{"product_id":"the-new-menopause-isbn-9780593796252","title":"The New Menopause","description":"\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER \u003c\/b\u003e•\u003cb\u003e Take charge of your health with this invaluable guide to everything a woman needs to know about menopause during her hormonal transition and beyond—by the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Galveston Diet.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK POST \u003c\/i\u003eBEST BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMenopause is inevitable, but suffering through it \u003ci\u003eis not\u003c\/i\u003e! This is the empowering approach to self-advocacy that pioneering women’s health advocate Dr. Mary Claire Haver takes for women in the midst of hormonal change in \u003ci\u003eThe New Menopause\u003c\/i\u003e. A sweeping, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience, it covers every woman’s needs:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• From changes in your appearance and sleep patterns to neurological, musculoskeletal, psychological, and sexual issues, \u003cb\u003ea comprehensive A to Z toolkit\u003c\/b\u003e of science-backed options for coping with symptoms.\u003cbr\u003e• What to do to \u003cb\u003emediate the risks\u003c\/b\u003e associated with your body’s natural drop in estrogen production, including for diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and weight gain.\u003cbr\u003e• How to advocate and prepare for\u003cb\u003e annual midlife wellness visits,\u003c\/b\u003e including questions for your doctor and how to insist on whole life care.\u003cbr\u003e• The \u003cb\u003every latest research\u003c\/b\u003e on the benefits and side effects of \u003cb\u003ehormone replacement therapy\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bible of midlife wellness, \u003ci\u003eThe New Menopause \u003c\/i\u003earms women with the power to secure vibrant health and well-being for the rest of their lives.“[An]\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eenlightening guide . . . Readers will welcome the affirming tone and the attention paid to less-discussed symptoms. . . . It’s an informative manual on an important yet underdiscussed health matter.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Publishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eMary Claire Haver, MD\u003c\/b\u003e, is a board-certified OB\/GYN, a Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist, a Certified Menopause Provider, and the founder of Mary Claire Wellness, a private medical practice that focuses on women in midlife. Her bestselling book, \u003ci\u003eThe Galveston Diet, \u003c\/i\u003eis based on the groundbreaking nutritional protocol she developed as an online subscriber program for women going through perimenopause and menopause. She lives in Galveston, Texas.\u003cb\u003eChapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s Not All in Your Head\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We know our bodies; we know when something physically has changed.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“At age forty-seven, I was told by a gynecologist that perimenopause isn’t real and was asked if I had a psychiatrist.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I was told by my former doctor that women use menopause as an excuse to gain weight and that it’s not real.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I was told that it’s all in your head.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Welcome to your new normal.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s discouraging to not be taken seriously.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Consulted my ob-gyn about perimenopause and mood swings, sexual interest. She blew me off and said I was too young for menopause.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The migraines are a new symptom. I have only had them a few times, but they were debilitating. My doctor suggests I take Tylenol and lie down. I would prefer to address the cause and not just the symptom.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dr. said it wasn’t perimenopause if I wasn’t having hot flashes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I had to go to an ob-gyn and three cardiologists before I found one who believed me and had knowledge that it could be linked to hormonal changes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I was sent for a full blood screening and thyroid testing. All tests came back with good results, so my complaints were not addressed further.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Still suffering.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat’s just a small sampling of comments shared on my social media and in a research study on women’s experiences with menopausal symptoms. The study, published in the Journal of Women’s Health in 2023, sought to understand what kind of support a patient felt she was getting from her healthcare providers (and how that support could be improved). Overwhelmingly, the responses revealed substandard care and weak support. Many patients felt invalidated or reported that they hadn’t been provided with any help or even given access to information that would allow them to understand the cause of their symptoms. My informal “survey” on my social media posts directed to gynecology patients revealed many of the same sentiments. Women said things like “My doctor told me he doesn’t believe in perimenopause” and “I was told it’s just a natural part of aging, get over it,” and described encountering a medical attitude of “Welcome to your new normal.” Sadly, these experiences aren’t the exception, they are the rule. There are so many problems with this that I’m not even sure where to start. But first on the list is the fact that there are major medical consequences of this denial of care and guidance. If a woman in perimenopause or menopause is not getting top-notch care, it’s a matter of life and death. Really.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere’s why: your symptoms, of which dozens (including the well-known hot flashes and the not so well-known frozen shoulder), are the direct result of declining estrogen. My patients, colleagues, and I have been taken aback by the emerging research that’s starting to explore the relationship between the menopausal drop in estrogen and issues like chronic cough, tinnitus, and benign position vertigo—just to name a few. These are issues that many women are attributing to “getting old” while they scramble to be believed, get help, and thrive during what should be a powerful and exciting time in their lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEstrogen isn’t just a pretty hormone that’s key to reproductive capabilities; it’s responsible for so much more. There are estrogen receptors throughout almost every organ system in your body, and as your levels drop, these cells begin to lose their ability to assist in maintaining your health in other areas, including your heart, cognitive function, bone integrity, and blood sugar balance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe list goes on, but in these areas alone we can spot a few diseases that regularly land in the top ten causes of death in women: heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. While osteoporosis isn’t on this list, it still presents a serious concern, as one in two women will break a bone in their life because of bone loss from osteoporosis, and hip fractures alone are associated with a 15–20 percent increased mortality rate within one year of the break. All this is to say that estrogen is broadly and profoundly protective of your health, and its diminishing status during perimenopausal and menopausal years is a very big deal and should be treated as such.