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If you’re within a few years of menopause, you may find yourself channel-surfing at 3 a.m. the morning for the first time in your life. Hormonal ups and downs may have affected your sleep during menstruation and pregnancy, as well, but chances are, that was nothing compared to these fearsome midlife fluctuations.

Hormones Drop; Adrenaline Rises
During menopause your ovaries slowly decrease their production of two hormones, estrogen and progesterone, the latter of which promotes sleep. When those hormone levels drop, it can be very unsettling to your system and make it hard to sleep. A drop in estrogen also leaves you more vulnerable to stress, another disturbance to your slumber.

Hot flashes, which plague up to 85 percent of menopausal women, can jolt you awake too. These flashes are actually caused by a rush of adrenaline that

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We all know that as a women’s age increases, so do her bladder issues. Is it yet another sign menopause?  Yes…it could be menopause, but it also could be because of caffeine. It seems that excess caffeine increases the likelihood of urinary incontinence in women, according to a new study that echoes the findings of previous research.

”Women who consume high levels of caffeine are 70% more likely to have urinary incontinence than women who don’t,” says Jon Gleason, MD, an instructor and fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School’s Division of Women’s Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.

He is slated to present the findings Friday at the American Urogynecologic Society’s annual meeting in Long Beach, Calif.

Caffeine sources include coffee, tea, beverages, foods, and

Previous research suggests that reduced levels of the hormone estrogen during menopause are responsible for the increased body weight and abdominal fat, nights sweats, hot flashes etc. often experienced by postmenopausal women. However, while estrogen replacement therapies can reduce weight gain, they also have unwelcome side effects, prompting a search for alternative methods of treatment. Soy naturally contains estrogen-like compounds called phytoestrogens, and so dietary soy may provide an alternative to typical estrogen replacement therapies.

Michelle Murphy from the Monell Chemical Senses Center found decreased body weight and increased energy expenditure in post-menopausal rats after adding soy phytoestrogens to their regular diet. She comments, “These results have implications for the development of alternative natural treatments for obesity in post-menopausal women.” The results of this study highlight the need for further research into the actions

I saw a middle aged lady walking across the street holding a coffee cup on her head. When I asked her what she was doing she said, “I’m trying to save energy by using this crazy hot flash to reheat my coffee.”  I’m not sure if it worked, but it sure was a humorous sight.  I loved the fact that she had a sense of humor.  Laughter can’t cure menopausal symptoms, but it can certainly help when those pesky symptoms get you down.

Census information tells us that there are…

• 2 million women turning 50 every year…yes prime menopause age.
• The average age of menopause is 51
• 85% of all women going through menopause report having hot flashes and night sweats.
• Over 75 million baby boomers and more than half  of them women

With these statistics, that’s a lot of heat to go around.

There are many reasons

Women with severe hot flashes said their quality of life improved after taking mindfulness classes that included meditation and stretching exercises, according to a new study.

The findings also suggest that such classes could help improve sleep quality, stress, and anxiety during menopause.

“There’s a broad range of attitudes about hot flashes and how they should be treated,” Dr. Ellen Freeman, a menopause expert at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, told Reuters Health.

“There are certainly many, many women who don’t want to take hormones … and don’t want to take other drugs either,” said Dr. Freeman, who was not involved in the current study. Mindfulness, on the other hand, “may be something that they find very acceptable.”

Women with frequent and severe hot flashes and night sweats often also complain about anxiety and stress related

The findings are the latest addition to a complicated picture of the possible link between hormones and mental functioning in women. Some researchers think hormone therapy may help improve brain function and prevent Alzheimer’s disease after menopause. But then there are studies that show little impact on thinking and memory, or different impacts depending on the age of women being treated.

One recent study of women in surgical menopause – when the uterus and ovaries are removed – suggested that estrogen might provide a memory benefit, but that testosterone canceled out some of that benefit when women took both hormones.

“Since many women during the time of menopausal transition complain about cognitive impairment it has been suggested that estrogen may have a beneficial effect on memory and cognitive abilities,” while “testosterone is suggested to improve spatial

Women who follow a traditional Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after menopause than women with different eating habits, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 14,800 Greek women followed for a decade, those who kept most closely to the region’s traditional diet were less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those whose eating habits were least Mediterranean-like.

The link was seen only among women who were past menopause, and not younger women. Among postmenopausal women, those with the highest Mediterranean diet “scores” were 22 percent less likely to develop breast cancer during the study than those with the lowest scores.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that the diet itself offers protection against breast cancer. If such a