Listen up!
I realized that this blog has gotten a bit serious lately. So time to add some levity because afterall, if you can’t laugh in the midst of this interesting joke that life is playing on us all, well…
I ran across this great Op/Ed piece that ran in the New York Times a little over a year ago. It is written by Elizabeth Hayt, and really focuses on the power of communication and community. I encourage you to visit Elizabeth’s blog and read it!
Read MoreMale what?
photo credit: Phil Dente
There’s a misnomer going around (can a misnomer go around?). It’s called “male menopause.” Now mind you, I’ve got no beef with da guyz but to call a gradual decline in testosterone “menopause,” seems a bit extreme. So, what’s the buzz about?
According to the Mayo Clinic, menopause and “andropause” are two, distinct animals. During menopause, women undergo a cessation of menstruation and a rapid plummet in hormone production. On the other hand, men experience gradual declines in testosterone production after age 40. However, some men continue to produce high levels of testosterone well into their older years. What’s more, the problem does not appear to be universal; symptoms of testosterone decline, which may include reduced sexual desire and spontaneous erection, swollen breasts, a loss of hair from the body and around the genitals, loss of muscle mass, depression, and rarely, hot flashes and sweats vary from man to man and some men never experience any symptoms whatsoever.
The medical community is not only in disagreement over “male menopause” but also its treatment.
There’s lots of controversy over testosterone replacement therapy and whether or not it actually helps the symptoms of androgen deficiency. What’s more, research suggests that a large majority of men experiencing symptoms of androgen deficiency do not seek care. (No surprise there, right?!)
So is it real? Or is it a natural result of aging? One might argue that menopause is also correlative to aging so that a distinction should not be made between the sexes. On the other hand, I think that given the choice, many women would choose a gradual decline over the plunge off the cliff any day. For better or worse, menopause is owned by the ladies. And until all the votes are in, I suggest that we stop referring to this age-related problem in men as “menopause.”
Read MoreShare and share alike
I’m all for spreading the word. I ran across this great post on rebranding the term “menopause.” Had to share. If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself!
Read MoreShhh.
I was talking to a colleague/old friend the other day about this blog. She is a few years older than I and we got into this great conversation about generational gaps when it comes to discussing health issues. Perimenopause and menopause in particular, have been huge taboo issues for women for decades.
Take for example, an episode from ‘That 70s Show,’ in which Kitty learns that she is not pregnant but rather, has entered menopause. When she asks her mother (played to a T by none other than Betty White) about her experience, she’s informed that she never went through menopause and has always been “healthy.” It’s funny and sad simultaneously. And definitely well worth the watch. (Fast forward to timecode 3:59.)
As the last of the baby boomers enter middle age, their appetites for health information appear to be ever more insatiable. And yet, some of the savviest and most practical women I know confess that they rarely, if ever, discuss their symptoms, moods or concerns about the changes that they are going through with their friends, let alone their mothers.
I’m fortunate. I have a mother who is pretty open about these sort of topics. And although she’s 70+, she tries hard to maintain an open attitude about certain things. When I approached her a few months ago about what I was going through, she was very forthcoming about her own experiences. And while her experiences were not exactly like mine (let’s face it; no two women’s experiences will ever be exactly the same), being able to talk about it was very liberating, even if I didn’t find “why” behind my own symptomatology.
Janine O’Leary Cobb, a former professor at Vanier College in Montreal, author of Understanding Menopause and founder of ‘A Friend Indeed,” once said that “it seem[s] to be one of the last things women talk about because it’s so entangled with aging and we don’t want to talk about getting older.”
And yet, research suggests that when we do talk about “it” and about getting older, hopefulness and positivity dominates, even as we acknowledge the more negative, i.e. loss and bodily changes, at the same time. And there a majority of women in this study who said that they feel a greater willingness to embrace personal growth and opportunities being presented to them with ease and sense of self as they age, a liberation, if you will.
So, what’s my point? Well, I’m not suggesting that we embrace the sugar-coated version of perimenopause and menopause that many advertisers would lead us to believe. But if we start having conversations with our gal pals and our mothers and colleagues, well, maybe we can begin moving towards removing the stigma that surrounds the “change” and aging once and for all.
Knowledge and exchange are certainly positive, powerful aphrodisiacs for growth.
Read MoreMabel is unstable
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? !
Read MorePut Up Your Dukes!
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.
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