In 1950 men and women in the United States had a combined life expectancy of 68.9 years, the 12th highest life expectancy at birth in the world. Today, life expectancy is up to 79.2 years, yet the country is now 28th on the list, behind the United Kingdom, Korea, Canada, and France, among others. The United States does have higher rates of infant mortality and violent deaths than in other developed countries, but these factors do not fully account for the country's relatively poor ranking in life expectancy. International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources examines patterns in international differences in life expectancy above age 50 and assesses the evidence and arguments that have been advanced to explain the poor position of the United States relative to other countries. The papers in this deeply researched volume identify gaps in measurement, data, theory, and research design and pinpoint areas for future high-priority research in this area. In addition to examining the differences in mortality around the world, the papers in International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages look at health factors and life-style choices commonly believed to contribute to the observed international differences in life expectancy. They also identify strategic opportunities for health-related interventions. This book offers a wide variety of disciplinary and scholarly perspectives to the study of mortality, and it offers in-depth analyses that can serve health professionals, policy makers, statisticians, and researchers.

Many women are confused about the treatments available for menopause. While they may be experiencing severe symptoms, the news about Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) use is not encouraging. HRT may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer, and blood clots in the lungs and legs. On the other hand, there is lesser known treatment-Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)-that can help effectively diminish menopausal symptoms without the dangers of synthetic drugs. In her new book, Dr. Amy Lee Hawkins provides women with a complete guide to understanding and using BHRT to diminish or eliminate the symptoms of menopause. What You Must Know About Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy is written in easy-to-understand language. It covers the basics of hormones, discusses the controversy surrounding hormone replacement, details hormone treatment principles, and provides a guide to maintaining a healthy weight and metabolism. Each discussion is supported by up-to-date scientific articles published in respected research journals and medical texts. In addition, the book's appendix includes numerous questionnaires that can help you understand your personal situation. If you are struggling with the symptoms of menopause, you want to choose the safest and most effective route to feeling better. What You Must Know About Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy provides the information you need to make the best possible decisions about your health.

Specialists of several disciplines address most of the controversies still prevailing on menopause and its related disorders as well as its therapeutic aspects. The contributed chapters are organized in sections dealing with considerations pertaining to the untreated menopause, the treated menopause

A review of both the potential hazards and benefits of hormone therapy after menopause.

In the first complete history of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), Elizabeth Siegel Watkins illuminates the complex and changing relationship between the medical treatment of menopause and cultural conceptions of aging. Describing the development, spread, and shifting role of HRT in America from the early twentieth century to the present, Watkins explores how the interplay between science and society shaped the dissemination and reception of HRT and how the medicalization—and subsequent efforts toward the demedicalization—of menopause and aging affected the role of estrogen as a medical therapy. Telling the story from multiple perspectives—physicians, pharmaceutical manufacturers, government regulators, feminist health activists, and the media, as well as women as patients and consumers—she reveals the striking parallels between estrogen’s history as a medical therapy and broad shifts in the role of medicine in an aging society. Today, information about HRT is almost always accompanied by a laundry list of health risks. While physicians and pharmaceutical companies have striven to develop the safest possible treatment for the symptoms of menopause and aging, many specialists question whether HRT should be prescribed at all. Drawing from a wide range of scholarly research, archival records, and interviews, The Estrogen Elixir provides valuable historical context for one of the most pressing debates in contemporary medicine.

A compelling, “fascinating” (Robert Cialdini) defense of hormone replacement therapy, exposing the faulty science behind its fall from prominence and giving women the evidence they need to make informed decisions about their health. Now fully revised and updated. "Estrogen Matters was my antidote to the misinformation surrounding menopause. This book should be the bible for every single person going through menopause.”―Naomi Watts For years, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was the medically approved way to alleviate menopausal symptoms (ranging from hot flushes to brain fog) and reduce the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's, and osteoporosis. But when a large study by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) announced, with national fanfare, that women taking HRT had an increased risk of breast cancer, women were scared off, and the treatment was abandoned. Now, Dr. Bluming, a medical oncologist, and Dr. Tavris, a social psychologist, reveal the true story of the WHI’s efforts to distort their data to exaggerate unsupported claims of estrogen’s harms. Important updates in this edition include: Evidence that demolishes the WHI’s claim that HRT causes breast cancer. A list of the WHI’s retractions of their original scare stories. Updated findings on estrogen’s benefits on heart, brain, bones, and longevity. A critical review of the alternative products and medications being marketed to treat symptoms of menopause. A sobering and revelatory read, Estrogen Matters sets the record straight on estrogen’s benefits, providing a light to guide women through this inevitable phase of life.

This is a high-level, clinical reference by world-class specialists on the efficacy of hormone replacement therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women. Specific chapters cover pulsed estrogen therapy with Aerodiol and cardiovascular risk assessment in postmenopausal hormone replacement therapies such as Livial (tibolone). This volume is based on the formal presentations and subsequent discussions that took place at the International Menopause Society specially convened Expert Workshop on Hormone Replacement Therapy and Cardiovascular Disease, London, UK, October 13-16, 2000.