Verwandte Artikel zu The Change Before the Change: Everything You Need to...

The Change Before the Change: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Healthy in the Decade Before Menopause - Softcover

Corio, Laura

 
9780553380316: The Change Before the Change: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Healthy in the Decade Before Menopause
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0553380311 ISBN 13: 9780553380316
Verlag: Random House Publishing Group, 2002

Inhaltsangabe

The Essential Book for Every Woman Over 35

You’re in the prime of life. As far as you know, menopause could be years away. So why is your body sending you such weird messages?

Women today can’t afford to lose time and energy to the common, but often misdiagnosed, symptoms of perimenopause — from mood swings and stubborn extra pounds to hot flashes and insomnia — that precedemenopause by as much as a decade.

In this lively and solution-packed book, renowned ob/gyn Dr. Laura Corio provides all the information you need to take charge of your physical and emotional well-being:

• Hormone treatment before menopause, including all the new, natural, and low-dose forms that are making this a safe choice for more women

• Herbs, soy, and other alternative therapies that are backed by solid medical research

• How perimenopause affects fertility — and what to do if you want to get pregnant

• How your skin, hair, and nails reflect deeper changes — and how to make them vibrant again

• Ways to combat cancer fears — and what tests you absolutely must have

• Whether a high-protein diet is right for you — and what vitamins and minerals you should be taking

• What to do now to protect your breasts, uterus, bones, and heart in the years to come

• Diet and exercises to prevent or minimize symptoms, and much more!

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Laura E. Corio, M.D., is a board-certified ob/gyn whose thriving New York City practice attracts women from across the country because of her unique blend of no-nonsense medical advice, extensive knowledge of alternative approaches, and close collaboration with patients. She is an attending physician at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, where she also teaches medical students and residents. She has made numerous media appearances as an expert on women’s health. She lives in New Jersey with her son and daughter.

Linda G. Kahn is a writer and editor specializing in health and psychology.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

The Essential Book for Every Woman Over 35
You're in the prime of life. As far as you know, menopause could be years away. So why is your body sending you such weird messages?
Women today can't afford to lose time and energy to the common, but often misdiagnosed, symptoms of perimenopause -- from mood swings and stubborn extra pounds to hot flashes and insomnia -- that precedemenopause by as much as a decade.
In this lively and solution-packed book, renowned ob/gyn Dr. Laura Corio provides all the information you need to take charge of your physical and emotional well-being:
- Hormone treatment before menopause, including all the new, natural, and low-dose forms that are making this a safe choice for more women
- Herbs, soy, and other alternative therapies that are backed by solid medical research
- How perimenopause affects fertility -- and what to do if you want to get pregnant
- How your skin, hair, and nails reflect deeper changes -- and how to make them vibrant again
- Ways to combat cancer fears -- and what tests you absolutely must have
- Whether a high-protein diet is right for you -- and what vitamins and minerals you should be taking
- What to do now to protect your breasts, uterus, bones, and heart in the years to come
- Diet and exercises to prevent or minimize symptoms, and much more!

Aus dem Klappentext

The Essential Book for Every Woman Over 35

You re in the prime of life. As far as you know, menopause could be years away. So why is your body sending you such weird messages?

Women today can t afford to lose time and energy to the common, but often misdiagnosed, symptoms of perimenopause from mood swings and stubborn extra pounds to hot flashes and insomnia that precedemenopause by as much as a decade.

In this lively and solution-packed book, renowned ob/gyn Dr. Laura Corio provides all the information you need to take charge of your physical and emotional well-being:

Hormone treatment before menopause, including all the new, natural, and low-dose forms that are making this a safe choice for more women

Herbs, soy, and other alternative therapies that are backed by solid medical research

How perimenopause affects fertility and what to do if you want to get pregnant

How your skin, hair, and nails reflect deeper changes and how to make them vibrant again

Ways to combat cancer fears and what tests you absolutely must have

Whether a high-protein diet is right for you and what vitamins and minerals you should be taking

What to do now to protect your breasts, uterus, bones, and heart in the years to come

Diet and exercises to prevent or minimize symptoms, and much more!

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 1
How Do I Know If I’m in Perimenopause?

There was a huge snowstorm raging outside, and we’d been receiving cancellation calls all day. So I was surprised to open the door to one of our examining rooms and find Marian perched on the end of the table. Marian started seeing me twelve years ago, when she was single and living in the city. A husband and two children later, she now lived in the suburbs but still remained a loyal patient.

“Why didn’t you reschedule?” I asked. “You took your life in your hands driving all the way in from Long Island.”

“I couldn’t wait another day, Dr. Corio,” she replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“What isn’t? I feel like my whole body is falling apart — in fact, it doesn’t even feel like my own body anymore!” Marian went on to list a host of symptoms: migraines, hot flashes, insomnia, dry itchy skin, urinary tract infections, irregular periods, and decreased libido. “Poor Skip,” she continued, referring to her sweetheart of a husband. “My moods have been all over the place and I haven’t let him touch me in weeks. He’s been really understanding, but I know that for both our sakes I can’t put off dealing with this any longer.”

