Menopause

Ann Parson . Science Writer | home

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The Proteus Effect | Decoding Darkness | Menopause

Menopause

Co-authored with Isaac Schiff, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Exerpt

Introduction

Times Books/Random House

Not long ago, menopause was a subject surrounded by more silence than discussion, more myth than fact. In a few decades, however, science has raised our understanding of this transition point, clearing away misconceptions and promoting a new acceptance and awareness of menopause's biological intricacies.

Menopause isn't a disease, as earlier practitioners sometimes labeled it. Quite the opposite: It is a natural step in the process of aging. Just as menarche, the beginning of menstruation, signals the start of a woman's childbearing years, menopause signals the end of those years, and most women traverse it without serious medical or emotional complications. “I'm afraid I've begun menopause,” one woman lamented to her physician. “Nonsense! You aren't going to pause for anything,” the doctor objected. And that is true for the large majority of women. There's lots of life left beyond menopause; for most women, one-half of their adulthood. And contrary to the stereotypical view that life is all downhill after menopause, many women discover that the postmenopausal years offer fresh ground and bring new challenges.

Menopause's new visibility represents a valuable advance for women's health in this century. American female baby boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - have been among the first to gain more control over their reproductive lives through advanced options in birth control, fertility, and abortion. Now, too, as they head toward menopause, they enjoy a new spectrum of health care choices. They have the advantage of knowing what to expect when menopause arrives and how to manage this passage, if they need to.

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From a patient: “I've always had a tendency to listen to my body and its changes, especially after having five children and two miscarriages. When I turned 50, I began having night sweats and heart palpitations. Yet I felt really terrific. I wondered what was going on, until it occurred to me that maybe menopause was responsible. I started going into bookstores and looking for information. Once I started reading about menopause, I felt so much more reassured about the things I was experiencing.”