Women dread the word ‘Menopause‘ as it is associated with a bouquet of complications including hot flushes, insomnia, mood swings, depression and fatigue. The news only gets worse with the findings reporting menopause actually makes women fat, a fact that women knew since ages.
US researchers say that the declining estrogen levels associated with ‘the change’ interferes with the metabolic rate leading to weight gain, especially accumulation of fat around the abdominal region.
Women are protected from these negative consequences as long as they carry their weight in their hips and saddlebags. But when they go through menopause and the body fat shifts to the abdomen, they have to start battling all of these medical complications
said Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center.
The experiments were conducted on rats that developed an impaired tolerance to glucose and a sizable weight gain, even when they took in the same amount of calories when the researchers cut off the estrogen supply to the part of the brain that is central to energy regulation. It was found that the excess weight gain was concentrated on the midsection among the rats.
The hypothalamus links the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland controls body temperature, hunger and thirst. The researchers say that if they could target those critical regions and estrogen receptors associated with weight gain and energy expenditure, it could help scientists formulate ‘designer’ harmone replacement therapies to manipulate estrogen levels.
