March 2009

In January, I wrote about the connection between menopause and incontinence and interviewed a physician who specializes in urogynecology about the factors that contribute to incontinence in women.  She attributed the problem in part to weight gain that naturally comes with aging.  The findings of a new study published in the current e-newsletter of the North American Menopause Society supports this. The study investigated obesity as a risk factor for both stress and urge incontinence and the researchers concluded that the higher the BMI (body mass index), the greater the odds of incontinence.  Why does this happen? Here’s their explanation: [click to continue...]

Can diet and exercise really eliminate belly fat? Recent research has shown that eating fewer calories, no matter what program you sign up for, will contribute to weight loss and thus, a smaller paunch.  But what about exercise?  Will just burning calories help eliminate the “muffin top” that a lot of middle-aged women (and men!) carry around?  Or do we need to target ab muscles with 100 crunches every day to do the trick? [click to continue...]

There’s no shortage of information about Menopause on the web.  When you Google the “M” word, more than 13 million results show up.  If you search “symptoms of menopause,” you’ll whittle the list to just over 1 million, but that’s still a lot of information to sift through.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was someone who would review all the health sites and just give us the most relevant, high quality results? Neatly organized, of course. If that appeals to you then check out Organized Wisdom, a search site for health information that’s distinguished by its “hand-crafted, doctor guided” approach. [click to continue...]

This week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival is being hosted over at Gen Plus,  Janet Wendy Spiegel’s thought-provoking blog on issues affecting the 50+ crowd.  A blogging carnival is a great way to discover like-minded bloggers who offer insights, advice and just plain entertaining commentary, on topics of interest to you.

This week’s Carnival will lead you to some very interesting, thoughtful and funny commentaries on topics such as essential 60s accessories, the laws of attraction and why boomers are flocking to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Enjoy!

As if weight gain and belly fat aren’t insulting enough, a loss of estrogen in Menopause can also cause our hair to fall out!  And what’s left often turns thin and brittle, “like hay,” as one friend put it.  Why is this happening? And is there anything we can do about it?

I asked Dr. Diane Berson, a dermatologist in New York City, who explained that there’s a perfect storm of conditions that are conspiring to ruin (my word not hers) our hair as we begin the second half of our lives. [click to continue...]

This week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival offers more than a dozen posts and there’s something for everyone.  For example, did you know that boomer women (ages 50-60) are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook?  Are you worried about your 401K?  Maybe you’d just like to view an inspirational video on discovering new directions and interests. Visit Life Two, a terrific website about midlife improvement for all of this and more.