Home › How To Feel 30 When You’re 50: Anti-Ageing Tips For Women

The first alarm bells started ringing a couple of years ago. In spite of regular exercise, and a strict and calculated diet, my waist started to disappear, the sparkle was gone from my eyes, and my overall vitality was non-existent.

The fear of the unknown, and of growing old, drives all women under 47 to ignore any thoughts of menopause. This fear creeps into your life and ruins it from within. Many of my clients recall how their beautiful, gentle, slim mums turned into restless, grumpy, plump women who shocked everyone with their sudden mood swings. In fact, their mothers just had “bugs in their software”, or to be more precise, in their endocrine systems: ovaries, pituitary glands, thyroid glands and other glands responsible for the production of hormones have simply stopped being as active, becoming the cause of health issues, memory deterioration, hot flashes, weight gain and, sadly, lack of libido.

What Sex and the City teaches us about anti-ageing

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“It’s official: the oestrogens have left the building!”

Remember Samantha from Sex and the City complaining that when looking at a half-naked national rugby team, not a single muscle twitched? In her mother’s time, people believed that you should just brace yourself and accept becoming older. Samantha was different. She lost her hormones only temporarily after her toiletry bag was confiscated at customs. For the past thirty years, with the help of anti-ageing medicine, American and European doctors have been helping women to get through menopause without significant negative impact and disappointment.

Why hormones are the key to women staying young

I am very lucky. My doctor is the expert in anti-ageing medicine, President of the International Hormone Society Thierry Hertoghe. Thierry also consults our clients in Brussels and Barcelona. His standard approach is to establish the patient’s hormonal status.

“There are only two hormones that increase with age: leptin, causing obesity, and insulin, leading to diabetes, while levels of all other hormones go down. Due to the lack of oestrogen, the skin has less collagen and elastin. It becomes dry, causing wrinkles to appear and facial contours to lose shape. Reduction in testosterone leads to cellulite formation and loss of muscle mass, causing cheeks, buttocks, and inner arms to start to sag. So beware: a woman’s body begins to age long before the menopause. Time to act!”

Over the course of 30 years, Dr Hertoghe has collected strong evidence confirming that it makes sense for every woman over 35 to control her hormone levels and correct them at the first signs of imbalance. After 40 everyone could do with micro-doses of bioidentical hormones. Dr Hertoghe claims this is the way to stay healthy and continue to enjoy a life that previous generations could not.

Misconceptions about hormone replacement therapy

Of course, you may have heard otherwise. In 2002 the Women’s Health Initiative published some frightening data: women who have been using Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for extended periods of time to prevent the unpleasant effects of menopause were diagnosed with breast cancer more frequently. However, very soon scientists found out that this research was not accurate. It was performed on women who were taking medicines that were not identical to human hormones. Moreover, every woman in the study was over 60 years old and all of them were prescribed the same doses, which is unacceptable!

“European and American traditions with regards to hormonal treatment for mature women are significantly different. Even when looking at the test results, some old-school doctors miss the signs of the early hormonal disbalance and delay beginning a compensatory treatment. That is why it is very important to start HRT with an experienced doctor.”

For two months I followed the recommendations of Dr Thierry Hertoghe, and all my troubles were left behind. I got back into shape, both physically and mentally. When menopause comes I will adjust the dose of hormones I take, and I do believe that I will avoid the associated unpleasantness which most women of that age experience.

Conclusion

These days, there is no need for women to be worried or scared about menopause or ageing. Anti-ageing medicine is continuously evolving and by a running hormone level test and trusting an experienced doctor, HRT can be adjusted to each person’s specific health profile. If you’re looking for an anti-ageing tip for women that really works, get started with an advanced health check to gain insights into your hormone levels.