Recommended Reading

Vitamin D is one of 13 vitamins our bodies need to function properly, according to the American Dietetic Association. It’s a fat-soluble vitamin that promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and helps deposit these minerals in bones and teeth to make them strong. It’s so important to our well-being that a group of prominent scientists have formed The Vitamin D Council, a non-profit organization with a mission to educate the public and professionals about Vitamin D deficiency and its numerous associated diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, depression). [click to continue...]

For an explanation of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) — a term that the FDA does not recognize — and the issues that led to the FDA’s action this week against certain compounding pharmacies, see the agency’s latest update, “Bio-Identicals: Sorting Myths from Facts.”

What is your point-of-view on BHRT? Has it made a difference for you?

As we wind up the holiday season, and resolve to shed the pounds we’ve gained from all the over-eating, this seems to be a good time to talk about the connection between weight gain and menopause. I’ve been reading Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet’s excellent book, “Women, Weight and Hormones: A Weight-Loss Plan for Women Over 35” in which she explains the crucial role that hormones play in keeping our bodies humming …until menopause, that is – when changing estrogen and progesterone levels cause a slowing of our metabolisms. [click to continue...]

Every time I have a miserable night’s sleep, and last night was the fifth in a row that I had to take Ambien to knock me out, I reconsider taking hormones for relief of the hot flashes and the associated anxiety that keeps me awake all night and cranky during the day. It would be SOOO easy and I’d feel better in no time. Even my doctor takes them! But then all I have to do is read the latest article in the Harvard Women’s Health Watch newsletter that I now subscribe to. [click to continue...]

This is the catchy title of a re-published book that is “a comprehensive guide to Menopause.” Its 15 chapters covers every aspect of menopause in an easy-to-read, Q&A format. The authors, Pat Wingert Kelly & Barbara Kantrowitz, start with the basics (“What’s Happening”) and do a particularly good job explaining “the hormone question” and “hot flashes”. They also provide explanations about all the things that seem to change in mid-life, whether they’re caused by menopause or not including sleep (or lack of), sex, aches & pains, bleeding, moods & emotions, bones, and eyes & ears. It’s a good book to have around when you need advice or at least an explanation for what’s happening to you. It’s also one of two books that the Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggested in an article published this month on herbs and supplements for anxiety. (The other is  Hot Flashes, Hormones, and Your Health (Harvard Medical School Guides) (Harvard Medical School Guides) by JoAnne Manson, M.D. and Shari Bassuk, ScD.)

Sex, Lies, and Menopause: The Shocking Truth About Synthetic Hormones and the Benefits of Natural Alternatives, is the full title of this book by T.S.Wiley, first published in 2003. A friend of mine suggested it to me. She knew I was nearing the point of throwing in the towel and taking hormones to relieve my menopausal symptoms. There seem to be an equal number of women who are either highly critical of the book, or who claimed it changed their lives for the better. (Take a look at reader reviews on Amazon). In any case, it’s good learning and I believe Sex, Lies & Menopause should be on every woman’s reading list – particularly those in their 20s who still have their reproductive years and lots of choices ahead of them. [click to continue...]