Menopause Matters: Your Guide to a Long and Healthy Life

by Julia Schlam Edelman MD FACOG

Overview

Menopause Matters is a complete guide for improving a woman's physical and mental health from age 35 and on.

Gynecologist and menopause specialist Dr. Julia Schlam Edelman has helped thousands of women feel better and enjoy healthier lives. Scientifically sound and clinically tested, Dr. Edelman's advice is a welcome alternative to the often misleading, conflicting, and confusing sound bites in media reports on women's health issues. Menopause Matters covers the full spectrum of topics of vital interest to perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: hot flashes, vaginal dryness, memory loss, mood changes, depression, hormone replacement therapy, sleep, diet, exercise, healthy sex, and contraception.

In a class by itself when it comes to menopause books, Menopause Matters:

• promotes informed collaboration between women and their doctors,
• advises women to improve their health based on findings in respected research studies,
• provides clear explanations of physiology and anatomy, and
• relates stories from real women who have experienced all stages of menopause.

Dr. Edelman includes prevention strategies for lowering the risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. And her practical hints about how to take supplements and medication for maximum benefit are invaluable.

Menopause Matters empowers women to be active partners with their physicians during midlife and beyond. No woman will read the book without experiencing at least one big wake-up call about how to live a happier, healthier life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801895234
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The North American Menopause Society's 2010 Menopause Practitioner of the Year, Julia Schlam Edelman, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., is a board-certified gynecologist, a certified menopause clinician, and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is in private practice in Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. You and Your Doctor: The Health Alliance
2. Handling Hot Flashes without Hormones
3. Taking Hormones in Menopause
4. Heart Disease: The Risk of Doing Nothing
5. Understanding Unexpected Bleeding
6. Common Concerns
7. Smoother Sex
8. Compatible Contraception
9. Moods, Memory, and Mental Health
10. Successful Sleep
11. Better Bones
12. Lifestyle Choices for Living Longer
13. Curbing Your Risk of Cancer
14. Your Doctor Visit
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Jan Leslie Shifren

Menopause does matter, and I will be encouraging my family, friends, patients, and colleagues to read this wonderful book. Dr. Edelman provides practical advice on reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease, as well as improving sleep, memory, bone strength, and sexual pleasure. Case histories using women's own words bring the material to life.

— Jan Leslie Shifren, M.D., Director, Vincent Menopause Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

Nanette Santoro

Wise, witty, and wonderfully up-to-date, Dr. Edelman’s compendium is the definitive guide for women navigating the perimenopausal and menopausal years. Debunking the quick fixes, explaining the hot topics in depth, offering step-by-step instructions for starting and maintaining preventive self-care—this user-friendly handbook has it all. A priceless gift.

— Nanette Santoro, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center

Mary Jane Minkin

Menopause Matters covers so much more than menopause. It is a comprehensive medical guide for all women in their thirties and beyond. Especially important now, when women are being barraged with data on topics like 'bioidentical hormones,' Dr. Edelman offers expert guidance that truly will help women make informed decisions about their health.

— Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine, and Women's Health Advisor, Prevention magazine

From the Publisher

Menopause does matter, and I will be encouraging my family, friends, patients, and colleagues to read this wonderful book. Dr. Edelman provides practical advice on reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease, as well as improving sleep, memory, bone strength, and sexual pleasure. Case histories using women's own words bring the material to life.
—Jan Leslie Shifren, M.D., Director, Vincent Menopause Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

In a world besieged by misinformation through outrageous marketing, hype, and unproven promises, it is like a breath of fresh air to finally read a well-balanced and scientifically-based book about menopause and the issues regarding hormone and other treatments. This book will answer your questions.
—Wulf H. Utian, M.D., Ph.D., DSc, Executive Director, The North American Menopause Society

Menopause Matters covers so much more than menopause. It is a comprehensive medical guide for all women in their thirties and beyond. Especially important now, when women are being barraged with data on topics like 'bioidentical hormones,' Dr. Edelman offers expert guidance that truly will help women make informed decisions about their health.
—Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine, and Women's Health Advisor, Prevention magazine

Wise, witty, and wonderfully up-to-date, Dr. Edelman’s compendium is the definitive guide for women navigating the perimenopausal and menopausal years. Debunking the quick fixes, explaining the hot topics in depth, offering step-by-step instructions for starting and maintaining preventive self-care—this user-friendly handbook has it all. A priceless gift.
—Nanette Santoro, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center

Wulf H. Utian

In a world besieged by misinformation through outrageous marketing, hype, and unproven promises, it is like a breath of fresh air to finally read a well-balanced and scientifically-based book about menopause and the issues regarding hormone and other treatments. This book will answer your questions.

