Joan’s Boomer Blog

Blogging for Dummies is on the best-selling books on how to blog for money. The Internet in general and blogging in particular, is always changing and evolving. This updated version of Blogging for Dummies explains these latest tools and techniques.

There are many things to learn about blogging, from choosing a hosting service to how to monetize your blog and write engaging articles. All of the “for Dummies” books are informative and fun to read. I have them on several different topics, including knitting, building a home business, Real Estate Investment for Dummies and a few others, and always find them full of comprehensive, easy to understand information.

Blogging for Dummies covers:

• Choosing a topic and finding your niche
• Setting up your blog from A to Z
• Widgets, plug-ins and themes to customize your blog
• How to build a readership and connect with readers
• How to make money with your blog and track your success

One part of this book I got a lot out of was the section on using social marketing to promote your blog and how to do videos and podcasts, which I’m planning to delve into in the near future.

If you’ve always wanted to start a blog for profit or for fun, or if you already have a blog of your own and want to take it to the next level, Blogging for Dummies is a great addition to your home business library.

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This morning I read a newsletter from Dr. Mercola about nutritional supplements and lifestyle changes which can help prevent Alzheimers and dementia. According to research, in the next 20 years, Alzheimers may affect one in four Americans and is even now the sixth leading cause of death in adults in the US.

Chances are good that you personally know someone with these health conditions. Alzheimers and dementia currently have no cure. There are medications which may slow the progression but these too have side effects that can be harmful. The best answer is to avoid getting these conditions in the first place through more healthy lifestyle choices.

Dr Mercola’s newsletter offers a complete list of nutritional supplements you can take to decrease your chances of getting Alzheimers and dementia and healthy lifestyle choices you can make. Some are as simple as adding blueberries to your diet and getting more exercise.

Typically brain atrophy precipitates the more serious forms of dementia, including Alzheimers. Some of the risk factors you can address which may lead to this brain atrophy include high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. These risk factors can all be improved through a more healthy lifestyle.

Certain nutritional deficiencies and other health conditions, such as obesity and thyroid dysfunction, are also associated with an increased risk of Alzheimers.

If you have any of the risk factors associated with Alzheimers and dementia, besides working with your doctor, you can improve your health through better nutrition, exercise, getting enough sleep and keeping your mind active.

Read more about Dr. Mercola’s suggestions for preventing Alzheimers and dementia and keep up with all the latest health news by subscribing to Dr. Mercola’s free health newsletter.

Green Smoothie Recipe to Help Prevent Demenita

2 cups green tea - Read more about the benefits of green tea in the diet.

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup dark cherries - Read more about the health benefits of cherry juice

2 cups spinach

1/8 cup walnuts

1 TBS chia seeds - Read more about the health benefits of chia seeds.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor and enjoy several times a week. The vital nutrients in this green smoothie will help keep your brain in tip top condition!

More Improtant Brain Health Strategies

Father Knows Best was always one of my favorite TV shows when I was young. I was more like Kathy but I wanted to be Betty. In fact, because of Father Knows Best, I sort of followed Elinor Donahue’s career through her years on Andy Griffith and TV appearances.

Millions of people still do love the uncomplicated world of the Anderson family and I’m expecting a sort of resurgence in interest because on the TV soap Young and the Restless (yes, I admit that watching Y&R is one of my guilty pleasures) two of the main characters are enamoured with Father Knows Best. In fact, they recently went house hunting and the first house they looked at was a replica of the Anderson house that some TV buff had built and furnished to look just like the one on TV.

Some viewers may not have caught it, but when the two characters got married out in front of the house, Elinor Donahue was actually the judge who married them. One of her lines as even “This house reminds me so much of the one I grew up in.”

Father Knows Best began it’s life as a radio show and came to CBS in 1954. Watching the shows now, it’s easy to see that  Springfield, Ohio, insurance agent Jim Anderson (Emmy winner Robert Young) didn’t really have all the answers. He and his wife, Margaret (fellow Emmy winner Jane Wyatt), come close, though.

