The Top 100
News Flash!
Flashfree has been featured in the list of the Top 100 Women’s Health Blogs!
Check out the list; you may find some interesting and useful health tidbits in some of these sites!
Read MoreGoing Undercover
I’ve found that the more I flash or sweat, the less I want to wear. This is especially true in the evenings and in bed.
So, when I saw this article about bullet-resistant bras, I wondered about these poor German policewomen (at least the ones in menopause). Life-saving heat.
I’m telling you, it’s a field day for puns and bad jokes.
Read MoreWhen Did This Happen?
I’ve engaged a 23-years-young vet tech to come over for the next week to give my Lily, my kitten, eye ointment because I can’t seem to accomplish this one little task. Okay, I’m a loser.
But more importantly, tonight, this cute woman and I started talking and she mentioned that her 52-year-old dad is free. Wow! In my head, I am only…30 at most? But I am old enough to be this woman’s mother and date her dad. WHAT?!
When did this happen?
Seems like I was dancing to the English Beat in a cow barn in Madison. Wisconsin with my roomie and her boyfriend only yesterday. But when I think about it, I was actually in meetings all day with a group of individuals younger than me, all of them, including the agency’s principals.
You are only as old as you feel.
Today, I am realizing that mid-life has entered hard and fast and I’ve not yet caught up.
What about you?
Read MoreUp in Smoke
I remember the first time I had a cigarette. It was a Kool, purchased surreptitiously from the candy shop across the street from McKinley School. The year was 1969 and I was eight years old.
Yes, I said eight!
It used to be cool to smoke. My girlfriends and I would pretend we were in the teachers’ lounge (remember those?). By the time I got to college, I switched to clove cigarettes. And then afterwards, Marlboro Lights. I was up to a pack and a half a day by the time I stopped smoking. At the age of 30.
This means that I smoked, on and off, for 22 years.
At the age of 46, I had my first night sweat. I turned 47 this past May, and started to address my perimenopausal symptoms more seriously. And started this blog.
You may wonder why I’m sharing these intimate details of my covert and then overt smoking life.
Researchers say that first- and second-hand smoking not only increases the risk for death from heart disease and cancer, but may also significantly increase the risk for starting menopause at an earlier age (i.e., around age 45 rather than the average age of 51).
Data from a cross-section of 5,029 women aged 25 and older participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III have shown that women who were current smokers (as measured by self-reports and blood levels of nicotine) started menopause at a mean age of 47, while women in service industries who were exposed to nicotine in their jobs started menopause at a mean age of 46.
Black women who had been regularly exposed to cigarette smoke had 12 times the odds of other racial groups of an earlier menopause age compared with smokers and nonsmokers who had not had any exposure. The investigators attributed this significantly increased risk among Black women to the body’s inability to clear nicotine from the blood as quickly as their peers.
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that women in the workplace who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at increased risk for many of the same diseases as smokers. They’ve now added early menopause to this list.
What is less clear, however, is the risk for “former smokers,” since they were taken out of the analyses.
Makes you wonder if many of us who are former smokers or were exposed to second-hand smoke on a regular basis in our homes (a good percentage of women our age, as my sister in law pointed out), are at a higher risk as well.
Sort of like poster children, right?
Read MoreA bit of wisdom goes a long way
I went up to Philly to visit an old friend this weekend. She turned me on to this book, a pretty amazing overview of menopause. What I like most about it is that its author, Dr. Christine Northrup, is an MD who isn’t afraid of holistic and Chinese medicine. Personally, I’m fortunate because my gyno is open to alternative medicine and in fact, recommended topical progesterone before my acupuncturist did. But not every MD is well-versed in East meets West and as a result, many patients are short-changed on strategies that might help them.
If you are looking for an alternative path, check out the book. It’s definitely a must-see.
Read MoreDoopid
Does menopause make you stupid? Or worse than stupid; i.e. what my ex and I used to call “doopid.”
In my battle against the bulge, my quest against cellulite, my desire to appear younger…well, I guess that I fell for the hype. I bought a new firming gel with “intelligent ingredients,” i.e. they utilize a breakthrough process to reduce the appearance of cellulite dimples. Touting itself as a “firmaceutical,” this gel evidently interacts with the skin’s surface to target the underlying causes of cellulite. AND IT’S ONLY $3.95 (to cover shipping).
Yet, here’s the rub (no pun intended)!. I received the product and then read the fine print. I get to try it for 30 days, after which time, I will be billed the discounted price of $89.95 and then $44.97 per month thereafter. And, it comes with special supplements to boots the product’s effectiveness. WHAT?! If, during the 30-day period, I don’t see any changes; well, I can return the unused portion.
Sigh. Am I really that doopid? I’m in advertising. I write medical copy. I report on medical studies. Heck, I have spent years educating doctors on diseases. And yet, the promise of smoother, dimple-free skin got me hook, line and sinker.
Doopid!
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