Challenges and Rewards
of Midlife

Midlife has been described as a time to "pause" and to look ahead to what you want the rest of your life to be.

Our bodies are changing, lifestyles are changing and it is a wonderful opportunity to start to focus on ourselves.

Our goal with this web site is to assist you in making these changes and to empower you with information that will help you to lead a healthy midlife and equip you to meet the challenges of our older years.

This web site is developed under direction of OB/Gyn Specialists to provide current information but not specific medical advice. It is not intended to substitute for the judgment of an individual's health care provider. We recognize that each woman is an individual with different personal and family health histories. Information is constantly changing and we recognize that we cannot possibly be completely up to date at all times. This is a new attempt to provide our patients with education that will enhance their health care.

The Facts

• 46 million women are 50 years of age or older.
• Average age of menopause is 52 years.
• Life expectancy for women is now 80.3 years.

Menopause is a normal, natural event – not a disease.

The menopause transition is characterized by erratic hormone secretion, which often causes irregular menstrual cycles and finally complete cessation of menses. Our ovaries stop producing estrogen, which in turn has been sending signals to our brain to regulate body temperature, control water retention, control basic drives: hunger, thirst, sex, and direct the menstrual cycle. As a result, both physical and emotional symptoms may occur. Our health risks increase as we age and as we lose our estrogen.

We will start by introducing you to some web sites that offer dependable information on menopause. We will also provide a bibliography that the North American Menopause Society has published. We have personally researched these web sites and feel confident that our will get accurate information.

Periodically, we will introduce a new topic and provide you with some of our ideas and suggestions for better health and quality of life.