Back then, the Andersons slept in separate beds and Jim smoked but the family values of the show make it still popular with viewers today. The Season One DVD offers some extras like the special 1959 savings bond episode 24 Hours in Tyrantland and Robert Young’s home movies and rare behind-the-scenes footage, plus interviews with some of the cast members.

You can also watch old Father Knows Best episodes free on Hulu.com. Here’s a link to the first episode.

Those of us who lived in the 50’s will always look back nostalgically at at our childhood years, which seem so simple and uncomplicated by today’s standards. I guess that’s why I love watching Father Knows Best - it always takes me right back to those days.

Book Review Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a 6 Figure Income

Recently I saw this list of bloggers’ salaries which is topped by Markus Frind with over $3,600,000! Never heard of him? Markus Frind owns a free dating website called PlentyofFish.com. I think every blogger dreams of making a six figure salary, just like nearly every actor dreams of winning an Oscar - But how do you begin?

There are millions of bloggers out there today, writing away, wondering why the big bucks eluded them. What are they doing wrong and what could they do better?

What is your level of blogging expertise? Are you:

• blogging as a hobby and not making a dime
• Are you facing retirement and looking for supplemental income?
• Are you unemployed and really need to start generating income?
• Are you in a job you don’t care for and would like to start a blog as a part or full time venture?
• Do you already have a blog that generates income but you would like that blog to make more?

Wherever you are in your blogging career, ProBlogger can help guide you to a higher level.

Authors Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett cover:

• How to choose a (profitable) subject for your blog
• How to handle the technical parts of blogging
• Different ways to generate income with your blog
• How to evaluate your blog’s success
• How to keep your content fresh and interesting to readers
• How to use your blog to generate income indirectly

ProBlogger offers a complete how-to on blogging from from two top-performing bloggers. If you’re one of thousands of aspiring bloggers who launch new blogs every day hoping to boost their income or someone who already has a blog, you can benefit from ProBlogger’s advice. Without solid advice from experts, most will fail. This best-selling guide, (more…)

I read an article recently that suggested “older” people were starting to balk at being called seniors. Even AARP was beginning to use the term “medicare eligible” for those over a certain age. Baby boomers seem to be the generation who never thought we’d get old and now that we’re here, we don’t like being reminded of it.

How we see ourselves and how the world sees us are, of course, two different things. I read lots of blogs about boomers, seniors and retirement. Some bloggers have the general opinion that boomers should just move out of the way and die to make room for the younger generation. Others say the boomers will be the saving of the economy, while yet others say the current economic mess is the fault of greedy, materialistic boomers. The peace and love generation turned into evil Wall Street broker types and ruined the country. One blog I read yesterday suggested we should collectively pay off the national debt when we die by reinstating the estate tax and taxing social security - just as a favor for the younger generation.

Personally, I get tired of my generation getting the blame for the world’s ills but I know when all these generation X, Y, Z people turn 55 they will be singing a different tune. Wasn’t it our generation who said “Don’t trust anyone over 30?”

I guess, when it comes to aging, we always tend to see ourselves through rose colored glasses (maybe we’re losing our vision, along with our waistline?) I find myself listening for people at my Y exercise classes to mention their age and then I think “Wow, I’m older than them but I look so much younger!’

Of course, one place us boomers don’t mind the term senior is when it comes to “senior discounts!” Here on my blog, posts about senior discounts are among the most popular. I guess since some of these discounts can start as young as 50, and since they do involve getting a bargain, we don’t think of it as something negative.

I remember one time quite a few years ago, I went into Taco Bell just to get something to drink. The high school kid waved away my money and said, “It’s free.”

I said “Really, are you sure?” I thought, what a nice young man, giving me a free drink. It wasn’t until quite some time later that I found out Taco Bell gives free drinks to “seniors.” I guess to a high school kid, all of us “old people” look like we qualify so they don’t even bother to ask.

