Over the course of a lifetime, a woman’s body undergoes continuous and pre-programmed changes. The symptoms coupled with menopause are likely among the most drastic of such changes. This natural process is usually expected to begin in females of age 45 to 55, and women experiencing these changes after or before this age range experience a ‘late’ or ‘early’ menopause respectively.

The most significant physiological change is the termination of the female’s menstrual cycle and the cessation of her fertility. With the shutting down of the ovaries, a women’s delicate hormonal balance is disturbed and almost all of her regulatory systems are affected.

This process is entirely natural and, with the exception of certain cases, an absence of the onset of menopause in middle aged women is indicative of serious physiological abnormalities.

Two hormones, namely follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) play critical roles in the process of menopause. The excessive increase in the production of these hormones directly and indirectly causes the behavioural and psychological side effects of menopause such as hot flashes, unusually frequent mood changes and insomnia. Although the intensity of symptoms varies among individuals, a reported two-thirds of women in North-America experience hot flashes during menopause. This symptom is characterized by momentary sensations of heat, accompanied by redness of the skin and extreme sweating. The cause of hot flashes is unknown and while they are unlikely to be entirely preventable, the avoidance of alcohols, cigarette smoking and spicy foods along with certain other food items may help reduce their frequency of incidence. At approximately a year after a female’s last menstrual cycle, the hormone levels become fairly stabilized and the post menopause stage begins. A serious concern following this time frame is bone thinning due to the change in hormonal balance. Women must take appropriate measures, as guided by their physicians, prior to menopause, in order to adjust their body calcium levels and maintain their bone strengths; failure to take appropriate medication may lead to increasingly fragile bones.

Two methods of treatment are currently used for women that require medical alternatives in order to cope with menopause. The first of these methods is Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT. Through HRT, either or both estrogen and progesterone hormones are replaced by the use of daily pills.

Women that have not surgically removed their uterus prior to HRT are advised to simultaneously replace both of these hormones; replacement of estrogen alone has previously been linked to increased chances of uterine cancer incidence and the addition of progesterone to this therapy is said to counter the cancer-causing effects of estrogen replacement. An additional advantage of this treatment is that replaced estrogen can reduce bone thinning in post-menopausal women. The second therapy commonly used is the consumption of herbal and natural products thought to help with controlling the symptoms of menopause. The exact success of these treatments varies and many are currently the subject of extensive research. Among these products, soybeans are observed to have moderately valuable effects, especially in reducing the prevalence and intensity of hot flashes