If you’re interested in finding more information about menopause, hormones, and related conditions, here’s a quick guide to some terrific resources.
These are some of our favorite reference books. They contain some good information, and the authors wrote them with the layperson in mind. You can find these books at your local library or bookstore.
Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex after Sixty , by Joan Price (Seal Press, 2006). Just as the title promises, Price helps you keep the home fires burning (even better than before) through perimenopause to menopause and far, far beyond.
Bob Greene’s Total Body Makeover: An Accelerated Program of Exercise and Nutrition for Maximum Results in Minimum Time, by Bob Greene (Simon & Schuster, 2004). What has Oprah got that you haven’t got? Personal trainer Bob Greene. In this book, Greene offers you a challenging 12-week program of exercise (be prepared to sweat) and appealing, healthy food. Greene knows that you don’t live in a vacuum, too — he’ll help you out with the emotional aspects of neglecting your fitness and nutrition.
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Your Aging Parents, Third Edition: How to Help, How to Survive, by Claire Berman (Owl Books, 2005). At the same time that you’re taking care of yourself as you enter menopause, you may still be taking care of your children. More and more women in the middle of their lives are also juggling the care of aging parents. If you’re in this group, Berman’s advice is invaluable, compassionate, wise, and down to earth.
Dr. Susan Love’s Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices, by Susan Love and Karen Lindsey (Three Rivers Press, 2003). This updated edition of Love’s original book on dealing with the symptoms of menopause and taking care of your health in the years to come presents a balanced approach to menopause and hormone therapy.
Healthy Women, Healthy Lives, by Susan E. Hankinson, Graham A. Colditz, JoAnn E. Manson, and Frank E. Speizer (Simon & Schuster, 2002). With that many authors, it has to be good. This updated edition of Healthy Women, Healthy Lives offers important lessons about reducing your risk for many chronic diseases and several forms of cancer. Using results from one of the largest studies of women in the world, the Nurses’ Health Study, this resource can help you make better-informed personal-health choices. It’s informative, yet very easy to read and understand.
Kathy Smith’s Moving Through Menopause: The Complete Program for Exercise, Nutrition, and Total Wellness , by Kathy Smith and Robert Miller (Warner, 2002). This one has been out for a few years, but the advice Smith offers is still right on target for those of us facing what she calls “the half-time bell.” Although the main focus is on exercise (including yoga and Pilates), Smith offers her workout advice in the context of taking care of every aspect of your life.
Menopause and Perimenopause , by Mary Jane Minkin (Yale University Press, 2004). Distilled from years of study, practice, and women out there in the hot flash zone, Minkin’s book offers clear explanations of what’s causing your symptoms, how to manage them, and how to take care of your health in the decades to come.
Menopause Before 40: Coping with Premature Ovarian Failure , by Karin Banerd (Trafford Publishing, 2004). Although this is a good general reference on menopause, if you’re going through or have gone through premature menopause, you’ll find answers to your specific questions about why this is happening to you, and how you can cope with the rush job your body’s giving you. Best of all, you get the benefit of the wisdom of other women who’ve gone through the same thing, and their tips about how best to take care of yourself in the years to come.
The Okinawa Program: How the World’s Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health — And How You Can Too , by Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki (Three Rivers Press, 2002). Yeah, okay, this one’s been around for a while, but that’s because it’s an enduring classic. And, yeah, it’s a long enduring classic — but there’s gold in them there 496 pages. Why do those folks on Okinawa live such long, such healthy, such happy lives? Find out.
Prime Time: The African American Woman’s Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness, by Gayle K. Porter, M.D., and Marilyn Gaston, Ph.D. (One World/Ballantine, 2003). Health information for African American women in the prime of life, including menopause, diabetes, hypertension, and dealing with the healthcare system.
What You Wear Can Change Your Life , by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine (Riverhead Trade, 2005). Menopause changes your body in almost every aspect. Why shouldn’t your outsides get a makeover, too — one you can control? BBC Television’s Trinny and Susannah will help the brand new you to look . . . well, like the brand new you, only with better clothes. Look better, feel better.
The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change , by Christiane Northrup, MD (Bantam Books, 2006). Respected holistic physician Cristiane Northrup lived it before she wrote it, and emphasizes not only mental and physical health aspects of menopause, but also the grace and strength to be found in this period of your life.
Younger Next Year for Women , by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge (Workman Publishing, 2005). The same straightforward health and lifestyle information that made their earlier books so popular, but with women’s issues in mine. Our favorite no-nonsense advice: “Don’t eat crap.”
