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."



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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.

"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

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!!!)

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.

In article ,
says...


"Armand" wrote in message
...
Would someone kindly explain what TOM is for this ignorant guy?
Thanks.

Why are you reading a post for the ladies, anyway, Armand?

I like ladies.

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