The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause

by Barbara Seaman

Now available in paperback—the definitive guide to menopause from a legendary figure in the women’s health movement, incorporating the most up-to-date research and information.

• The first book to incorporate the most recent studies on hormone The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause includes the latest studies that have resulted in a radical rethink in the way menopause is treated. Wary of profit motivated drug companies and the doctors they influence, women are eager for unbiased, straightforward advice about the true risks and consequences of hormone therapy and the effectiveness of alternatives.

• A trusted Cited in 1973 by the Library of Congress as “the author who raised sexism in health care as a worldwide issue,” Barbara Seaman was a leading advocate in the women’s health movement for decades, demanding answers and accountability from the pharmaceutical industry and helping to put women in control of their bodies and their futures.

• Comprehensive and In a clear and accessible manner, Seaman and Eldridge give the big picture on just about everything there is to know about menopause and its aftermath—medically, culturally, socially, sexually, and even financially. From hormone replacement therapy to hysterectomies, from advice on what questions to ask doctors to strategies for assessing the validity of new data, this is a complete, accessible, and easy-to-use resource that will bring comfort and clarity to women everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction

496 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

One of the most tireless health advocates, Barbara Seaman (1935-2008) was co-founder of the National Women's Health Network, and a pioneer in a new style of health reporting that focused on patient rights. Her groundbreaking investigative book, The Doctors' Case Against the Pill (1969), prompted Senate hearings in 1970 that led to a warning label on oral contraceptives and the drastic lowering of estrogen doses due to dangerous health effects. Well received by a mass audience, Seaman was a columnist and contributing editor at Bride's Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle, and Ms. Magazine. She also contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, and others.

Books

* The Doctor's Case Against the Pill (1969)
* Free and Female (1972)
* Women and the Crisis in Sex Hormones (1977)(with Gideon Seaman, M.D.)
* Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann (1987)
* The Greatest Experiment ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth (2003)
* For Women Only: Your Guide to Health Empowerment with Gary Null (2000).

Contributor to many books, including:

* Career and Motherhood (1979)
* Rooms with No View (1974)
* Women and Men (1975)
* Seizing our Bodies (1978)

Contributor to several plays and documentaries, including:

* I am a Woman (1972)
* Taking Our Bodies Back (1974)
* The American Experience Presents the Pill (2003)

Reviews

[Michelle]

I liked this book for its more scientific approach. When I first found out I was in menopause, a little early at 44, I was reeling. Yet this book helped me with information I needed. I wished I'd had the book during the perimenopause phase. I liked that they believe that menopause is a natural process. They are not totally unbiased as they are against any hormonal intervention. This book presented researched information in a way that appealed to me, not like they are having a conversation, but as here are the symptoms and here are ways to cope. I liked it. It really helped me understand the changes my body was experiencing. I felt better after reading the book.

[Nancy Reynolds]

Informative. I went through it quickly - just looking to see what others experience in their menopause journey.

[Deborah]

Here's what drew me to this book: Sound scientific information, and an appendix that promises to give readers the ability to distinguish between sound science and marketing come-ons. An evidence-based medical approach, coupled with a feminist viewpoint that menopause is a normal life stage that need not necessarily be medicalized. Relatively unbiased (but opinionated and engaging) presentation of facts, instead of a one-size-fits-all prescriptive approach (eat only low glycemic index foods! take bioidentical hormones! come to my speaking tour and buy my snake oil! etc). Authors' opinions strongly influenced by the results of the Womens Health Initiative clinical trial that revolutionized the medical treatment of menopausal women when they were first reported in 2001 (and rightly so), and that bias laid out for all to see right in the first paragraphs of the introduction. Chapters that specifically describe perimenopause (the stage I am in) and depression related to menopause (a symptom that is particularly troubling me). A discussion of the history, politics, and other cultures' experiences of menopause.

However, I had a couple of issues with the way the authors approach the material. The chapter on perimenopause was excellent, as was much of the rest of the book, and it'll be an excellent reference to return to for advice for most symptoms. However, increased incidence of migraine associated with the onset of menopause (another of my symptoms) rates a meagre two sentences in the whole book, with no discussion of how treatment options affect that symptom. More troubling, the chapter on depression was VERY confusingly written, giving equal weight to huge clinical studies and anecdotes from internet chatrooms, talking simultaneously about PMS-like mood swings and depression (NOT the same thing), and drawing few conclusions. Worse yet, it was unsympathetic in tone - the authors seemed to conclude that there is no hormonal basis for depression, then almost immediately contradict themselves with a too-brief 'except during perimenopause' statement that failed to erase the impression that they were telling readers suffering from depressive symptoms that it's all in their heads. If a graduate student submitted this chapter as part of their thesis and I was their advisor, I'd suggest a rewrite.

(Dear other reviewer: If you don't believe in evolution, why would you think a book that explicitly says on its cover that it covers the latest scientific research on the subject is going to speak to you? Seriously? Giving a nonfiction book about science a crappy review because you don't believe in science is ignorant in every sense of the word.)

[Janet]

Not there yet but decidedly walking the path of every woman’s health continuum, desiring navigational knowledge, I checked out (from our local public library) the “No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause” written by two women with sensible names, Barbara and Laura. The book is touted as “a comprehensive resource with simple unbiased advice on managing this important life stage.” And this is where the problems start.

First off, unbiased, this book is not. The authors begin by pondering the evolutionary origin of menopause wondering why the female human animal differs from other female mammals. Totally clueless, totally, the authors fail (totally) to consider that perhaps human women are different from female animals because God created them that way, simple. Filled with medical management, scientific studies and hypothesis, pharmacological cocktails, feminist musings, depressing menopausal anecdotes, and long drawn out lists of what goes wrong with women as they age, the authors tell us how this is normal, except for when it isn’t and in that case: don’t be afraid, just trust your doctor.

As I depart the season of childbearing for a season of celebrations, I really don’t need advice. I’m searching for traditional wisdom (not management), for acceptance mixed with joy, for humor stirred (not shaken) up with the best of holistic care and caring, womanly tools for life’s womanly journey. As I place my trust in God’s plan for my natural life, a life as natural as childbirth, or walking barefoot in the sand, I know I am powerfully and wonderfully created.

[PJ]

Very informative. I'm glad I read it before I experienced the symptoms.

[Mary]

Healthy diet and daily exercise. Great idea.

[Lise]

This book was almost what I was looking for, a basic work on what 'normal' menopause looks like, and what warning signs and issues should send one to the doctor.

Given that, it was a little bit heavy on the politicizing and consciousness raising. I came into this aware that medical science is heavily influenced by Big Pharma, and that women are understudied and over treated. Although the information is important, and I admit that it's probably a good idea to get a reminder of the facts every so often, the balance was not what I would have liked.

Given that, it's a good book. I'd recommend it to someone looking for basic information on the subject, but it's a lot to wade through.

[Maja Haloway]

Combines information on Western medical approaches to menopause such as hormone replacement therapy with alternatives such as herbal and other alternative treatments. Barbara Seaman takes a very practical approach when making recommendations on how to research and select appropriate treatments for menopause-related issues.

[Laura (Kyahgirl)]

The first 150 pages of this book are great. But after wading through about 100 pages of drug/hormone info I'm bored and ready to move on to another book that has more about dealing with menopause from a practical viewpoint.

[Jodi]

Some of it was no-nonsense a lot of it seemed alarmist. Did like the stress that what is happening to our bodies is normal--just not being young.