Posts made in May, 2008

Mabel is unstable

Posted by Liz on May 16, 2008 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

I found this vintage ad promoting a mild sedative for the “change.” Had to share. If you click on the ad, you can read the copy. Poor Mabel. Do you think she felt better floating through her days? !

Got the blues?

Posted by Liz on May 15, 2008 in emotions | 5 comments

Everybody who knows me knows that I’m an exercise junkie. If I don’t have my daily dose, well, I go a bit batty and my mood starts that slow decline into a fetal ball of yuck. Well, good news. Study findings suggests that daily exercise not only helps alleviate the effect of general life-stressors, but it may actually do wonders for symptoms too. What’s more, that regular social interaction between sisters tends to improve overall quality of life.

So the next time the blues start grabbing hold, well, get your body moving…

Put Up Your Dukes!

Posted by Liz on May 14, 2008 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that women rapidly stop producing reproductive hormones around mid-life to reduce competition with younger females in the same family unit…in other words, a majority of women cease to have the ability to breed so that the next generation can step in. Evolutionary-wise, this hard-wiring was established to reduce the likelihood of reproductive conflict with younger females who might marry our sons. The researchers explain that their study helps to explain the timing of these events.

Unlike other primates, humans also tend to live a long time after menopause. Researchers believe that this may have evolved from a need for mothers to share food with their children in order to enhance the next generation’s own fertility.

A great write-up of these two studies can be found here.

The Pause that Refreshes

Posted by Liz on May 12, 2008 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Yikes! Blanche sent me this article must have missed it when I read the New York Times today. Evidently, the ad folks for Estroven want to invite us all the Menopauseland so we can celebrate this stage in our lives.

Sisters – I love this time in my life and indeed, there are many things about it that are grand. But I guess that when I turn into Ms. Hyde because my hormones are raging, well, I’m not always in the mood to send my gal pals a postcard.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let it flow and flow and flow

Posted by Liz on May 12, 2008 in stress | 0 comments

My college roomie and I had a teacher’s assistant in college for our “Women and their Bodies in Health and Disease” class. At end of the one of her sessions, we gathered in an upstairs room in the Union and meditated to increase our chi. At the time, it certainly became the brunt of many jokes but a recent post on Becoming Your Stellar Self on the increasing role of reiki in hospitals kickstarted my brain; could reiki be helpful for menopausal symptoms?

Since Reiki is used to balance various systems, one has to wonder if it might be helpful for balancing hormones that have run wild?

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is currently studying reiki in five clinical trials. Of particular interest is a trial on the effect of reiki on stress.

A woman’s adrenal glands go into overdrive during menopause, taking over the role of producing hormones from the ovaries, creating a perfect recipe for an overtaxed system. Factors like stress and lack of sleep create additional demands on the adrenal glands. So it makes perfect sense to engage in practices that help relax our minds and body, and alleviate the excess stress brought on by perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms.

As Kate, the TA used to say….let it flow and flow and flow. If reiki is a means to achieving a better balance during a time when our bodies are anything but balanced, well, I’m all for it!