When I was in my 30’s I did a short stint as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant. Our restaurant gave senior discounts and I remember not liking to insult anyone by asking if they were old enough to receive one. Some people were insulted if you did ask them and they weren’t old enough. Other people jumped right in there and told you they were old enough and expected to get it.

Fast forward to 2008. I was 58 years old then and checking out at Kohls. The 30-something woman at the register informed me it was senior discount day and asked if I qualified. I said, “It depends on what age it is.” She said the senior discount started at age 60. I laughed (thinking of course that I certainly didn’t look 60!) and said “No, I’m not old enough yet.”

At this point she got rather insistent, really wanting me to have that discount. She said, “Well, is it near your 60th birthday? I can still give it to you.”

Gone are the days when we fear insulting someone about their age! -lol.

How we define ourselves is important. The term “Older American” seems to be catching on.  I always liked “baby boomer” because it makes us sound young and important but maybe that’s getting passe. Advertisers are sure struggling to define us, having suddenly woken up to the improbably idea that our age group too spends money, not just that coveted 18 to 39-year-old age group. Although ads directed at us older Americans most often involve hemorrhoid creams and cholesterol medications, rather than the latest iPhone or iPad.

Personally, I think advertisers are missing to boat there. Us senior, boomer, medicare eligible, older Americans also covet iPhones and iPads and all the latest gadgets.

Do you have any thoughts on what you’d like us older people to be called? If senior is out and -Heaven forbid - elder, what new word can we come up with to define ourselves? I’d love to hear ideas. Maybe we can start a new trend.

Review of How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free

Retirement should be a time to enjoy life to the fullest and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free offers inspirational advice on just the way to do that.  A creative and fulfilling retirement is about more than just money, and author Ernie Zelinski covers how to put money into its proper perspective so you don’t need millions to retire.

How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free also offers advice on other retirement topics, such as:

• How to get up the courage to retire early.
• Find purpose and fulfillment in your retirement - That sounds easy but it takes some thought.
• How to follow your dreams and not get sidetracked by what others think you should do.
• How to take charge of your mental, physical, and spiritual health.
• Setting retirement goals — including whether or not you should relocate.

When you’re thinking about the retirement years ahead, making them the best of your life probably seems like a no-brainer. Actually, though, the earlier you begin planning for the many different aspect of retirement and setting some goals, the more prepared you will be to take advantage these years.

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Guest post byLovera Wolf Miller and David C Miller, authors of WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING

The Beatles and Menopause: Waisted Resonance

Who could have guessed that four mid-twenty-year-olds living in England forty some years ago would pen two songs describing the most intensely personal menopause problems facing women in the US in 2010? Both songs recorded in the summer of 1969 are pure pop prophecy: “Carry That Weight” and “She’s So Heavy”. Weight gain in midlife is numero uno in women’s confidential “I can’t stand it” list.

Right or wrong, almost every woman wishes her waist would shape up. However, a preoccupation with the waistline does not, by itself, improve the waistline. This article will expose The Metabolic Syndrome, take the wraps off how it ruins figures, and detail what can be done about it.

Adult women almost universally gain weight beginning at age twenty, and during perimenopause, most women gain more than a pound a year. In times past, 20 or 30 extra pounds were considered merely a cosmetic problem. Today we know differently. If those pounds are concentrated at the waist (as they usually are) it may mean a serious health problem: The Metabolic Syndrome. There is something uniquely different about those fat cells.

One important distinction: at the waist there are two types of fat. The subcutaneous fat that lies on the surface is metabolically different from the abdominal fat that resides inside of the abdomen. The inside “visceral” fat disrupts glucose metabolism and secrets inflammatory compounds that injure the cardiovascular system.

