Web Extras for Hot Topic: Menopause
Resources about Menopause
The best resource bar none, is your own doctor. She will be able to help you determine whether your symptoms are severe enough to require hormone replacement therapy or if your health history poses a risk that would make other remedies safer.
“Having a frank discussion with your doctor about menopause is going to be the most helpful way to deal with it,” says Monique ’81, MD, assistant professor at Duke University School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.—Hannah Wallace ’95
Illustration by Lilly Pereira
Books
• The Menopause Guidebook produced by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Now in its 7th edition, this invaluable guide is both accessible and reassuring.
• The Women’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Tori Hudson, N.D., has an in-depth chapter on menopause with sections on both conventional and alternative treatments.
• The Premature Menopause Book by Kathryn Petrus. Written by a woman who began perimenopause at 38, with a forward by Michelle Warren, MD, ’61.
• The Wisdom of Menopause by Christianne Northrup. Originally published in 2001, this classic has been revised to include current research and medical consensus, including the North American Menopause Society’s hormone therapy position statement. Upbeat and accessible, it portrays “the change” as the greatest opportunity for growth since adolescence.
* Menopause and the Mind: The Complete Guide to Coping with the Cognitive Effects of Perimenopause and Menopause—Including Memory Loss, Foggy Thinking and Verbal Slips, by Claire L. Warga
Warga, a PhD in neuropsychology, makes sense of new research on the link between hormonal change and lapses in the cognitive faculties of women who are experiencing perimenopause. An advocate of women understanding the possible results of the body’s natural estrogen loss during perimenopause and menopause, Warga includes helpful suggestions about estrogen “mimics,” including serotonin boosters, exercise, and dietary changes.
Websites
• The North American Menopause Society carefully reviews the science and gives expert advice to women on topics ranging from “Fixes for a stalled sex life” to “Mother nature’s remedies for hot flashes.” They also publish evidence-based position statements such as the 2012 one advising women to take HRT if “the balance of potential benefits and risks is favorable.”
• Menopause, the blog A spirited and informative blog written by a forty-something woman named Wendy. She interviews medical experts, writes book reviews, and links to the latest research.
• UpToDate is a respected medical information resource that publishes a series of patient education guides, including one on menopause. Now, much of that information is available for free on its web site.
• The Mayo Clinic has a detailed menopause page, with links to articles that cover the safety of bio-identical hormones and strategies for maintaining a healthy weight
• Pause is organized by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is on Facebook.
Sharing Women’s Wisdom
What have you lived, and learned, concerning menopause? Share insights, coping strategies, and helpful hints with your sister alumnae using our comments section below.
July 5, 2012
As an ObGyn in New Orleans I appreciated the balanced presentation in this article. Thank you.