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Myths of Menopause: A Guide to Increasing Your Menopause Wisdom

Edited by Dr Nicky Keay

This book will be a useful addition to your menopause library, particularly if you are experiencing psychological or cognitive symptoms, and you would like to learn some useful self-help techniques, to improve your quality of life, throughout the menopause transition and beyond.

Diane Danzebrink
Author of Making Menopause Matter and founder of Menopause Support

“Dr Nicky Keay is a go-to expert in the field of women’s hormone health and she has provided a vital guide for all women navigating the menopause journey.  Full of actionable information, it’s a great resource for every woman approaching and enduring menopause.”

Dr. Mariza Snyder. National Bestselling Author

“Witnessing the soar in women’s involvement in exercise and endurance sports is incredible. There has never been a more important time for age group and masters’ athletes to understand the impact of the menopause transition for health and performance.

Dr Nicky Keay’s expertise and wisdom throughout this book will guide women to thrive for their full potential through the menopause transition and be empowered in decision making when it comes to their health, exercise and sporting goals.”

Dr Izzy Smith, Australian Endocrinologist with expertise working with female athletes

“Dr Nicky Keay is such a positive influence on so many women’s lives. With her expert knowledge, she always picks up her audiences where they are at in that particular moment, a trait that is invaluable in healthcare. Over the years, she has empowered and encouraged countless female athletes and dancers to take care of their health instead of listening to outdated and misleading messages from coaches and teachers, and now it must be the logical consequence to bust those myths for the other end of the spectrum, perimenopause and menopause. Nicky has created a treasure with this book, one that healthcare professionals and society will have to notice, for women are now meticulously informed about this transition in their lives.”

Dr Stephanie Potreck. Medical doctor and sports nutritionist. AusDancersOverseas

“Dr. Nicky Keay orchestrates a tour de force in hormone health, expertly clarifying complex research and empowering women to navigate menopause with confidence and science-backed knowledge.”

Dr Mikki Williden. Registered Nutritionist.

“Menopause. A few years ago no one was discussing it in open circles, now it seems to be water cooler and nightly news conversations. Unfortunately, misinformation has woven tightly into these conversations, creating noise and advice from social media influences. Dr Nicky Keay has done it again, with her new book “Myths of Menopause”, she expertly crafts scientific language into accessible, actionable points, based on the scientific research and expertise of colleagues in the space. This is a must have book for so many women looking for the truth.”

Dr Stacy Sims. Female physiologist and nutritionist.

“Dr Nicky Keay spoke at our Mac-Nutrition LIVE Conference on “Supporting the Perimenopausal Period: Nutrition, Lifestyle & HRT Considerations” & her ability to bring the topic to life, linking the research effortlessly to real world application in an engaging & humorous way was second to none. With our commitment to only bringing in evidence-based speakers & tutors for our students, Nicky is one of our go to experts on all things menopause.”

Martin MacDonald, MSc PgCert PgDip CEO Mac-Nutrition Uni & Clinical Performance Nutritionist

“With so many myths and negative misconceptions around menopause it’s no surprise that women are anxious about entering this phase of their life. This book will help women better understand what is happening in their bodies, take steps to overcome symptoms and gain more control over their health.”

Anita Bean. Nutritionist, speaker and author.

“Dr Nicky Keay is an expert in the field of hormone study and unrivalled in her ability to distil complex scientific research into information that is understandable and useful to the general public. She’s also a master at busting myths that swirl around on social media.”

Peta Bee. Health and Fitness Journalist

Details

Paperback isbn: 9781914110405
£19.99
Pages: 330
Publication Date: November 25th 2024

£19.99

$27.00Add to basket

Table of contents

Prelude

Menopause as part of the female hormone odyssey

Dr Nicky Keay

Act 1 Misunderstandings around menopause

Distractions of social media Sirens

Scene 1 What is menopause?

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 2 Mythology in women’s midlife—what’s in a name?

Professor Jerilynn Prior

Scene 3 What has progesterone got to do with menopause?

Lara Briden

Act 2 Challenges of menopause

Pandora’s box

Scene 1 Myths of menopausal “symptoms”

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 2 “Sleep no more!?”

Dr Zoe Schaedel

Scene 3 Myths of menopausal health

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 4 Don’t let sticks, stones, or falls break your bones!

