The Menopause Minute - Volume 93

This month is a very busy month. Not only is it National Time Management Month, Library Lovers Month and Aggressive Driving Month, it has also been stocked with health designations including American Heart Month and Black History Month. For those of us who are superstitious, we celebrated Groundhog Day, which occurs each year on February 2nd. This year he came out of his burrow. Since there was no sun, the furry groundhog saw his shadow. He then crawled back into his burrow to resume his sleep, which means there will be more winter in store for us.

Love was in the air as we celebrated Valentine’s Day. Young and old always love this holiday, as it is a time where we can demonstrate our affection to our sweeties by exchanging cards, flowers, poems, and other lovey-dovey treats. Since I have such a passion for food and cooking, it’s exciting to prepare foods of love. For instance, oysters, figs and other foods have special aromas and the ingestion of some foods actually act as pheromones communicating with our emotions. Asparagus for instance has reputed aphrodisiac powers and during the 19th century was given to bridegrooms on their wedding day. And, last but not least, bring out the chocolate which certainly works to relax our inhibitions. There is much more information about these foods in my cookbook Eat To Defeat Menopause so you don’t have to wait until next Valentine’s Day to try them out.

RED is the color of the month in February! Not only is February loaded with all the red Valentine’s Day goodies, it’s also American Heart Month. It’s easy to overlook many of the other national monthly designations, but American Heart Month is difficult to forget. If for some reason you have forgotten, maybe you need to be reminded of the numbers.

In the United States alone, more than 500,000 women die of cardiovascular disease each year. It is the leading killer of women of all ages. One in three women will die from cardiovascular disease. Yet, many women don't recognize the threat they face.

Red Hot Mamas will be providing a series of important articles over the next few months so that we can understand the hearts of women. This is being done to bridge the knowledge gap women have surrounding heart disease and to provide a roadmap to heart healthiness. To help us accomplish this objective, our newest medical advisor, Dr. Verna Brooks McKenzie provided us with an overview describing why you’re more susceptible to heart disease at menopause.

Like it or hate it, take it or leave it, estrogen is the only government approved drug therapy in the United States and Canada for treating menopause-related symptoms. Here are a few things every Red Hot Mama should know about hormone therapy.

First, the terms:
Drugs that contain estrogen are divided into two categories:
ET for Estrogen Therapy. These contain estrogen only.
EPT for estrogen-progesterone therapy.
HT stands for hormone therapy and can refer to either ET or EPT.
HRT stands for hormone replacement therapy but it isn't currently used as much.