I was the typical ’90s superwoman or thought I was,’ says Clare, 39, who runs a public relations business near Bristol in western Britain. I’d spent years building up my business and we’d got to the stage where things were doing well. I had four staff and a good portfolio of clients. So I decided to have a baby.I went back to work when Gemma was six weeks old because I felt I couldn’t leave the business any longer. From then on things went downhill.I was working really long hours. My diet was terrible because I didn’t have the energy to cook properly in the evenings. On top of that I hardly ever had a good night’s sleep because Gemma was very unsettled at night.’PMS sort of crept up on me. I felt exhausted, which I thought was due to Gemma. I was so snappy and bad-tempered that I must have been impossible to live with. Nothing anyone did was right. I also used to get such a bloated abdomen that I couldn’t do up my skirt buttons.’My family doctor was really sympathetic. She inspired me to change my diet and to sort out my life so that I wasn’t putting in so many hours at work and at home. She said I needed to take time for myself so 1 joined a yoga class at my local health club.’It took quite a while for things to start improving. But I realized that I’d been heading towards a breakdown and PMS was just a warning signal. Now I take a much more relaxed approach to things and I actually think that I am more effective at work because of it.’My PMS has not totally disappeared but it’s manageable and it doesn’t cause the chaos it used to’.*37\120\4*

The combined contraceptive pill (that is, all varieties that contain an oestrogen and a progestogen) has been found to reduce blood loss during menstruation in many women, including as many as three-quarters of women experiencing excessive bleeding. The Pill generally reduces blood loss by about a third in women with heavy periods. It is important to note that this is not a safe option for women over thirty-five years who smoke cigarettes, as the combination of smoking plus the Pill significantly increases the risk of premature death from stroke or heart attack. Use of the Pill also increases the risk of dangerous blood clot formation (thrombosis) throughout the body, which is why women should come off the Pill a month before surgery, in the meantime using an alternative form of contraception that does not contain hormones.

Natalie went onto the Pill at the age of forty-six to ‘buy time’. Her periods became heavy and painful just when her work responsibilities increased and she was under a lot of stress at home. The Pill provided Natalie with relief from menstrual distress for six months by which time her business and family crises had settled to manageable levels. She then came off the Pill and found that she could cope with her periods.

*27\198\4*

Selenium is a mineral. As an antioxidant, it protects you against highly reactive chemical fragments called free radicals. These free radicals have been linked to cancer, coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and premature ageing. They speed up the ageing process by destroying healthy cells as well as attacking collagen (the ‘cement’ that holds cells together), which is found in bone, cartilage and connective tissues like skin.

Free radicals are created when oxygen becomes unstable during normal biochemical reactions in the body. They can also be formed by other sources, such as fried, blackened or barbecued food, radiation, exhaust fumes and smoking.

Antioxidants, such as selenium, are essential in your diet because they can disarm these harmful free radicals. With its protective effect, selenium can prevent chromosome breakage, which is known to be a cause of birth defects and miscarriages. It can also protect against poisoning from heavy toxic metals such as cadmium and lead which can affect the development of sperm.

Good levels of selenium are essential to maximize sperm formation and are also needed for optimum testosterone production. In one double-blind trial, selenium supplementation resulted in an increase in fertility from 17.5 per cent to 35.1 per cent in sub-fertile men.

Out of 41 men volunteering to be sperm donors in one study, 23 had normal sperm counts and 18 had low sperm counts. Blood selenium levels were significantly lower in the men with low sperm counts.

Because selenium is needed for healthy sperm formation, it is especially advisable to supplement with selenium when semen analysis shows a high percentage of abnormal sperm. As a powerful antioxidant, selenium can also protect against possible DNA damage to sperm.

Selenium should be found in the soil where our food grows but unfortunately we can no longer rely on this. Because there are no obvious signs of deficiency, you don’t know you’re not getting enough until it is too late. It is therefore much safer to take a supplement.

You should take l00 mcg of selenium a day.

Your partner should take l00 mcg of selenium a day.

*47/73/5*

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