Around age 40, women’s bodies begin perimenopause, the transition leading to menopause (the point in time when you stop menstruating permanently).

The hallmark of perimenopause is a change in the lev...

One of my Facebook friends was asking me for advice for her sister, who has hypertension (high blood pressure). I didn’t suggest a statin or a blood pressure lowering medication, as the first choice. ...

There’s no question that heart palpitations at menopause are related to changing hormones. However, my experience has been that in many midlife women, heart palpitations — also known as rapid heart be...

Few would argue that the health of your heart and brain are connected. For one, studies have linked cardiovascular disease with a greater risk of dementia. Often, those with heart disease, especiall...

This is one of my favorite forms of exercise. It is a body-conditioning program that targets the deep core muscles that support you. The technique was developed by Joseph Pilates, a German athlete who...

Nearly 20 percent of midlife women in the U.S. have high blood pressure or hypertension, which increases the risk not only of heart attack and atherosclerosis, but also of ministrokes in the brain, re...

Though rarely dangerous, heart palpitations can be frightening, and like hot flashes they can range from mild to severe. Heart palpitations at menopause are certainly related to changing hormones. But...

Many women have had negative experiences regarding exercise, either as a result of school sports programs or our culture, which both tend to place emphasis on athletic skills rather than fitness. But ...

My Relationship with Exercise

When I was writing about exercise for The Wisdom of Menopause, my then 74-year-old mother was leading a group of women on a hiking expedition in the Adirondacks. Most of...

Many women suffer from digestive problems at midlife, often along with weight gain. In fact, GI tract problems such as heartburn, bloating, gastric reflux, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and u...

Starting in the teenage years, half of all women suffer from menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea). During perimenopause, the tendency toward cramping may worsen because of hormonal imbalance and the condit...

Endometriosis is a mysterious and increasingly common condition in which the tissue that forms the lining of the uterus grows in other areas of the pelvis, and sometimes even outside the pelvis entire...