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Available
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Publication
Citadel (2021), 400 pages
Description
The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women's bodies, and it's no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Menopause is not a disease--it's a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what's to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring. Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause--including how their lives can be even better for it!… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member pgchuis
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
This is written in a very engaging way, with flashes of humour and lots of practical advice. There were many chapters that were dense with scientific facts, which I found myself less inclined to concentrate on when the chapter in
This is an excellent resource, which I can imagine referring to months and years down the road. I would recommend buying a print copy - the tables and diagrams didn't work on my Kindle.
This is written in a very engaging way, with flashes of humour and lots of practical advice. There were many chapters that were dense with scientific facts, which I found myself less inclined to concentrate on when the chapter in
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question was not directly relevant to my personal circumstances. Fortunately each chapter ends with a 'Bottom Line' page, so that you can grasp an overview and move on.This is an excellent resource, which I can imagine referring to months and years down the road. I would recommend buying a print copy - the tables and diagrams didn't work on my Kindle.
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LibraryThing member shelleyraec
“I demand that the era of silence and shame about menopause yield to facts and feminism. I proclaim that we must stop viewing menopause as a disease, because that means being a woman is a disease and I reject that shoddily constructed hypothesis. I also declare that what the patriarchy thinks of
After 38 years of regular but long, heavy and painful periods (minus 4 successful pregnancies and three miscarriages), I’ve actually been looking forward to menopause in some ways. At 48, I have now been experiencing the symptoms of peri menopause for about 18 months, and while I expected some of the more well known effects such as hot flushes, insomnia and irregular bleeding, I now realise, thanks to Jen Gunter and The Menopause Manifesto, that the inexplicable joint pain I have been suffering may also be related.
For the uninformed, menopause occurs when there are no more follicles in the ovaries capable of ovulating, meaning there are no more eggs, and menstruation ceases. The average age when this happens is 50-52 years. However the transition to menopause (often referred to as peri menopause) can start several years earlier, and the length, and the severity of symptoms, may vary significantly from woman to woman. There are dozens of common symptoms and conditions associated with menopause from an increased risk of heart disease to a decrease in libido, but they don’t just occur in a vacuum - they may be influenced by general health, age and lifestyle factors. Gunter provides detailed but mostly accessible medical facts about the biological process of menopause, its medical ramifications, and a comprehensive guide to treatment options. Useful chapter summaries in point form are provided if you are inclined to skim the denser scientific material. Personal anecdotes and blunt observations from the author ensures the material is rarely dry.
The Menopause Manifesto not only delivers the science but also explores how menopause is perceived (primarily in America and similar cultures). Gunter includes discussion about patriarchal medicine’s tendency to dismiss or minimise the experience of menopause, the culture of shame attached to the transition, and the lack of education surrounding the process. The feminist slant of the book is unapologetic as Gunter encourages women to empower themselves with knowledge so as to better advocate for their own health.
The Menopause Manifesto is a comprehensive, practical resource for all in possession of female reproductive organs. I wish I had read something like this five years ago and strongly recommend that women aged from in their early forties consider educating themselves about menopause well in advance.
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menopause is irrelevant. Men do not get to define the value of women at any age.”After 38 years of regular but long, heavy and painful periods (minus 4 successful pregnancies and three miscarriages), I’ve actually been looking forward to menopause in some ways. At 48, I have now been experiencing the symptoms of peri menopause for about 18 months, and while I expected some of the more well known effects such as hot flushes, insomnia and irregular bleeding, I now realise, thanks to Jen Gunter and The Menopause Manifesto, that the inexplicable joint pain I have been suffering may also be related.
For the uninformed, menopause occurs when there are no more follicles in the ovaries capable of ovulating, meaning there are no more eggs, and menstruation ceases. The average age when this happens is 50-52 years. However the transition to menopause (often referred to as peri menopause) can start several years earlier, and the length, and the severity of symptoms, may vary significantly from woman to woman. There are dozens of common symptoms and conditions associated with menopause from an increased risk of heart disease to a decrease in libido, but they don’t just occur in a vacuum - they may be influenced by general health, age and lifestyle factors. Gunter provides detailed but mostly accessible medical facts about the biological process of menopause, its medical ramifications, and a comprehensive guide to treatment options. Useful chapter summaries in point form are provided if you are inclined to skim the denser scientific material. Personal anecdotes and blunt observations from the author ensures the material is rarely dry.
