Menopause has long been treated as a disease which needs to be cured. The main symptom of this ‘illness’ was the drop of estrogen levels in women; doctors believed that they could ‘cure’ this through hormone replacement therapy. By using the hormone replacement therapy to keep estrogen levels at the supposed ‘normal’ level, doctors believed that women could be spared the wrinkles, depression, and hot flashes that were the more obvious symptoms of this disease that preys on women as they age. As you can well imagine, being told by doctors that they needed to ‘cure’ themselves of menopause through the use of hormone replacement therapy did nothing to assure women that the aging process is completely natural; instead, they learned and passed on to their daughters that they had to fight against the entire aging process and remain young as long as possible — preferably forever. Can you imagine the difference that would have been made had these doctors, instead of telling the women they had an illness, said instead that the loss of estrogen was part of the aging process and there was nothing to worry about? I wonder how our culture, so obsessed with youth, would have been different had we generations ago been taught to accept menopause as something to not be feared but embraced. For additional information about menopause treatments, symptoms, and natural ways of dealing with hot flashes be sure to visit Signs of Menopause Guide.