Morning fatigue, foggy thinking, weight gain, night sweats all have a hormone connection and Jackie Harvey, an International speaker and radio show host, offers people a natural alternative to hormonal balance.
Harvey will be speaking at the College of New Caledonia Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Let's Talk About Hormones seminar provides an introduction to a practical, effective solution for safely restoring healthy hormone balance.
Harvey has been in Prince George many times conducting seminars in partnership with Dr. Barend Grobbelaar, a local physician. This time she will be on her own.
"I am a lay person who expresses the information in a very understandable way," said Harvey. "This is breast cancer awareness month and I travel extensively getting the message out. I want women to understand that there are things they can do to prevent breast cancer.
"As soon as you say 'breast cancer' is strikes fear in the heart of most women. There are some proactive things women can do to embark on a prevention program. I believe every woman needs to hear this information because all of us are exposed, to some extent, to hormones that have gone out of balance and the ultimate hormone imbalance would be breast cancer."
Harvey believes that premenstrual syndrome in young teens is a hormone imbalance and medication is not the be all, end all for that.
"There are two questions women should be asking about anything they put in their body that is going to involve their hormones - what does it do and why should I use it?" said Harvey. "I teach women what they need to know before they embark on any form of hormone program, including the birth control pill. I believe in women being very well informed, especially when it comes to their hormones. For many women it becomes life threatening, for others it becomes just plain hard to get along with them -- one of the comments I often make is that we're going to laugh about this or we're going to cry about this."
The number one take-home message, Harvey said, is balance - of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone and that adrenal hormones play a role as well.
"What we consider normal is what's most common but it's not normal," said Harvey. "So all those symptoms that women are experiencing are not normal, they are common and just because they're common doesn't mean we're supposed to be experiencing them. PMS is not normal, hot flashes are not normal."
During the seminar Harvey said she will explain what can be done to bring balance to hormone levels and saliva testing, which provides the most accurate readings, is the way to start the process.
"This seminar will at least give women a starting point," said Harvey. "We have the availability now to educate ourselves, we can evaluate through saliva testing and we can embark on programs that work very nicely. Women who attend the seminar won't leave without hope. Every woman will sit in that room and she'll think 'I can do this' and that empowers them tremendously."
Hormone challenges affect all age groups, from teens to senior citizens, said Harvey, and everyone is welcome to attend the seminar.
The seminar takes place Saturday, Oct. 29 at College of New Caledonia, Room 1-306 from 10 a.m. to noon, with question and answer period to follow. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
Saliva test kits and how-to DVDs will be available at the seminar.
Tickets are $20 or purchase three tickets, get the fourth free at Reid Prescriptions, 1669 Victoria Street.
