The Slow Moon Climbs


Book Description

A surprising look at the role of menopause in human history—and why we should change the ways we think about it Are the ways we look at menopause all wrong? Susan Mattern says yes and, in The Slow Moon Climbs, reveals just how wrong we have been. From the rainforests of Paraguay to the streets of Tokyo, Mattern draws on historical, scientific, and cultural research to show how perceptions of menopause developed from prehistory to today. Introducing new ways of understanding life beyond fertility, Mattern examines the fascinating “Grandmother Hypothesis,” looks at agricultural communities where households relied on postreproductive women for the family’s survival, and explores the emergence of menopause as a medical condition in the Western world. The Slow Moon Climbs casts menopause in the positive light it deserves—as an essential juncture and a key factor in human flourishing.




Sex, Meaning and the Menopause


Book Description




Integrative Women's Health


Book Description

Women have made it clear that they desire a broader, integrative approach to their care. Here, for the first time, Integrative Women's Health weaves together the best of conventional treatments with mind-body interventions, nutritional strategies, herbal therapies, dietary supplements, acupuncture, and manual medicine, providing clinicians with a roadmap for practicing comprehensive integrative care. Presenting the best evidence in a concise, accessible format, and written exclusively by female clinicians, this text addresses many aspects of women's health, including feminine perspectives on aging, spirituality and sexuality, specific recommendations for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, headaches, multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety, and cancer, as well as integrative approaches to premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, menopause, fibroids, and endometriosis. Homeopathic, Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners provide insight into the ways in which these systems manage reproductive conditions. As leading educators in integrative medicine, editors Dr. Maizes and Dr. Low Dog demonstrate how clinicians can implement their recommendations in practice, but they also go beyond practical care to examine how to motivate patients, enhance a health history, and understand the spiritual dimensions of healing.




The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies


Book Description

This open access handbook, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive and carefully curated multidisciplinary and genre-spanning view of the state of the field of Critical Menstruation Studies, opening up new directions in research and advocacy. It is animated by the central question: ‘“what new lines of inquiry are possible when we center our attention on menstrual health and politics across the life course?” The chapters—diverse in content, form and perspective—establish Critical Menstruation Studies as a potent lens that reveals, complicates and unpacks inequalities across biological, social, cultural and historical dimensions. This handbook is an unmatched resource for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and activists new to and already familiar with the field as it rapidly develops and expands.




Mind Over Menopause


Book Description

A groundbreaking mind/body program for perimenopause and menopause uses relaxation response techniques, nutrition, and exercise to manage menopause symptoms.




What They Don’t Tell You About Menopause: A Gynecologist’s Unofficial Guide to Premenopausal, Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Life


Book Description

Women have always struggled with the idea of how much better life would be if they had a better body, a better exercise routine, a better life. This can make it difficult for women to grasp that aging is both a normal and natural part of life. With over 40 years of experience working as an obstetrician gynecologist (OBGYN), Dr. Heather Johnson is equipped with the knowledge to help women of all ages mature gracefully. In What They Don’t Tell You About Menopause, Dr. Johnson discusses the various stages of menopause and what to expect throughout this natural aspect of life for women. From perimenopause to postmenopause, and everything in between, this book will be your guide through this daunting period of womanhood.




Encounters with Aging


Book Description

Margaret Lock explicitly compares Japanese and North American medical and political accounts of female middle age to challenge Western assumptions about menopause. She uses ethnography, interviews, statistics, historical and popular culture materials, and medical publications to produce a richly detailed account of Japanese women's lives. The result offers irrefutable evidence that the experience and meanings—even the endocrinological changes—associated with female midlife are far from universal. Rather, Lock argues, they are the product of an ongoing dialectic between culture and local biologies. Japanese focus on middle-aged women as family members, and particularly as caretakers of elderly relatives. They attach relatively little importance to the end of menstruation, seeing it as a natural part of the aging process and not a diseaselike state heralding physical decline and emotional instability. Even the symptoms of midlife are different: Japanese women report few hot flashes, for example, but complain frequently of stiff shoulders. Articulate, passionate, and carefully documented, Lock's study systematically undoes the many preconceptions about aging women in two distinct cultural settings. Because it is rooted in the everyday lives of Japanese women, it also provides an excellent entree to Japanese society as a whole. Aging and menopause are subjects that have been closeted behind our myths, fears, and misconceptions. Margaret Lock's cross-cultural perspective gives us a critical new lens through which to examine our assumptions.




The Menopause Manifesto


Book Description

'A guide to counteract medical misogyny' New Scientist 'The world's most famous - and outspoken - gynaecologist' Guardian In The Menopause Manifesto internationally renowned, New York Times bestselling author Dr Jen Gunter brings you empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective and expert advice. The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women's bodies, and it's no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Menopause is not a disease - it's a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what's to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring. Frank and funny, Dr Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about: * Perimenopause * Hot flashes * Sleep disruption * Sex and libido * Depression and mood changes * Skin and hair issues * Outdated therapies * Breast health * Weight and muscle mass * Health maintenance screening * And much more Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionise how women experience menopause - including how their lives can be even better for it!




What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Menopause


Book Description

Arguing that giving estrogen replacement therapy to women after menopause is medically the wrong thing to do, Lee suggests that natural progesterone can prevent most of the unpleasant side effects of menopause, including osteoporosis and weight gain.




The Menopausal Transition


Book Description

The interplay of hormones, health and behavior across the female life cycle, especially during the menopausal transition, poses a special challenge to health care professionals.Written by experts, this book brings together the knowledge gained on the menopausal transition from clinical experience and medical research. Topics like 'what to expect' from the menopausal transition, sexuality, sociocultural changes, impact of life stressors, and emergence of depression are discussed. The physiology of thermoregulation and the occurrence of hot flashes are reviewed for a better understanding of vasomotor complaints. Another chapter offers an update on hormonal and nonhormonal treatment strategies by presenting an overview of the management of mood and anxiety during the menopausal transition. The emergence of psychotic symptoms associated with peri- and postmenopausal changes in sex hormone levels is also addressed. Lastly, the book includes an excellent review on the pros and cons of hormonal therapy in the post-Women's Health Initiative era. This book is a must for gynecologists, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, epidemiologists involved in the clinical care of mature women as well as researchers and students interested in obtaining an up-to-date overview of this topic.