cover image What Every Woman Needs to Know about Menopause: The Years Before, During, and After

What Every Woman Needs to Know about Menopause: The Years Before, During, and After

Mary Jane Minkin. Yale University Press, $50 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-300-06573-2

Although menopause has received plenty of attention as the boomer population has aged, sensible information is always welcome. This book is distinguished by the patient, reassuring tone taken by Minkin, who teaches obstetrics and gynecology at Yale's School of Medicine, and journalist Wright. In a Q&A format, they cyle through the premenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal years, separating effects on ""mind"" and the ""body"" in order to consider them as unique occurences requiring differentiated answers. The discussion of estrogen and hormone-replacement therapies looks carefully at what ERT can and can't do. The book concludes with advice on other midlife medical issues, surgical procedures, cancer, doctors and such lifestyle considerations as weight, exercise and drinking. Paging through this volume is like talking to a doctor whose waiting room is empty: there's lots to ask, and plenty of time for answers. (June)