Q and A with Author Rosemary Gladstar

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In every issue of Herbs for Health, professionals from a variety of health-care fields answer your questions about using medicinal herbs. In this issue, Rosemary Gladstar and Jill Stansbury answer your questions on ­hysterectomies and natural hormones, how long to take herbal remedies, and elbow inflammation.

Rosemary Gladstar, author of Herbal Healing for Women (Simon & Schuster, 1993), and several other books on herbalism, runs Sage Mountain Retreat Center and Native Plant Preserve in East Barre, Vermont. Her experience includes more than twenty years in the herbal community as a healer, teacher, visionary, and organizer of herbal events.

Jill Stansbury has been a naturopathic physician for more than ten years, with a private practice in Battleground, Washington. She is the chair of the Botanical Medicine Department at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, and the author of many books including Herbs for Health and Healing (Publication International, 1997)..

Please send your questions to Herbs for Health “Q & A,” Herb Companion Press, 201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655; fax (970) 669-6117; or e-mail us at HerbsFor Health@HCPress.com. Please provide your name and address, including your city.

The information offered in “Q & A” is not intended to be a substitute for advice from your health-care provider.

What about a hysterectomy?

I had a hysterectomy in 1992. Would I be considered “post menopause,” or does the fact that I will not go through natural menopause mean that articles about menopause don’t apply to me? Also, at what point, if ever, do you stop taking estrogen? My doctor says never.
P.
Reddick, Florida

Just because a woman has had a hysterectomy doesn’t mean that she will not have the opportunity to experience menopause, a natural and important cycle for women. Menopause is not related to a body part but our entire being; we are not the sum total of different body parts, but a complex system that is completely interdependent.

When the reproductive organs are removed, the remainder of the body/ mind/spirit responds and in some manner takes over for the missing parts. Though there are certainly women who need to take estrogen following a hysterectomy, there are countless others who have cut back or eliminated the need for synthetic hormones by using herbs and incorporating dietary changes to support their systems.

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