In 2010, the VA finally adjusted its compensation policy for combat veterans suffering from PTSD, but denied justice to tens of thousands of MST survivors by not doing the same for them, said SWAN Executive Director Anu Bhagwati, a former Marine Corps captain and MST survivor.
At normal levels, estrogen actually helps keep you lean by goosing the production of insulin, a hormone that manages blood sugar. When estrogen gets thrown off, though, it turns you into a weight-gain machine. Here's how: When you eat, your blood sugar rises. Like a bodyguard, insulin lowers it by escorting glucose into three different places in your body.
Changes in estrogen receptors in the hypothalamus of the brain, a sign of menopause, means it can be harder to lose weight. In turn there is a greater burden on women to eat a healthy diet and exercise more to help their metabolism make up for the loss of estrogen, which helps regulate weight gain and appetite. Interestingly, fat cells produce estrogen, along with other hormones and proteins.