“Well, Marian — how old are you now?” I glanced down at her chart. “Forty-three? It sounds to me as if you may be in perimenopause.”

“You’re kidding!” she responded. “But my mother didn’t go through menopause until she was 50.”

“And you may not, either. Perimenopause can begin up to a decade before menopause,” I reminded her. “When was your last period?”

“About three weeks ago.”

“And how was it? Longer or shorter than usual? Heavier or lighter?”

“A little heavier and longer than normal. And I had wicked PMS — my breasts were killing me and I had really bad cramps. I told Skip he should buy some stock in Motrin! It was like being a teenager all over again.”

“Funny you should say that,” I said, “because in some ways perimenopause is the mirror image of puberty. One of the reasons you’re experiencing irregular periods, mood swings, and PMS is that after twenty years of relative stability, your hormones are beginning to fluctuate again. In your case, it’s because your body is winding down its reproductive life; in a teenager’s, it’s because her body is winding up.”

“Lovely,” Marian said, rolling her eyes. “But if I’m reliving those happy teenage years, how come I have no sex drive?”

“Because perimenopause is like puberty in reverse. Although your estrogen levels are bouncing around, they’re basically on their way down, whereas a teenager’s are basically on their way up. Your skin is getting drier; a teenager’s gets oilier.”

“So is there anything I can do to feel like a human being again, or do I just have to wait this out?”

“Of course there are things you can do — why should you suffer?” We went on to discuss a myriad of options, from vitamin and mineral supplements to herbs and foods she could try to relieve her various symptoms. “Before you leave today I’d like to write you a prescription for saliva testing to check your estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels,” I added. “This is the perfect time because you’re in the middle of the second half of your cycle. If these levels are no longer in the normal range and your symptoms aren’t improving with just the complementary treatments, we can talk about the possibility of adding a low dose of hormones.”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to know I’m not completely falling apart!” Marian sighed as she leaned back on the table so I could begin her physical examination. “It was definitely worth braving the hazards of the Long Island Expressway to see you today.”

What’s Happening to My Body?

Perimenopause is a transitional time between your childbearing and post-childbearing years. Basically, your ovaries, the organs that sponsor your reproductive life, are signing off. Once stuffed with as many as 6 to 7 million follicles (sacs that contain immature eggs), they now have many fewer, and the ones that remain are no longer in peak condition. Your ovaries are therefore producing less and less of the sex hormones needed to help those follicles mature.

Sex hormones don’t only affect the stimulation and release (ovulation) of mature follicles, however. There are receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in virtually all your tissues. That’s why when you’re in perimenopause you’ll not only notice that your periods are becoming irregular, but you’ll probably also experience other symptoms in seemingly unrelated parts of your body.

The swan song of your ovaries is often not a graceful “adieu.” Rather, they tend to try to make several comebacks before their final exit, resulting in sometimes wild fluctuations in hormone levels. Overall, however, the changes in your hormone levels occur in three stages:

1. During the first phase of perimenopause your progesterone level declines, leaving you in a state of estrogen dominance. You might feel like you’re constantly in PMS, with bloating, cramps, mood swings, and tender breasts. My patients describe it as feeling like their period is coming every day.

2. During the second phase your estrogen level also declines, leading to such symptoms as hot flashes, memory problems, heart palpitations, migraine headaches, and vaginal dryness. Patients with these symptoms often are up all night and feel like they’re losing their minds.

3. The third phase, or late perimenopause, sets in when estrogen and progesterone levels decline to near menopausal levels. At this point many of your symptoms may recede, although you may continue to experience some, such as hot flashes, well into your menopausal years.

To fully understand the changes your body is going through in perimenopause, you need to have a grasp of what your ovaries have been doing up to now. Although I’m sure you learned the basics in high school biology, if you’re like most of my patients you probably could use a refresher course. It’s especially important to be familiar with the key hormones involved in the menstrual cycle: estrogen, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and testosterone. It is when their levels change that you experience perimenopausal symptoms. So sharpen your Number 2 pencils and read on!

The Menstrual Cycle 101

At least ten times a week my perimenopausal patients ask questions that cause me to whip out a piece of paper and sketch the three phases of the menstrual cycle — the follicular phase, ovulation, and the luteal phase — and explain the hormones that control them.

The day you begin to bleed is called day 1. If you have a 28-day cycle, you ovulate on day 14, right in the middle. From day 1 to ovulation is called the follicular phase. From ovulation to the first day of your next period is called the luteal phase. The length of your cycle depends on the length of your follicular phase. For instance, if you have a 28-day cycle, your follicular phase is 14 days; if you have a 21-day cycle, your follicular phase is only 7 days; if you have a 35-day cycle, your follicular phase could be as long as 21 days. In a normal cycle your luteal phase should remain constant at 14...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Random House Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2002
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0553380311
ISBN 13 
9780553380316
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
448
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
GPSR Kontakt
gpsr@libri.de

Europaallee 1
Bad Hersfeld
36244
Deutschland