If you have access to the Internet, the world of health and nutrition is literally at your fingertips. In this section, we list some of our favorite Web sites. These sites have our personal seal of approval because they have tons of up-to-date information and provide links to lots of other Web sites.
www.americanherbalistsguild.com
If you’re interested in finding an herbalist in the United States, check out this site. It gives you the organization’s code of ethics as well as links to the Web sites of its members. Those of you interested in learning more about herbs will also enjoy the educational programs listed and online courses provided on this page.
Find an instructor, take a free class, or learn more about the history of yoga. This site is a great place to visit for people just getting interested in yoga and for yoga vets who want more information.
http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/index.html
Here’s a Web site that gives you the latest on diet and fitness recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It’s quick and gets right to the point.
This site bills itself as “Your online diet and fitness journal,” and it’s the handiest little site on the Internet if you’re trying to eat healthier or lose weight. It lets you type in the foods you eat, and it tells you the calories and nutrients found in each. You can also keep track of your food consumption after every meal (or even plan your calories ahead of time). Because the site also keeps track of nutrients, you can make sure your diet is balanced. For women trying to lose weight, FitDay.com has some nice planners and exercise trackers so you can see if you’re going to lose weight with your current eating and exercise routines. And the best part? It’s all free!
This site provides information on alternative medical therapies not commonly used or previously accepted in conventional Western medicine. We particularly like the “Health Information” page because it has links to alerts and advisories that warn you of any harmful therapies on the market. You can also search for information on the particular therapy or condition that interests you.
You can find lots of information on osteoporosis (some of it in Spanish) on this Web site. Because osteoporosis is such a big concern for women after menopause, you may want to refer to this page often. The site features news about osteoporosis, prevention, and treatment, a find-a-doctor feature, and the opportunity to sign up for a weekly newsletter. NOF also offers information about insurance and Medicare benefits for osteoporosis treatment.
This site is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer information about all aspects of women’s health and health care, including menopause and hormone therapy. The information is nicely organized, and you can get right to the issues that concern you. Links to a variety of government and medical groups of interest to women after menopause are also included.
This Web site is dedicated to promoting women’s health during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause. It contains tons of information on perimenopause, early menopause, menopausal symptoms, long-term health effects of estrogen loss, and a wide variety of therapies to enhance your health.
Third Age has a lively and absorbing Web site on all aspects of life, health, diet, fitness, relationships, sex, beauty, and life-long learning for folks in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond.
Now here’s a terrific site to find out about what ails you (or what you think might ail you). It has a powerful search engine. You can type in the name of a medical condition or medication and get a list of articles that may be helpful to you. Nearly all the information is user friendly and written for the average person who isn’t a medical expert. All the articles are kept current and accurate. Be sure to check out their Menopause Health Center at http://www.webmd.com/diseases_and_conditions/menopause.htm .
Don’t let the name scare you. The information here can help you prevent cardiovascular disease. This Web address takes you to the part of the American Heart Association’s site devoted to women. You can find information on women’s risks of heart disease, cardiovascular problems, and stroke. This site is full of up-to-the-minute, heart-healthy information and includes links to other cardiovascular-related Web sites.
The Women’s Cancer Network, which can answer many of your questions about gynecologic cancer, is hosted by the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. You can find everything from the most recent research results to physician referrals here.
Throughout this book we’ve drawn heavily from the findings of a few crucial women’s health studies for the information and advice we’ve passed on to you. Just in case you’d like to read more about some of these studies (and stay up to date on their findings), here are some places to start.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/index.html
Consider this listing a two-for-one bonus. The first address is for the main page of the Women’s Health Initiative. The second is a site that was set up for participants in the study, but it has some terrific information on the study’s results that have already been published. Also, the section concerning HRT in the news is great because it provides links to all the media coverage of the study’s already-published results concerning hormone therapy.
http://www.channing.harvard.edu/nhs/index.html
Since 1979, the Nurses’ Health Study (and its second stage, named, appropriately enough, the Nurses’ Health Study II) has shed light on what women do to take care of their health — especially with respect to the use of hormone therapy — and how it’s working out for them.
http://www.kronosinstitute.org/keeps.html
This is one to watch — an ongoing study that may provide the answers to some of our — and your — questions about the effects of hormone therapy in women at the younger end of the normal perimenopause spectrum, and about different ways of administering hormones.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/framingham/
The good people of Framingham, Massachusetts, near Boston, have opened their hearts (and their medical files) for more than half a decade in the service of improving the health of people everywhere. Check it out — in addition to being an important chapter in American medicine, it’s a wonderful human interest story.