Health & Wellness

I recently wrote about a new home test kit that you can use to monitor your vitamin D levels.  Having an adequate amount of vitamin D is so important to your health that a worldwide public health campaign, called  D*action, has been launched to motivate people to take 2000 IU/day of  “the sunshine vitamin” to achieve adequate levels. [click to continue...]

The overwhelming response to Oprah’s first show on hormone therapy has led to a second, follow-up show with Dr. Christiane Northrup and Suzanne Somers on Thursday of this week.  Somers first raised awareness about the benefits of bio-identical hormones in her book, Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones.

Later that day, Dr. Northrup will also host a special Hormone Webcast through www.oprah.com to answer questions about hormone replacement and bio-identical hormones. [click to continue...]

I’ve written several blog posts this year on the importance of vitamin D in our diets.   Often called the “sunshine vitamin,” because sunlight is required for our bodies to produce it, vitamin D is best known for maintaining bone and muscle mass.  More recent research has suggested that it may have numerous other benefits such as lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of some cancers, improving mood and even offering protection from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It also is particularly beneficial for menopausal women, as Dr. James Dowd, author of “The Vitamin D Cure”  explained to me in an interview earlier this year; [click to continue...]

If you’ve resolved to live a healthful life and want to do something good for yourself that will have an impact beyond the expiration date of most new year resolutions,  take your next vacation at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts and sign up for one of their week-long courses such as Health & Vitality in Midlife, Integrative Weight Loss, and Food as Medicine.  The first two are being offered on two consecutive weeks in January – a perfect way to begin the year! [click to continue...]

I’ve heard of personal coaches, business coaches, lifestyle coaches and, of course, athletic team coaches….but never a coach for menopause, until now. What a great idea! After all, a “coach” is defined as an instructor, trainer, a private tutor — someone with expertise, experience and patience.  Isn’t that just what we need as we try to figure out the best, most healthful way to cope with menopause symptoms in an era of 15 minute physician appointments?

Rebecca Hulem is pioneering menopause coaching.  She’s a registered nurse, a Certified Menopause Practitioner and the author of Feelin’ Hot? A Humorous, Informative and Truthful Look at Menopause.  I recently spoke with her to learn more about what a menopause coach does: [click to continue...]

I was surprised to read Dr. Andrew Weil’s comments about the fallacies of taking some natural remedies to alleviate menopausal symptoms in his “Dr. Debunker” column in the latest issue of AARP Magazine. After all, isn’t he known as a leading proponent of natural medicine? [click to continue...]

A special section in today’s New York Times offers a “head-to-toe tour of the body” with expert information and advice on how to enhance our well-being as we age.   The articles cover fourteen areas including our brain, heart, muscles, breast, bones and feet.  I was particularly interested in an article by Tara Parker-Pope about bone health, and the medical community’s reliance on density scans to determine a woman’s risk for fractures. [click to continue...]

Bunions, hammertoes, corns, Morton’s neuromas.  Ouch!  When we reach our 40s and 50s,  many women learn the hard way what these foot conditions mean and wonder why they’re having these problems all of a sudden.  Is it punishment for all those years of wearing high-heeled shoes with pointy toes?  Or, can we blame it on Menopause (like everything else that’s out of kilter)? [click to continue...]

Our bodies go through a lot of changes during our middle years. Some of these can be attributed to fluctuating (in our 40s) or decreasing (in our 50s) hormone levels and some can’t. However, according to the Harvard Women’s Health Watch report on Menopause, the four most commonly reported changes include:

• Mood changes and depression

• Insomnia or other sleep problems

• Cognitive or memory problems

• Decline in sexual desire and/or function

The domino effect of sleep deprivation can potentially cause all of these symptoms so it is understandable that these complaints would be at the top of the list.

Other changes that often occur, but cannot be positively attributed to hormonal changes include:

• Weight gain

• Urinary incontinence

• Heart palpitations

• Dry skin and hair

• Headaches

If you’re noticing changes – however vague– in your own body, you can check out a published list of 35 symptoms of Menopause, which was compiled by a group of women for Project Aware.