The Menopause Manifesto not only delivers the science but also explores how menopause is perceived (primarily in America and similar cultures). Gunter includes discussion about patriarchal medicine’s tendency to dismiss or minimise the experience of menopause, the culture of shame attached to the transition, and the lack of education surrounding the process. The feminist slant of the book is unapologetic as Gunter encourages women to empower themselves with knowledge so as to better advocate for their own health.
The Menopause Manifesto is a comprehensive, practical resource for all in possession of female reproductive organs. I wish I had read something like this five years ago and strongly recommend that women aged from in their early forties consider educating themselves about menopause well in advance.
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LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
So much information here, and I loved it. Gunter breaks down every question one might have about menopause and de stigmatizes any fears about it all. I’m almost exactly 44.5 years, so I know that things will be possibly ramping up in the next five years, and I’m so grateful that this book
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exists. Show Less
LibraryThing member muddyboy
I got this book as an ARC and as a man was surprised they sent it to me. But honestly I have learned a lot. My wife and I have been through this years ago but there is still current relevant information we can use regarding general health, diet and menopause aftereffects. Many times I would say
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Doctor Gunter says this. Is your doctor checking your lipids or did you know this causes muscle aches? There were parts of chapters that I skipped that were not relevant or never had been (specific medications and treatment) That said I did learn a lot. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
After a few chapters of history/rumination on misogyny in medicine, a very comprehensive overview of what we know about menopause’s physical—including cognitive/emotional—effects and variations, as well as potential treatments for different symptoms that are causing distress. I definitely
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agree that we need more information about and discussion of menopause: I had no idea that much, much heavier periods—enough so that I became anemic—were reasonably common in the menopause transition, until I started researching. She’s a fan of properly prescribed hormone therapy, and down on compounded medications, whose quality control/dose regularity is worse than Big Pharma’s even though their chemical composition is no more “natural” or better in any other way: “Compounded hormones aren’t helping women avoid the gaps in medicine; they’re exploiting them.” Show Less
LibraryThing member ladycato
I received an advance edition of this book via NetGalley.
"Apparently there is nothing of lower value than an aging woman's body, and many in our society treat menopause not as a phase of life, but rather as a phase of death. Sort of a pre-death."
Jen Gunter confronts the subject of menopause through
The book isn't always an easy read. While the subject is always interesting, some stretches were a bit dry. This wasn't something I could sit and read straight through, but in patches here and there. I found tremendous value in her words. Her humor is wry and witty, and her attitude wonderfully positive. For example, she points out, "Fat-phobia among health care providers has caused many women with hot flushes and night sweats to be dismissed. 'If you'd just lose weight' isn't appropriate medical therapy nor is it compassionate, and the horrible implication is some women deserve their symptoms." PREACH IT, JEN.
My gosh, but I wish I'd had a doctor like her early in my life. I wish I had a doctor like her now! I have a feeling that I will be returning to this book many, many times in the coming years.
"Apparently there is nothing of lower value than an aging woman's body, and many in our society treat menopause not as a phase of life, but rather as a phase of death. Sort of a pre-death."
Jen Gunter confronts the subject of menopause through
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a distinctly matter-of-fact, feminist view in her book The Menopause Manifesto. She is an OB/GYN with decades of experience in her field, but also speaks from personal experience, having recently gone through 'the change' herself. As a person of 41 years, most definitely in perimenopause, I found her perspective refreshing. She discusses subjects like sex, bleeding, and hot flashes in blunt terms, and confronts the immense misinformation put forth by the media and lousy doctors. She brings in the history behind the very term and idea of menopause.The book isn't always an easy read. While the subject is always interesting, some stretches were a bit dry. This wasn't something I could sit and read straight through, but in patches here and there. I found tremendous value in her words. Her humor is wry and witty, and her attitude wonderfully positive. For example, she points out, "Fat-phobia among health care providers has caused many women with hot flushes and night sweats to be dismissed. 'If you'd just lose weight' isn't appropriate medical therapy nor is it compassionate, and the horrible implication is some women deserve their symptoms." PREACH IT, JEN.
