All Menopause Articles

MILWAUKEE -- Miserable in menopause, Elizabeth Alsgaard pondered an awful choice: Drenching hot flashes or hormone therapies that might raise the risk of cancer. What former actress Suzanne Somers raved about held much more appeal -- custom-mixed "bioidentical" hormones, just like ones the body makes. "Anything I can put into my body that's natural has to be better," Read more...

What to do if menopause makes you miserable? Start with a visit to your doctor. If you don't have one you really trust, fix that problem before you try to tackle the rest, women's health experts recommend. A good doctor will do an exam to make sure menopause is what is causing your symptoms, take stock of which ones are most bothering you, and help you weigh the benefits and risks of Read more...

Postmenopausal women respond much like younger women to regular, vigorous exercise, U.S. researchers found. Study leader and exercise physiologist George Brooks of the University of California at Berkeley said despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, postmenopausal women can make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets. The Read more...

If it seems like every morsel of food you eat goes straight to your hips, it could be that your hormones are to blame. According to Dr. Pamela Peeke,best-selling author and Chief Medical Correspondent for Discovery Health TV, women go through four "hormonal milestones"--puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause. Each stage is fraught with its own unique weight gain perils. Peek Read more...

A placebo works better than black cohosh and red clover in treating menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, U.S. researchers say. But the commonly used botanicals won't hurt you, the researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University found. Lead author Stacie Geller of the Chicago school and colleagues enrolled 89 women with moderate to severe hot flashes in Read more...

The jury is still out as to whether estrogens can be effective for aging skin, a U.S. dermatologist says. Dr. Margaret E. Parsons of the University of California at Davis in Sacramento reviewed studies that showed mixed results when examining whether estrogen improves the appearance of skin. There were reports of some women on hormone replacement therapy -- given to women during menopause Read more...

Bones are the body's first lines of defense. They protect the brain, heart and lungs and anchor the muscles. They keep us mobile. And all they ask in return is our support to keep them strong: good nutrition, weight-bearing exercise, calcium and vitamin D. Bones' needs also vary with age. You accumulate an astonishing 90 percent of all your bone mass by the time you're 21, so it pays to bank Read more...

You wake up just as it is growing light outside, a half-hour ahead of your alarm clock. With a sigh, you close your eyes. If only you could go back to sleep. After a few minutes, you give up, tired, but not sleepy. As you get out of bed, you wonder, "Why am I so tired all the time? I thought people needed less sleep as they got older." It isn't true. Older adults need just as Read more...

LOS ANGELES -- The death of a Spanish woman who is believed to be the oldest woman ever to give birth may be a tragedy for her children, but it doesn't mean menopausal women are unfit for pregnancy, the doctor who performed her fertility procedure said. "Men have kids at that age all the time and they're praised as being virile and macho," said Dr. Vicken Sahakian of the Pacific Read more...

Women theoretically understand menopause, but many underestimate the symptoms and their impact physically and emotionally, U.S. researchers said. Principal investigator David Portman of the Columbus Center for Women's Health Research in Ohio said 87 percent of women experience anxiety, depression and mood swings, and these symptoms negatively impact their relationships, family life and Read more...

Metabolic syndrome -- a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes -- may play a role in the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer, U.S. researchers said. The metabolic syndrome, or insulin resistance syndrome, consists of a series of factors including abdominal obesity, high blood glucose levels, impaired glucose tolerance, abnormal lipid levels and high blood pressure. It is associated with Read more...

CLINTON, Iowa  -- Osteoporosis is a very real threat for millions of Americans, but there are preventative measures everyone can take. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, nearly 44 million Americans are at risk for osteoporosis. Already, about 10 million individuals have the disease and another 34 million are affected by low bone mass, putting them at risk for osteoporosis. Read more...

CHICAGO -- The American Medical Association says there's no scientific proof to back up claims of anti-aging hormones. At their annual meeting in Chicago, AMA delegates adopted a new policy on products such as HGH, DHEA and testosterone used as aging remedies. With HGH, or human growth hormone, the AMA says evidence suggests long-term use can present more risks than benefits. The risks Read more...

Menopause is so out of the closet, women discuss hot flashes and mood swings over five o’clock cocktails with nary a blush. But as a new survey shows, some menopausal symptoms still remain taboo. Nearly 25 percent of the menopausal and postmenopausal women questioned by researchers as part of an initiative known as REVEAL (REvealing Vaginal Effects At mid-Life) admitted to experiencing Read more...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- There's more troubling news about hormone therapy for menopause symptoms: Lung cancer seems more likely to prove fatal in women who are taking estrogen-progestin pills, a study suggests. Hormone users who developed lung cancer were 60 percent more likely to die from the disease as women who weren't taking hormones, according to results reported Saturday. The new findings Read more...

In Chinese Culture, a woman's midlife transition is known as her Second Spring. That's also the title of a new book -- "Second Spring: Hundreds of Natural Secrets for Women to Revitalize and Regenerate at Any Age" (Free Press, $17.99). It's authored by Dr. Maoshing Ni, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who co-founded the Tao of Wellness Chinese Medicine Center in southern Read more...

Postmenopausal women with hot flashes and night sweats had lower lumbar and total hip bone mineral density, U.S. researchers found. The study, published in the journal Menopause, found postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms -- which include hot flashes and night sweats -- had lower bone mineral density. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues Read more...

The hormone estrogen plays a direct role in how the brain processes sounds, U.S. scientists said. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found estrogen is a key molecule carrying brain signals, and that the right balance of hormone levels in men and women is important for reasons beyond its role as a sex hormone. "We've discovered estrogen doing something totally Read more...

The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, University of Pittsburgh researchers said. "We have known for years that breastfeeding is important for babies' health; we now know that it is important for mothers' health as well," Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz said in a statement. The study, published in the journal Obstetrics Read more...