— Wulf H. Utian, M.D., Ph.D., DSc, Executive Director, The North American Menopause Society

Editorial Reviews

Massachusetts-based gynecologist and menopause specialist Edelman notes that since the lifespan of the average North American woman has risen to age 84, it's likely that females of the current generation will be spending more than one third of their lives in postmenopause. In order to remain “healthy, energetic, and productive” Edelman urges preventive care and an ongoing relationship with a trustworthy doctor. Although menopause is a “healthy state,” it also holds potential risks, and according to Edelman, the best way to navigate the postmenopausal years is to be knowledgeable. Accordingly, her text resembles a sit-down talk with a trusted physician on a host of health issues associated with this phase of life. Edelman covers hot flashes, sex drive, hormone replacement therapy, heart disease, thyroid disease, cancer and sleep issues. She includes a chapter on bones and the “silent, invisible process of bone thinning,” as well as a chapter on mood, memory and mental health. Edelman offers practical tips on taking calcium (in divided doses), advice about urinary tract or bladder infections and a frank discussion of sexual issues. The importance of lifestyle, including diet and exercise, and cancer prevention strategies, are covered as well. With clarity and confidence, Edelman addresses a wide range of essential and timely topics in this information-packed primer for women entering perimenopause and beyond. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Accessible for any woman, this guide offers practical, research-based advice on managing perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. Edelman, a Massachusetts-based gynecologist with more than 25 years of practice, answers questions as varied as those relating to hormones, general health, hot flashes, sleep, memory loss, mood changes, depression, diet, exercise, health, sex, and contraception; she also offers a balanced view on the pros and cons of hormone-replacement therapy. Edelman focuses on preventive health measures. Emphasizing the importance of establishing a relationship with one's doctor, she recounts helpful personal stories from her own practice. VERDICT This is both a guide through the often confusing stories in the media and a tool for taking control of one's health care.—Jodith Janes, Cleveland Clinic Fdn. Lib.

Library Journal

Reviewer: Patti P Urso, PhD (Walden University)
Description: This user-friendly book for women approaching menopause uses minimal medical jargon and personalizes the different topics with vignettes which are used throughout the chapters.
Purpose: An authority in the field of gynecology provides information with a personal and professional perspective. The main objective is to inform women who are approaching the end of their childbearing years.
Audience: This book is written by a gynecologist with extensive experience with patients in the menopausal years, and who has experienced menopause herself. Even though the book targets a lay audience, practitioners can select recommended readings for patients as part of the consultation.
Features: Symptomatology during the perimenopausal stages and the impact menopause has on all aspects of a woman's life are discussed. Seldom discussed topics, such as sex issues and complications due to diminished hormones, are covered. Focusing mainly on prevention, the author discusses risk of cancer and risk minimization. The author's candid approach and the illustrative vignettes personalize the book.
Assessment: This is useful as an overview of the different life changes and potential pathology that can develop during these years.

Doody's Review Service

Resembles a sit-down talk with a trusted physician . . . With clarity and confidence, Edelman addresses a wide range of essential and timely topics in this information-packed primer for women entering perimenopause and beyond.
—Publishers Weekly

This is both a guide through the often confusing stories in the media and a tool for taking control of one's health care.
—Library Journal

This user-friendly book for women approaching menopauses uses minimal medical jargon and personalizes the different topics.
—Doody's Review Service

Edelman’s title is a double entendre-Menopause does impact everyone and there are many aspects to this physiologic milestone . . . This book is not a dictation of orders from a physician author but a careful sharing of quite important information in a manner to be retained and applied.
—Kathleen A. Handal, MD, National Association of Medical Communicators

Exploding many myths and unfounded guidelines, Dr. Julia Edelman takes women's health to a whole new and helpful level with this wonderful guidebook to mid-life and beyond . . . She approaches these topics from a perspective of respect and caring that I found both refreshing and supportive.
—Jeanine M. Swenson, MD, LMFT, National Association of Medical Communicators

From the Publisher

Exploding many myths and unfounded guidelines, Dr. Julia Edelman takes women's health to a whole new and helpful level with this wonderful guidebook to mid-life and beyond . . . She approaches these topics from a perspective of respect and caring that I found both refreshing and supportive.

National Association of Medical Communicators - Jeanine M. Swenson

Edelman’s title is a double entendre-Menopause does impact everyone and there are many aspects to this physiologic milestone . . . This book is not a dictation of orders from a physician author but a careful sharing of quite important information in a manner to be retained and applied.

National Association of Medical Communicators - Kathleen A. Handal

Exploding many myths and unfounded guidelines, Dr. Julia Edelman takes women's health to a whole new and helpful level with this wonderful guidebook to mid-life and beyond... She approaches these topics from a perspective of respect and caring that I found both refreshing and supportive.

— Jeanine M. Swenson, MD, LMFT

National Association of Medical Communicators