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12 Results for search "Menopause / Postmenopause".

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Menopause is a time when a woman's body goes through major changes. Some may be due to the natural transformations that come with aging. Others are produced when a woman stops generating the hormones that regulate her menstrual periods. In many women, these changes can trigger hot flashes, vaginal dryness, insomnia, night sweats, depression, and loss of interest in sex. Weight gain is common among...

As you approach menopause, your ovaries begin to secrete less estrogen. The decline in your natural supply of this hormone puts you at increased risk for heart disease and osteoporosis -- which leads to brittle bones. Getting plenty of aerobic exercise can help ward off heart problems by keeping your ticker in shape and by lowering your blood pressure, improving your circulation, and helping you k...

It was eye-catching news in 2002 when researchers called a halt to a major government-run study of a hormone therapy used by millions of older women. Researchers stopped the study, one of a series of clinical trials under the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), after they found that long-term use of estrogen and progestin raised the risk of heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and invasive breast canc...

What are hot flashes? A hot flash (also known as a hot flush) is a sudden feeling of heat, usually on your face, neck, shoulders, and chest. You may begin sweating profusely, and your heart might start pounding. These symptoms can last for only a few seconds or minutes, or they can go on for as long as half an hour. The overheated sensation is sometimes followed by a slight chill, and hot flashes ...

Women aren't the only ones who get hot flashes in their later years. Aging men can get them, too, along with osteoporosis, dwindling energy, fading sex drive, and a host of other problems that would be familiar to millions of menopausal women. Over the years, health journalists, members of the general public, and a few doctors have embraced the term "male menopause" to describe the changes that so...

Recently, a friend was waxing philosophical about the luck of someone who had won the lottery. Suddenly, she stopped talking and furrowed her brow as she groped for the word she was looking for. "Random," I offered. "Yes! That's it!" she declared. After pausing again, she suggested that menopausal women would benefit from traveling in pairs just so they could finish each other's sentences. If you...

When Pamela Kragen* was going through menopause, she remembers a woman who became so enraged that she ripped the phone out of the wall. The woman happened to be Kragen herself. At times, menopause transformed Kragen into another persona entirely -- one that reminded her of a woman whose multiple personalities could not be controlled. "Normally, I may fly off the handle once or twice a year. But ...

Menopause, strictly speaking, is when you stop having periods, but it is usually identified once it has been a year since your last period. When you've reached menopause, your body's hormonal mix shifts. Both men and women produce the female hormone estrogen and the male hormone testosterone. At menopause the ovaries begin producing more testosterone and less estrogen, and their egg production shu...

Our bodies are a stew of hormones and chemicals and enzymes and all sorts of exotic-sounding ingredients. For many women, this concoction bubbles along happily right through menopause. But for other women, it doesn't take a chemist to know that something is out of whack. We get hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia -- and suddenly sex isn't as alluring as it used to be. What's going on? The hormone ...

Dong quai (Angelica sinensis ), or Chinese angelica, is a member of a plant family that includes parsley, carrots, and poison hemlock. Asian women have traditionally used its bittersweet root to relieve menstrual cramps and regulate periods. In this country it often shows up as the principal ingredient in "women's supplements," commercial mixtures of herbs that promise to treat everything from a s...

Perimenopause starts with your first hot flash and lasts until 12 months after your last period. You may already be in it (symptoms can start as early as your 30s). Take this quiz and find out. 1. Which of the following can be a sign that menopause is approaching? a. Insomnia b. Decreased sexual desire c. Thinning hair d. All of the above 2. Since perimenopause is a natural process, th...

You may think of flax as a source of fine linens, but the plant's greatest value may well lie in its small, dark seeds. As far back as the 700s, King Charlemagne ordered every loyal Roman to eat flaxseed for health, and today many alternative medicine gurus echo that decree to all who will listen. Flaxseed is more than just nutritious -- health experts believe the seed can actually help prevent he...