While all women will face menopause in their lives, most continue to have serious questions on what to expect. In Understanding Menopause and Hormone Therapy, noted authority Dr. Barry Wren presents the facts in nontechnical, easy-tounderstand language, explaining everything from what exactly menopause is to how it affects a woman's lifestyle. Dr. Wren explores the bodily changes that take place along with common treatment options, focusing on the popular yet controversial hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Every woman, as she gets older, must face the onset of menopause-either naturally occurring or brought on surgically. As we learn more about menopause and the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a number of questions arise. The most hotly debated of them all: should women receive HRT? This book grew out of the need for a balanced examination of all the relevant issues-not for medical practitioners but for women of all ages-and is written in the context of how women experience the transition of menopause. Drawing on a number of population studies and their own research, contributors from different fields take on subjects ranging from HRT as a social issue and the psychosocial aspects of menopause to the role of diet and exercise in midlife health and what natural therapies may have to offer women. Other chapters thoroughly discuss the pros and cons of HRT and explain what hormones are and what they do. Readers will find the latest facts and medical opinions on how HRT can affect the likelihood of developing osteoporosis and bone fractures, breast and gynecological cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, urinary problems, and vaginal thinning. For the millions of women who fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of menopausal symptoms-and those at either end of the continuum-this easy-to-understand guide blends thought-provoking opinion with facts into one clear, concise source.

Women's health and hormone replacement

Organized for ease of use by today's busy mental health clinicians, Menopause: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide describes the latest knowledge and clinical recommendations associated with menopause in a single, concise guide that is clearly written and comprehensive in scope. Menopause is about change -- but it is also a normal life stage traversed by most women with little or no difficulty. Not all women have symptoms as they transition to menopause, and women with symptoms experience them in different combinations and levels of intensity. The management of perimenopause and menopause is also rapidly changing. The past 5 years have seen truly dramatic changes in our scientific knowledge of and medical recommendations for perimenopause and menopause. For example, until recently, hormone replacement therapy was highly advocated as an essential aspect of care for women in perimenopause and menopause. Even the definitions used to describe the different time periods and stages associated with natural (i.e., nonsurgical) menopause have changed over time and can be confusing. Thus, Menopause: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide uses the 1994 World Health Organization Scientific Group on Research in the Menopause terminology, augmented by more recent refinements made by the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop. The essential Menopause: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide sheds light on the complexity and constant change integral to the study and treatment of menopause, bringing together the current work of 14 internationally recognized menopause experts in psychiatry, neuroscience, gynecology, and internal medicine. After an introductory chapter sets the contexts of midlife in women, subsequent chapters in Menopause: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide cover the following topics: The basic physiology of the menopausal transition and menopause. The effects of gonadal hormones on the central nervous system, and in particular, depression, anxiety, and irritability during the menopausal transition and midlife. New research findings and clinical advice about the effect of gonadal hormones and menopause on psychotic illness in women. An examination of the medical aspects of and the gynecologic aspects of perimenopause and menopause. A look beyond menopause to the psychopathology and psychotherapy of older women in various cultures. The timely information contained in Menopause: A Mental Health Practitioner's Guide will help mental health professionals to formulate current, best understanding and treatment for the psychological problems that some women experience as they traverse perimenopause and menopause.

A review of both the potential hazards and benefits of hormone therapy after menopause.

Provides valuable new information on menopause and how women should approach it in a handbook that offers sound guidance for women dealing with the physical and emotional health issues surrounding menopause, covering such topics as hormone relacement therapy, PMS, treatments for the symptoms of menopause, osteoporosis, cancer prevention, and sexuality. Original.