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the pages to come, I’ll present you with a head-to-toe tour of just what you can do to prioritize taking care of yourself during this big deal phase. Before we get to the strategies, I want to take a step back and establish some foundational understanding of the myriad ways that hormone changes can present themselves and why exactly the symptoms and resulting suffering have for so long been inadequately addressed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEstrogen Replacement and Aging\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you are a candidate for hormone therapy, its use may prolong your life: a study published in the journal Menopause reported that a woman starting estrogen at fifty can expect to live up to two years longer than women who do not, and per year it’s associated with a 20 to 50 percent decrease in dying from any cause.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo Many Symptoms, So Little Support\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eStop me if you’ve heard this one before: A patient walks into a bar . . . or actually, it goes . . . a patient walks into their doctor’s office first and then a bar after because they’ve been told, yet again, that the symptoms they’ve been experiencing for months, years even, are just normal or natural and associated with aging, that they’re a manifestation of mood changes that just have to be endured, or, most insulting of all, that “it’s all in your head.” (No wonder the rates of alcohol use in women have climbed, although this is not a healthy trend.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe not-so-funny reality is that you’ve likely not only heard it before but experienced it too. The question is: Why? Why can you go to a doctor seeking help, describe your symptom or symptoms, and then walk out feeling dismissed, absent a diagnosis, and without hope of any relief on the horizon?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn medicine, we look at this question in terms of access to care. That is, if there’s an ideal patient experience, what are the barriers keeping people from having that kind of experience—the kind where a patient leaves a doctor’s office feeling supported and empowered, and outfitted with treatment options? Let’s take a look at the barriers to this kind of experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLack of Awareness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most significant issues responsible for inadequate treatment for those in the menopausal transition or in menopause is the insufficient understanding around its pathology, which is how an underlying condition or disease may present itself symptomatically. Changes in hormone levels can lead to a variety of symptoms that manifest in unique ways in each patient, making it difficult to recognize, diagnose, and treat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt would serve physicians—and patients—well to get to know the list of potential symptoms because it extends far beyond hot flashes, night sweats, loss of bone density, and genitourinary symptoms. Here are many of the symptoms that may be related to perimenopause or menopause (see the Tool Kit for strategies to manage these symptoms).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcid reflux\/GERD\u003cbr\u003eAcne\u003cbr\u003eAlcohol Tolerance Changes\u003cbr\u003eAnxiety\u003cbr\u003eArthralgia (joint pain)\u003cbr\u003eArthritis\u003cbr\u003eAsthma\u003cbr\u003eAutoimmune disease (new or worsening)\u003cbr\u003eBloating\u003cbr\u003eBody composition changes\/belly fat\u003cbr\u003eBody odor\u003cbr\u003eBrain fog\u003cbr\u003eBreast tenderness\/soreness\u003cbr\u003eBrittle nails\u003cbr\u003eBurning sensation in the mouth\/tongue\u003cbr\u003eChronic fatigue syndrome\u003cbr\u003eCrawling skin sensations\u003cbr\u003eDecreased desire for sex\u003cbr\u003eDental problems\u003cbr\u003eDepression\u003cbr\u003eDifficulty concentrating\u003cbr\u003eDizzy spells\u003cbr\u003eDry or itchy eyes\u003cbr\u003eDry mouth\u003cbr\u003eDry skin\u003cbr\u003eEczema\u003cbr\u003eElectric shock sensations\u003cbr\u003eFatigue\u003cbr\u003eFibromyalgia\u003cbr\u003eFrozen shoulder\u003cbr\u003eGenitourinary syndrome\u003cbr\u003eHeadaches\u003cbr\u003eHeart palpitations\u003cbr\u003eHigh cholesterol\/high triglycerides\u003cbr\u003eHot flashes\u003cbr\u003eIncontinence\u003cbr\u003eInsulin resistance\u003cbr\u003eIrritable bowel syndrome\u003cbr\u003eIrritability\u003cbr\u003eItchy ears\u003cbr\u003eItchy skin\u003cbr\u003eKidney stones\u003cbr\u003eMemory issues\u003cbr\u003eMenstrual cycle changes\u003cbr\u003eMental health disorders\u003cbr\u003eMigraines\u003cbr\u003eMood changes\u003cbr\u003eMuscle aches\u003cbr\u003eNight sweats\u003cbr\u003eNonalcoholic fatty liver disease\u003cbr\u003eOsteoporosis\u003cbr\u003ePain with intercourse\u003cbr\u003eSarcopenia (muscle loss)\u003cbr\u003eSleep apnea\u003cbr\u003eSleep disturbances\u003cbr\u003eThinning hair (on head)\u003cbr\u003eThinning skin\u003cbr\u003eTingling extremities\u003cbr\u003eTinnitus\u003cbr\u003eTMJ (temporomandibular disorder)\u003cbr\u003eUnwanted hair growth (whiskers)\u003cbr\u003eUrinary tract infections\u003cbr\u003eVaginal dryness\u003cbr\u003eVertigo\u003cbr\u003eWeight gain\u003cbr\u003eWrinkles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimply by looking at this list you can see how profoundly far-reaching hormonal changes can be, and how exactly an individual could visit nearly every medical specialty chasing a diagnosis if the common denominator of diminishing estrogen isn’t identified. This is also why menopause symptoms may be mistaken for symptoms of other conditions, leading to misdiagnosis—or how it is possible to have more than one cause of similar symptoms (hypothyroidism and perimenopause).#1 New York Times bestseller; Author of The Galveston Diet","brand":"Rodale Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304595738853,"sku":"NP9780593796252","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593796252.jpg?v=1767740676","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-new-menopause-isbn-9780593796252","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}