Posts by Liz

Gal pals – your second self

Posted by Liz on Jun 5, 2009 in Inspiration, women's health | 3 comments

Ever wonder why spending time with your girlfriends boosts your mood? Researchers from the University of Michigan report that emotional closeness increases progesterone levels and leads to greater bonding between people. Is it possible that social bonding and sharing may help to counteract waning progesterone levels during the the menopause transition as well?

To measure the influence of social bonding on progesterone levels, 160 female college students were randomly assigned to partners and asked to perform tasks:

• Ask one another specific questions geared towards allowing them to get to know one another better and promote emotional closeness (e.g. “Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?”)
• Proofread an “emotionally neutral” article together

Before and after each session, the researchers took saliva samples to measure progesterone and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. All sessions were held at the same time (between noon and 7 pm) to insure that factors such as fluctuating daily hormone levels would not interfere with the results. One week later, all study participants returned, played a computerized card game and had their hormone levels measured again.

The bonding between the women caused progesterone but not cortisol levels to increase. Moreover, an increase in progesterone levels tended to influence the likelihood and willingness to make sacrifices on behalf of a study partner (i.e. risk one’s life) when measured again one week later.

The researchers say that the study findings help to explain why social contact has well-documented health benefits. It also appears that progesterone, like other hormones involved in bonding and helping behavior, enables individuals to suppress self-interest in order to take care of family or friends.

I’ve written previously on the importance of social support and bonding, not only during the transition but during our entire lives. Clearly, helping and supporting our sisters during good and bad times helps overall wellbeing and lends our souls a bit of a boost on our journeys.

Give a gal pal a call, send a hug, provide a smile, caress her soul, take care of her “self” as much as yours’.

A friend, as it were, a second self. Cicero.

Wednesday Bubble: something for da guyz

Posted by Liz on Jun 3, 2009 in menopause | 4 comments

Men! Male menopause? I think not! The closest thing to it? I believe so.

New York Times writer Dana Jennings, wrote a poignant piece in yesterday’s paper about his personal experience with hot flashes — not only as a husband/partner to a menopausal woman — but also as an advanced prostate cancer patient taking Lupron for his condition.  Entitled “My Brief Life as a Woman,” (a title, which by the way, I want to rebel against) Jennings explores the effect that hormone therapy had on his body (night sweats, weight gain), his emotions (fits of crying), energy (fatigue) and overall quality of life (frequent headaches).

What resonates? His admission that “even though I only got to spend a brief time on the outer precincts of menopause, it did confirm my lifelong sense that the world of women is hormonal and mysterious, and that we men don’t have the semblance of a clue.”

I applaud Jennings for his candor, his sensitivity and his humour.

Men – the next time your wife/partner/girlfriend/friend is on the “Good Ship Menopause,” as Jennings so aptly describes it, embrace and offer to carry her “physical baggage.” Although it’s not a trip you’re necessarily prepared for, the journey may help you understand what she is going through a bit more thoroughly. Another helpful resource: Dick Roth’s “No, It’s Not Hot in Here,” a husband’s guide to understanding menopause.

A little understanding, a little support, and someone to sit with during bad chick flicks. Is that too much to ask?!

(Thanks to Steve Woodruff for pointing me to this piece in the NYT)

Futuristic Friday – the bedfan

Posted by Liz on May 29, 2009 in hot flash, nightsweats | 0 comments

Besides the awful name (what comes to mind is “bed pan”) this whimsical device may actually save a few partnerships or marriages. The bedfan – a “device that blows a cool breeze under the covers.” Now, granted, it’s not quite as nifty as cleavage coolers, but it still might address those night sweats and flashes and make bedtime more pleasurable, for both parties!

Wednesday Bubble: no glove, no…

Posted by Liz on May 27, 2009 in sexual health | 0 comments

[Credit: enigmafashions.com]

… love.  Seems silly, right? However, sadly, advanced reproductive age has nothing to do with whether or not a woman should use contraception. In fact, according to a literature review published several decades ago, the likelihood of reproductive sterility at age 40 is 40%, and at age 45, 80%. This means that the monthly risk of pregnancy, although declining with less frequent ovulation, may still be as high as 60%, depending on your age.

In a more recent review, published this month in the Advanced Access edition of Human Reproduction Update, investigators report that the decline in fertility among women in their 50s remains insufficient to prevent pregnancy. With the exception of hysterectomy, they point to copper and hormonal IUDs, both of which have failure rates of less than 1%.

Additional considerations when choosing a contraceptive method in midlife include:

• Menopausal stage, i.e. how frequent or infrequent are your menstrual periods?
• Menopausal symptoms
• Sexual issues, e.g., desire, lubrication or lack thereof

Although I am not a fan of hormones, selecting a hormonally-based contraception may help to address these particular issues.

So, how long do you need to wear protection? The investigators suggest that contraception should be continued until women become postmenopausal and attain a natural state of sterility. I’d add that if you are having intercourse with more than one partner, that you add another layer of  protection — e.g. a  condom — to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

It may be inconvenient, but surely, not as inconvenient (or traumatic) as midlife pregnancy.

A B C…

Posted by Liz on May 26, 2009 in estrogen, memory/learning | 3 comments

Study results reported in the May 26 issue of  Neurology suggests that the menopause transition negatively affects women’s ability to learn.

Researchers evaluated 2,362 women between the ages of 42 and 52 for verbal memory, working memory and the speed at which they proceesed information. All study participants were tested through the four stages of the menopause transition:

1. premenopause (no change in menstrual periods)
2. early perimenopause (menstrual irregularity, no gaps in period for 3 months)
3. late perimenopause (having no period for 3 to 11 months)
4. postmenopause (no period for 12 months)

The results showed improvements in processing speed during pre- and early perimenopause and postmenopause that were 28% larger compared to those in late perimenopause. Improvements in  verbal memory were 29% larger in permenopause than in  early or late perimenopause, and and become 36% larger compared with postmenopause.

The researchers said that it appears that during the late and early menopause, women do not learn as well as they do during other stages. What’s more, these findings support prior self-reports that suggest that as many as 60% of women have memory problems during the menopause transition. (Notably, there have been some studies that suggest that this is a fallacy.) The study authors add that this lapse in learning ability tends to be temporary and returns during the postmenopause stage. They also point to findings that show that taking estrogen or progesterone before menopause may help to improve verbal memory or processing speed but this effect can be reversed if hormones are taken after the final menstrual period.

This is an interesting study and the findings seem to jive with personal experience, especially with regards to what sometimes appears like a diminishing abilty to process information.  It makes me wonder if taking classes as I go through menopause is a good idea or not! And it equally makes me question the endless havoc that hormones appear to take on our bodies and our minds.

What about you? I’d love to hear your experiences and where you are in the transition, that is, if you can remember to comment after reading this (!)