There are five measurable factors that define The Metabolic Syndrome: 1) a waistline measurement (at the belly button) greater than 35 inches, 2) triglycerides greater than 150, 3) HDL-C less than 50, 4) blood pressure greater than 130/85, 4) fasting blood sugar over 100. Any three of the five portend serious health risk and the waistline measurement alone may be the crucial part of the whole deal.

The Metabolic Syndrome is a silent partner that operates behind the scenes undermining the health of the cardiovascular system. The Metabolic Syndrome turns what looks like a figure problem into a life and death struggle. The following are some of the medical misfortunes awaiting those with The Metabolic Syndrome: heart attack, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, premature death, and others, not the least of which, it almost completely eliminates a woman’s interest in wearing a swim suit!

Menopause gets blamed for midlife weight gain, but there is a lot more to it than that. Certainly, declining estrogen after age forty changes a woman’s metabolism, and in complicated ways, makes a more conducive environment for synthesizing fat compared to younger women. Fretting about not being young may sabotage the present joys of maturity and is pointless. Adjusting how we live makes more sense. Remaining trim or regaining a trim figure is absolutely achievable by every woman, but it does not happen by wishful thinking. Waistlines are created like a sculptor creates a fine statue—she keeps chipping away day after day, one little hard chip after another.

The Metabolic Syndrome is caused by, shall we say, less than optimal life style choices. Please notice the word “choices”, because The Metabolic Syndrome is completely optional and all of the contributing factors are under our control. At the top of the cause list is weight gain followed by: smoking, uncompensated caloric intake, high carbohydrate diet, and sedentary activities (by the way, isn’t “sedentary activities” an oxymoron?)

Good news! All of the principle causes for The Metabolic Syndrome are fixable. Of course, we are not talking “easy to fix” but what easy thing is there that matters? For a jumpstart on shaping your waist consider doing the following for 3 months. We call this Fast 4 Fit: 1) walk 15,000 steps a day, 2) no sugared drinks, 3) no bread (of any kind), 4) no potatoes. Simple enough. For the long haul, (and we are all in it for the long haul aren’t we?) we must adhere to the following:

· A). Eat only real food (whole fresh food that does not have any labeling on it describing its contents) and not too much of it. Eat mostly foods with color.

· B). Exercise everyday like our life depended upon it (that’s because it does).

· C). Lose weight and shoot for a BMI under 25,

· D). Measure your waist regularly and inch down under 35 at a minimum.

· E). Become smoke free.

· F). Supplement your otherwise perfect diet with 2 grams of fish oil and 800 mcg of Folic Acid.

· G). Take blood pressure medication as prescribed by your doctor.

· H). Take Metformin as prescribed by your doctor.

· I). Take lipid lowering medication (like Lipitor) as prescribed by your doctor.

· J). Substitute Benecol for butter or margarine.

· K). Consider taking Menopausal Hormone Therapy in consultation with your gynecologist.

It is never too late, and there will never be a better day than today to become healthier. It is not a matter of staying young or turning back the clock. It is a matter of here and now and being the best we can be. Getting back into a better shape has some bonuses in addition to improved health and longevity. We can become an inspiration to our spouses, kids, and friends. Presently, over 40% of US women over the age of sixty have The Metabolic Syndrome. Speaking of that, it brings to mind another Beatles song from 1967. It is the question inherent in aging “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?”

For more information about The Metabolic Syndrome and menopause (but sadly not more about the Beatles!), check out our book: WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING available at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, or Boarders. Visit us at: www.womenopausebook.com or send us questions and feedback: womenopausebook@mac.com

When you retire, you may need some extra retirement income and what better way to make it than doing

One of my most recent beaded creations.

what you love? Turning a hobby into retirement income may seem like a good way to go and there are many ways you can go about it.

Retirement gives us lots of time, hopefully, to pursue those hobbies we’ve picked up over the years. But after you’ve knitted a dozen scarves, made a bunch of woodworking do-dads or turned your beautiful photos into posters, what do you do with all of them? Everybody in my family now has a knitted scarf and hat so turning my passion for knitting into profit might be the next step.