Rebekah Rotstein

Scene 5 Menopause mix: metabolic and mental health

Dr Anne Latz

Act 3 Menopause, sex and pelvic health

The metamorphosis of Aphrodite

Scene 1 No sex after menopause?!

Dr Shema Tariq

Scene 2 Goodbye to pelvic health after menopause?!

Dr Gillian Cambell, Christien Bird

 Act 4 Mastering Menopause

“If we could give each individual just the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health” Hippocrates.

How to navigate the female hormone odyssey?

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 1 The menopause diet?

Renee McGregor

Scene 2 Where do I start with exercise?

Ally Atkins

Scene 3 Demystifying the myths of exercise

Dr Alyssa Olenick

Act 5 Treatment Options

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

Scylla and Charybdis

Dr Nicky Keay

Act 6 Active women and the hormone dance

Terpsichore

The hormone dance of life

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 1 Dancing through menopause

Tiffany Stott

Scene 2 Gracefully ageing (we hope) forever swans

Astrid Sherman

Scene 3 Menopause Flamenco!

Nikki Crane

Scene 4 Everyone leaks?!

Dinah Hampson and Dr Brooke Winder

 Act 7 Age Group Athletes

Orpheus and Eurydice

Don’t look back…

Dr Nicky Keay

 Scene 1 Relative energy deficiency in sport only happens in young exercisers?!

Dr Nicky Keay

Scene 2 Can I maintain athletic effort and performance?

Tenille Hoogland

Scene 3 Not always an injury?!

Nicole Oh

Scene 4 Myths of strength training for age group athlete health and performance

Dr Richard Blagrove

Act 8 Experiencing menopause

Discord and Harmony

Scene 1 Am I losing my mind?

Professor Aimee Spector

Scene 2 Why do each of us experience menopause differently?

Dr Helen Donovan, Professor Myra Hunter, Nora Bahhar, Professor Aimee Spector

Scene 3 Don’t mention the M word!

Dr Meena Khatwa

Scene 4 Can we pass the baton from sport?

Anna Allerton, Michelle Dillon

Act 9 Towards positive ageing: collaboratively challenging barriers and navigating support

Dr Marzena Nieroda, Dr Abdul Seckam, Dr Dania Posso, Dr Rodrigo Rodriguez-Fernandez, Dr Orlanda Allen, Professor Andre Coutinho, Thalia Anagnostopoulou, Professor Joyce Harper, Dr Nicky Keay

Coda

The wisdom of Athena

Dr Nicky Keay

Dr Tamara Dragadze

Index

Navigating where to find information on specific menopause myths.

About the book

Discover the truth behind the myths veiling menopause. Myths of Menopause illuminates this stage of the female hormone odyssey with insights from leading experts, empowering women with the wisdom and understanding to navigate this journey.

The intricate dance of female hormones is integral to women’s health and well- being. During every woman’s lifetime she passes through key waypoints marked by hormonal shifts. While the decline in ovarian hormone production is universal, each woman’s journey through menopause is distinctly shaped by her individual response to hormones and her personal life experiences.

Embark on the female hormone odyssey, navigating challenges with newfound knowledge.

These are some of the top recurring myths of menopause explored in this book.

  • Menopause is a physical/mental illness.
  • Menopause is only about the capacity to reproduce.
  • Menopause happens quickly.
  • Menopause only happens in middle aged women.
  • Menopause is only about hot flushes.
  • Weight gain is inevitable with menopause.
  • Having sex is not possible after menopause.
  • All women experience menopause in the same way.
  • Menopause is a taboo topic and it is difficult to talk about.
  • When the ovaries retire, it is time to retire from work and life.
  • Menopause means you resign yourself to poor quality of life and health: there is nothing you can do.
  • There are specific “diets” and supplements for menopause.
  • There is a particular exercise or type of exercise for menopause.
  • Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer.
  • All women should take hormone replacement therapy HRT.
  • No woman needs HRT.
  • Menopause means you can no longer be active.
  • Menopause prevents athletes and dancers from training and performing.

Whatever your age, it is never too early to gain an understanding of menopause. To echo Marie Curie’s timeless wisdom, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”

About the Editor

Nicky is a medical doctor with expertise in the field of exercise endocrinology. Graduating from Cambridge University, she is Honorary Clinical Lecturer in the Division of Medicine, University College London. Nicky’s clinical and research endocrine work is particularly with women experiencing perimenopause and menopause and exercisers, dancers and athletes, with a focus on relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs).

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