My gosh, but I wish I'd had a doctor like her early in my life. I wish I had a doctor like her now! I have a feeling that I will be returning to this book many, many times in the coming years.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Dr. Jen Gunter systematically takes you through the symptoms you may experience during menopause and what medically causes them, then addresses ways you can treat them if you so choose. Along the way, she busts myths and encourages women to fight the patriarchy in how they advocate for and think
Since my doctors had been less than forthcoming when I asked about the menopause transition, I went and found some material of my own to check out. Thankfully, BookRiot came out with a list of menopause books that have come out in the last couple of years, and this is the second of the two books I've read so far. And though I've only read two, I think this would be the one that I recommend those going through perimenopause read first. It gave me the language to talk to my doctor about my symptoms, familiarized me with the various treatments she might suggest, and helped me frame the questions I still had. I usually rate books in a sense on how likely I'd be to reread them, and though I don't know that I'd read this book over from cover to cover (it did get a little repetitive, written more in a way that you could dip in and out of the chapters that interested you), I would nevertheless consider having it in my personal library to reference over the next several years.
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about their health.Since my doctors had been less than forthcoming when I asked about the menopause transition, I went and found some material of my own to check out. Thankfully, BookRiot came out with a list of menopause books that have come out in the last couple of years, and this is the second of the two books I've read so far. And though I've only read two, I think this would be the one that I recommend those going through perimenopause read first. It gave me the language to talk to my doctor about my symptoms, familiarized me with the various treatments she might suggest, and helped me frame the questions I still had. I usually rate books in a sense on how likely I'd be to reread them, and though I don't know that I'd read this book over from cover to cover (it did get a little repetitive, written more in a way that you could dip in and out of the chapters that interested you), I would nevertheless consider having it in my personal library to reference over the next several years.
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LibraryThing member japaul22
As a 45 year old woman with very little idea of what’s coming for my body in the next decade or so, I thought this would be an important book to read. Gunter does a good job of separating fact from fiction and backing up her info with high quality studies. Problem is that there still just isn’t
Because she sticks to the science, there were lots of anecdotal symptoms that I’m heard from friends that she does not cover, or covers lightly.
But I learned a lot about when to consider MHT (that’s what they call hormone therapy now), what to combine, the different ways to take it, and how to weigh the pros and cons.
She also goes through non-medication options that are proven to help menopause symptoms - like diet and exercise. She is very against supplements but does give thorough reasons why. And there is a good chapter on osteoporosis -which often occurs with menopause.
I did not get all my questions answered and definitely want to read more to have a balanced view, but I’d recommend this if you’re going through it or have a partner who is.
Original publication date: 2021
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: to gain knowledge about the topic
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a ton of info about menopause that is reliable and thorough. But, she does a good job at covering what there is, and it was reassuring to know that there are options to treat many of the symptoms that women experience. Because she sticks to the science, there were lots of anecdotal symptoms that I’m heard from friends that she does not cover, or covers lightly.
But I learned a lot about when to consider MHT (that’s what they call hormone therapy now), what to combine, the different ways to take it, and how to weigh the pros and cons.
She also goes through non-medication options that are proven to help menopause symptoms - like diet and exercise. She is very against supplements but does give thorough reasons why. And there is a good chapter on osteoporosis -which often occurs with menopause.
I did not get all my questions answered and definitely want to read more to have a balanced view, but I’d recommend this if you’re going through it or have a partner who is.
Original publication date: 2021
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: purchased
Why I read this: to gain knowledge about the topic
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Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Non-Fiction — 2022)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
400 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
0806540664 / 9780806540665
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Call number
2.65 G9 me 2021