Keep in Mind:

1.  If you want to turn a hobby into a business, once your hobby becomes “work” it may not seem like as much fun.

I used to have a passion for bead work and created some beautiful (if I do say so) pieces. I worked in a bead store and taught classes and soon I was sitting at a booth at a craft fair selling my wares. Production work isn’t like beadiing, or doing any craft, for fun. If you’re going to do a craft fair, for instance, you need a certain amount of stock. Your wrists and hands begin to hurt, your shoulders have knots in them and your eyes are burning. Not so much fun.

2.  If you are going to rely in any way on the money you make from your hobby, realize that you still have to spend money for supplies, entries into craft fairs, etc, so your profit margin may not be that big.

I spent more than I ever made, I think, on beads, yarn, etc, for any hobby I tried to turn into a business. If you have a real passion for your hobby, you’re likely to spend more. The flip side of this, of course, is that if you want a real business and you make some money, you can deduct many of your supplies on your taxes.

If you’re still sure you want to turn your hobby into an income producing business. Here are some steps to take.

Start by Assessing:

1. What is your skill level? – Whatever your hobby, can you make them quickly, in quantities and make your product look professional?

2. How much time do you want to devote? Making enough items for a craft fair, for instance, is very time-consuming. If you decide to create a website or online store, you also have to devote time to that as well.

Next:

1. Find a Niche market – Rather than trying to be all things to all people, it’s easier to make a profit if you cater to one niche, or group of people, and be specific. Take knitting, for instance. You could make your pieces from organic yarn. You could stick to baby clothes or blankets. You could specialize in prayer shawls or knit only with hand painted, hand dyed yarns.

Specialize in knitted baby hats

Knitting examples are easy for me because that’s what I love doing but if you are a photographer you could specialize in nature photography, scenery, animals, cute puppies, whatever. If you do woodworking, you could specialize in wooden toys, fancy shelves or cradles.If you make candles, you could make only soy or natural fragrances.

4. Research your market – Who is your competition and how do they manage their businesses? Visit some craft fairs and see if you can spot a niche that needs to be filled and talk to others who are doing what you want to do. Crafters are generally very helpful and nice people. Try to find a  niche that is popular but where the competition is less.

5.  Decide HOW you will sell your product. Are you willing and able to spend your weekends holding down the fort at your craft fair table? Are you willing to travel to get to craft fairs? You can also sell with a website such as Etsy.com or Artfire.com. Setting up an online store is free on these sites which feature only handcrafted items. They just take a small percentage on what you sell. Keep in mind too that people are paying through pay pal usually and pay pal also takes a percentage of your profits so price accordingly.

6. Once you decide on just what you will make, set up a plan and choose some goals - How much money would you like to make? Just enough to pay for your own materials? Enough to pay for one of the household bills or give you some money for that extra trip? It’s important to know the purpose for your hobby business.

Other Ways to Profit from Your Hobby

Write about Your Hobby

Even if you don’t get into production, you can still profit from your hobby. One way is to create a blog or website and put some affiliate ads on it. You can talk about books or products you like or don’t like and if giving a good recommendation, sell it via the Amazon.com affiliate program or a google adsense account, or find your own companies to represent.

If you would like to create a for profit blog, I can highly recommend the program The Niche Blogger. The Niche Blogger is a subscription site so you can set up your blog, or blogs, and then cancel anytime. The Niche Blogger takes you from step one, day one, through the entire process of creating a self-hosted wordpress blog. A blog like this will only cost you about $10 a year to keep online.

The Niche Blogger can help you choose a niche topic for your hobby as well so it is most likely to be profitable.

Write an ebook About Your Hobby

If you’ve been doing your hobby for a while, or you’ve gotten into a good niche, you probably have a lot of expertise in that area. Consider writing an ebook that will help others enjoy the same passion for the hobby that you do. The Niche Blogger program does into exactly how to create an ebook and market it, I think around month 4-5 of the program.

