed the researchers to better control conditions that could influence weight gain. The main disadvantage is that it is not clear if young monkeys with surgically removed ovaries are an appropriate model for human menopause. Santoro directs the division of reproductive endocrinology at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center. "There are all kinds of hormonal changes happening in women at the time of menopause that may also have something to do with weight changes," she says. "Insulin resistance changes with age, for example, but in this experimental model the only variable was estrogen." The researchers are now studying the same group of monkeys to determine whether giving hormone replacement therapy lowers appetite. Studies assessing the impact of menopausal hormone therapy on weight among menopausal women have been mixed, with some showing a protective benefit for hormone therapy and others showing none. No matter what the studies show, menopausal hormone therapy expert Barbara Sherwin, PhD, says it is clear that taking hormones will not allow middle-aged women to eat like they could in their 20s. "The only way to maintain weight as we grow older is to eat less and exercise more," she tells WebMD. "If you eat the same number of calories at 55 that you ate at 25 you are guaranteed to gain weight because your body is not burning calories in the same way." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ SOURCES: Society of Neuroscience meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 8-12, 2003. Judy L. Cameron, PhD, senior scientist, Oregon National Primate Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland. Barbara Sherwin, PhD, professor, psychology and obstetrics and gynecology, McGill University, Montreal. Pam Boggs, spokeswoman, North American Menopause Society. Nanette Santoro, MD, professor; director, division of reproductive endocrinology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City. © 2003 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved. |
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For the Ladies
"If you eat the same number of calories at 55 that you
ate at 25 you are guaranteed to gain weight because your body is not burning calories in the same way." You can say that again!!! 8-( Thanks for the article. - Anne |
#3
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It's water weight from your TOM. Relax. Stop weighing yourself everyday too.
You'll drive yourself crazy. -- Sheli "Dropped 19" wrote in message . .. I am getting close to TOM and things are getting weird. One day i woke up and was 2.5 lbs up. No way you can just gain that overnight!!! So i started getting suspicious. I didn't change my diet in any big way. i went out to dinner one night and ate a piece of grilled chicken and some shrimp that could have been marinated in something. I don't thin kthis would do anything more than stall me a little - not send the scales through the roof!! Just let me know if I should relax and wait till after TOM to even look at the scale again. (and for you scale-haters out the Don't even reply! I don't wanna hear it! Step away from you r keyboard!!!) |
#4
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Thanks. You'd think I'd know that with a wife and 12 year old daughter.
In article , says... Armand wrote: Would someone kindly explain what TOM is for this ignorant guy? Thanks. TOM = Time Of Month, otherwise known as menstruation. Laura B. |
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#6
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Just let me know if I should relax and wait till after TOM to even look at
the scale again. (and for you scale-haters out the Don't even reply! I don't wanna hear it! Step away from you r keyboard!!!) I love my scale, I weigh myself every morning. :-) And during TOM, I tend to ignore what it says. Gaining is perfectly normal, almost every woman does it. LCing since 12/01/03- Me- 5'7" 265/171/140 & hubby- 6' 310/190/180 http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lcer09/my_photos |
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