Teach Classes

If you’d like interacting with others and sharing your hobby, contact your local craft store, like Michaels or Joanns, or your local hobby store. Find out if they have a need for a teacher or there is a special technique that they don’t currently offer, that you could teach.

You can also create podcasts and teach online (again, this is covered in The Niche Blogger Program)

Other Resources for Starting a Craft Business

How to Create an Etsy Store to sell your knitting online

How to Create An Artfire Store to make money knitting.

If you’re interested in knitting for profit, Liz Raad has written a terrific ebook on Knitting for Profit. Liz also has a helpful newsletter for those wanting to learn how to make a living from knitting and sign up is free.

The Savvy Crafters Guide To Success: Turn Your Crafts Into A Career

Another good resource for turning any type of hobby into income is Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Money with Your Hobby which takes you from A to Z.

If you want to turn your hobby into retirement income, realize that there will be work involved in making it successful. However, the fact that you are able to spend your days focusing on your passion, makes it different than any other “job.” You’ll have fun and probably make a lot of new friends along the way.

Every once in a while, a wave of nostalgia hits for the good old days. We were watching Warehouse 13 the other night and two main characters went back in time to the early 60’s, a time of pill box hats and sleek hair-dos (reminding me that the blow dryer was the best thing every invented). A time when women were relegated to the typing pool and called “sweetie” and “honey” by their bosses. Yes, I do get nostalgic for the “old days,” for me the 50’s and 60’s, but sometimes I read a book or see a TV show that makes me remember what it was really like, the good and the bad.

We watched the first season of Mad Men, which I liked because it took place in the 60’s (after the first season we gave up as the show seemed too depressing). In Mad Men we see men drinking and smoking way too much because nobody had ever said these things were bad for you. Heck, even pregnant women were smoking and drinking! People smacked each others kids to discipline them and nobody cared.

From watching Mad Men, you’d think a woman’s only choice was to be a stay at home mom who ended up on a  psychiatrist’s couch, taking Valium and feeling “unfulfilled” or going to work in an office where men talked down to her and treated her like she was part of the entertainment.

I guess I was lucky to be born in 1950. I had the fun of growing up in the 50’s but by the time I was out in the world in 1969, life was changing for women. Reading the book, “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, brought back some memories of the “good old days” which are thankfully over now.

The Help takes place in 1962, when I was 12, but some of the attitudes of 62 were certainly still around in 1969. In my opinion, the Help is one of the best books to come around in years and I think every woman of every age should read this book to see how far we’ve come since the early 60’s.

My life and Skeeters were very different, but yet there were parallels. She went to college at a time when a woman’s only goal for higher education was to catch a husband. I joined the Navy, which was an odd thing to do at a time when all the males I knew were fighting hard to come up with ways to stay out of Viet Nam but even with Viet Nam, many women joined up to find a husband.

Nowadays, when single women with children or couples with children go off and serve in Iraq and Afghanistan for months at a time, but in the 60’s and 70’s life in the military was much different. Many of the women, sad to say, still joined up to find a husband. Back then, the only way out of the military was to get pregnant and I hate to think how many people are in the world today because their mother wanted out of the service!

Looking back, I’m not sure really why I did join the military. Not patriotism, but more like a yearning for adventure and a desire to experience life outside the little town where I grew up. I used to have “pen pals” among some of the guys fighting in Viet Nam when I was in high school but I’m not sure if I really thought much about that aspect of joining up. I never personally experienced any of the anti-Viet Nam sentiment was because when we wore our uniforms to travel (which we were required to do) everybody thought I was a stewardess. They only wanted flight information, not to hound me about an unpopular war.

Women in the military were supposedly treated equally to men, but back then many jobs were closed to us and we had to work twice as hard as any man in the jobs we had to measure up. A few old Chiefs called us “honey” and we had very, very few roll models for career service women. Many of them were washed out alcoholics that we certainly didn’t emulate.

I was lucky growing up in that my father always told me women could do anything they wanted to do and as a World War II Marine, he totally supported my going into the military. Looking back, I can see my dad was a man way ahead of his time in that aspect.

I try to tell my daughter about life “back then” and how lucky she is to have so many choices in her life. Of course, to her the 50’s and 60’s are ancient history, but I’ve tried to pass on that lesson my dad taught me - she can do anything and be anything.

So, while I enjoy a good book or TV show about the 60’s and the good old days, I think they are best left to our memories of them. In memories, you can choose to remember the good - your favorite 60’s song, an old boyfriend or girlfriend, cruising the strip on Friday nights - and forget the bad - which is - well, I’ve already forgotten! There are a few advantages to getting older - the memory isn’t what it used to be.

The following is a guest article by Lovera Wolf Miller, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. N.C.M.P., and David C. Miller, M.D., M.A., D.A.B.P.M., N.C.M.P. authors of WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING. It provides vital information for women about hormone therapy.

There is probably no single subject concerning women’s midlife health that is more disputed than the use of menopausal hormone therapy. It is a subject with enduring questions. The proper use of hormone therapy for menopausal women has been contested for the past one hundred years, and the arguments are not likely to go away anytime soon. Scientific investigations of the past decade have revealed four important new caveats concerning the effectiveness and safety of postmenopausal hormone therapy, and that is the subject of this communication.

Before launching into the new information it might be useful to briefly review the old. The fact that menopausal hormone therapy quickly and reliably reduces or eliminates menopausal symptoms has never been seriously disputed. Vasomotor symptoms prevalent during perimenopause and postmenopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and insomnia are corrected with hormone therapy consisting of estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone for women with a uterus. The long-term disputes have to do with whether or not menopausal hormone therapy is safe and whether it aids in the prevention of serious health diseases.

#1. The window of opportunity: It is now quite clear that menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is safer if it is initiated at or near the time of menopause, (menopause being defined as the final menstrual period). Certainly for women who start taking hormones within ten years of menopause the risks of MHT are substantially less. In fact, for healthy menopausal women there appears to be only substantial long-term health benefits. This “window of opportunity” was not understood at the time of the WHI publication in 2002. That study lumped all ages of women together and since there was a preponderance of older postmenopausal women the data was skewed toward potential harm of MHT.

Subsequent reanalysis demonstrated a striking difference. If women began MHT within ten years of menopause, all of the health benefits became clear; reduction of cardiovascular disease (the #1 killer of women by far), reduction of osteoporosis, reduction of dementia, reduction of depression, reduction of hypertension, reduction of diabetes, reduction of metabolic syndrome, and to top it off, a reduction of all cause mortality by 40% (including an important reduction of breast cancer death). If women initiate MHT 10 to 20 years after menopause (no periods and no hormones for 10-20 years) there appears to be less benefit in prevention of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and so on. If women initiate MHT more than 20 years after menopause (no periods and no hormone therapy for more than 20 years) there appears to be an increased risk of cardiovascular disease for the first year of therapy that is higher than the incidence of women who remain off of MHT, but that risk disappears after the first year and then the risk remains below non-hormone users for all subsequent years. That piece of the puzzle, the “window of opportunity” is considered the most important new information about both the safety and effectiveness of menopausal hormone therapy in the prevention of serious health problems for women.

#2. Trasdermal estrogen therapy has advantages over oral estrogen pills: Orally consumed hormone therapy had been the standard mode of taking HRT in the past. Recent data points out the benefits of taking estrogen through the skin as apposed to taking it by mouth. All orally consumed hormones are absorbed from the intestines into the portal vein that drains the gut and transports the hormones directly to the liver. The liver processes the hormones into modified hormones, and at the same time the liver gets stimulated into producing inflammatory compounds and clotting factors.

These products from the liver may be responsible for the increases in cardiovascular disease seen in older postmenopausal women who had increased risks when initiating hormone therapy. If estrogen is administered through the skin, then estrogen bypasses the liver and goes directly to the target tissues unchanged and without stimulation of the inflammation or the clotting factors. In this way, transdermal estrogen may have all of the benefits known to standard HRT but none of the major risks (heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots). It may be important to remember again that the risks of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots with hormone therapy was only seen in women who initiated hormone therapy beyond the “window of opportunity”. The majority of women who begin menopausal hormone therapy do so to control the symptoms of menopause (hot flashes and so on) and they are all safely within the ten year time frame.

#3. 17 Beta-estradiol is “BodyIdentical” and is preferred over non-human estrogens: Human women make estrogen primarily in their ovaries and the predominant estrogen is chemically called 17 Beta-estradiol, or E2. The chemical structure of this molecule has been known for over fifty years.

There is only one place in the universe where this substance is made naturally—within the human female ovary. 17 Beta-estradiol does not occur in horses, soybeans, yams, or anywhere else. It does not grow on trees or come from organic gardens. Importantly, there is no such thing as a human estrogen donor. An exact duplicate of naturally occurring 17 Beta-estradiol is available by prescription. It is produced under the strictest quality controls, tested, and approved by the FDA for use by symptomatic menopausal women. When it is applied to the skin as a spray, patch, cream, gel, or via the vagina BodyIdentical estrogen is distributed throughout the body and works exactly like a woman’s estrogen that she made naturally during her reproductive years. 17 Beta-estradiol that is BodyIdentical relieves all of the estrogen withdrawal symptoms of perimenopause (hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, and osteoporosis) and helps prevent all of the estrogen deficiency health-related problems (heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes, and depression). There are no advantages of taking menopausal hormone therapy that is not 17 Beta-estradiol transdermal BodyIdentical.

#4. Menopause Hormone Therapy is safe: There are several legitimate reasons some healthy women choose not to take menopausal hormone therapy. Safety should not be one of them. If a symptomatic menopausal woman initiates transdermal 17 Beta-estradiol BodyIdentical hormone therapy at or near the time of her menopause there are documented long-term safety benefits. The case could be made that MHT is the safest drug around. If one were to compare the use of other commonly prescribed medications such as aspirin or Lipitor, BodyIdentical estrogen has a superior safety/benefits profile.

When all the dust is settled, the estrogen therapy trump card is a 40% reduction in overall mortality. Forty percent! Nothing even close to that has been shown about aspirin or Lipitor. Also, as drugs go, 17 Beta-estradiol is not really a drug in the same sense of the word. A woman’s body naturally makes estrogen up until menopause but it never makes any Lipitor. Lipitor is a drug introduced into the biology of a person to counteract the effects of high cholesterol (since none of us seem eat right or exercise enough!) in the hopes of reducing cardiovascular disease and death. Menopausal Hormone Therapy does the same thing by resupplying estrogen that the ovaries used to make. That’s good news.

For a few women, hormone therapy is not recommended: undiagnosed vaginal bleeding, recent heart attack, hormone induced blood clots, severe liver disease, and a personal history of estrogen positive breast cancer. All told, for the typical fifty year old considering whether or not menopausal hormone therapy might be right for her, only about 3% are excluded by contraindications.

#5. Lifestyle: Many women underestimate the immediate and long term benefits that exercise and a whole food diet has on both the control of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, as well as the prevention of serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

For a complete and balanced discussion about how to be healthier at sixty than you were are forty read our book: WOMENOPAUSE: STOP PAUSING AND START LIVING by Lovera Wolf Miller, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. N.C.M.P., and David C. Miller, M.D., M.A., D.A.B.P.M., N.C.M.P.

www.womenopausebook.com

www.menopause.org