Rating: 
Summary: Poorly Written
Review: Dr. Warga may or may not have something to say about menopause and the mind, but for the life of me, I can't decipher her writing. I am amazed that Simon and Schuster let this book see the light of day without more editing. I've never read so many long, tortured, and confusing sentences. Good writing does matter.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, an explanation about my wife's behaviors!
Review: Dr. Warga opens the opportunity to see how women who've been on HRT can also have the cognitive symptoms which can be so disruptive to their lives and those of their spouses as well. She wonderfully describes and notates the studies and supporting information to her conclusions, while also freely admitting the 'newness' of this area of behavior/medicine.Most importantly, she provides suggested access points to 'the health system' in terms of how to approach our clinicians and to know how to focus on those who will help or who will learn on their own, enough to help 'fix' this area of the womens lives. She demonstrates that just because every woman is unique, is no reason to say that appropriate conclusions can't be drawn from a wide array of symptoms as to the underlying core issue.
Rating:
Summary: I am not going crazy; I am not alone, and there is help!
Review: Dr. Warga presents the mental,emotional and physical upsets and changes that a woman may go through during her premenopausal years. Many of the changes are insidious because they manifest themselves gradually. She presents physical reasons for these changes and practical suggestions for improving the quality of life in the middle-aged woman.
Rating:
Summary: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!
Review: Dr. Warga's book, Menopause and the Mind, does women an enormous favor in presenting frontline research on estrogen and the brain as those familiar with this research area know. Every year, the scientific literature on estrogen's known effects on the brain (and the effects on the brain of estrogen loss), has grown more massive but women have mainly been left out of the loop on it over the last ten years. Anyone with internet access can judge its size for themselves by logging onto the excellent PUBMED site on any search engine - it accesses the full scientific and medical literature in the National Library of Medicine. Anyone can punch in "estrogen AND the brain" on this site and read actual abstracts (or just titles) of the thousands of articles that now document the effects of estrogen on the brain - predominantly beneficial effects - in humans and in animals. In the year 2000 alone, hundreds of new studies documenting this association have been reported. As a baby boomer, I am aging today and need to know what options I have to weigh until the ideal studies come out over the decades to come. I found Dr. Warga's synthesis of this material a wonderful, clear and easy read and more than fair-minded. I feel she bent over backwards in the book to warn off women, who for personal reasons, shouldn't take estrogen. In the book, she's far from dogmatic in pushing estrogen on everyone for the mind changes she describes. I thought I was going crazy or had early, early Alzheimer's disease before I read about the symptoms of the WHM Syndrome and read what could reverse it. By studying the many effects estrogen has been found to have in the brain, she's been able to offer women who can't or won't take estrogen, rational arguments - and the research evidence - for alternative factors besides estrogen that can help women experiencing memory, speech, and attention changes. I would never have known that estrogen affects glucose metabolism - the fuel of the brain - and that sugar can help memory. Many of us know that women's health research needs have been given short shrift for too long. It's great to know that someone at least cares enough about women to be clueing us in to what does exist and the choices we have open to us. Grateful
Rating:
Summary: LIVING AGAIN!!!
Review: I am 50 yrs. old, and am a 5 yr Breast Cancer survivor. I had a mastectomy and 6 mos.of chemotherapy.My breast cancer was "estrogen"related, but it was also non-invasive, caught very early.With the help of God, I have overcome all obstacles.I also chose reconstructive surgery.Having had chemotherapy,I became menopausal. My quality of life changed drastically,I felt like I was just existing. I enjoyed nothing, nor wanted to be sociable anymore. I felt like I had no emotions.I became very insecure,irritable and negative. I KNEW something was wrong, but I was determined not to accept it as"just getting old".After all my LIFE was just beginning again. I started seeing a Psychiatrist, and went to the library and read Dr.Claire Wargasbook, Menopause and the Mind. All the emotions I had been feeling were in her book! I RAN to my oncologist & gynocoligist.Aftersome blood work, I was recommended by BOTH to get on the estrogen.My whole life has changed in a matter of days,I elected the Estradial patch with progesterone.Within days (2) I felt alert,active and Alive again. I am starting to feel feminine, and wanting to be around people. Suffice to say, at the second session with the Psychiatrist,she told me I did not need to return, my whole outlook had changed! I cannot express the change of positive emotions I have experienced. Instead of existing I am living. Because I am "high risk"so they say, I will continue to be monitered carefully, This has been my decision after researching data on estrogen and the mind, as opposed to estrogen and breastcancer. PLEASE READ DR. CLAIRE WARGA'S BOOK about Menopause and the Mind, IT CHANGED MY LIFE!!!
Rating:
Summary: LIVING AGAIN!!!
Review: I am 50 yrs. old, and am a 5 yr Breast Cancer survivor. I had a mastectomy and 6 mos.of chemotherapy.My breast cancer was "estrogen"related, but it was also non-invasive, caught very early.With the help of God, I have overcome all obstacles.I also chose reconstructive surgery.Having had chemotherapy,I became menopausal. My quality of life changed drastically,I felt like I was just existing. I enjoyed nothing, nor wanted to be sociable anymore. I felt like I had no emotions.I became very insecure,irritable and negative. I KNEW something was wrong, but I was determined not to accept it as"just getting old".After all my LIFE was just beginning again. I started seeing a Psychiatrist, and went to the library and read Dr.Claire Wargasbook, Menopause and the Mind. All the emotions I had been feeling were in her book! I RAN to my oncologist & gynocoligist.Aftersome blood work, I was recommended by BOTH to get on the estrogen.My whole life has changed in a matter of days,I elected the Estradial patch with progesterone.Within days (2) I felt alert,active and Alive again. I am starting to feel feminine, and wanting to be around people. Suffice to say, at the second session with the Psychiatrist,she told me I did not need to return, my whole outlook had changed! I cannot express the change of positive emotions I have experienced. Instead of existing I am living. Because I am "high risk"so they say, I will continue to be monitered carefully, This has been my decision after researching data on estrogen and the mind, as opposed to estrogen and breastcancer. PLEASE READ DR. CLAIRE WARGA'S BOOK about Menopause and the Mind, IT CHANGED MY LIFE!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes less is more
Review: I found this book to be a long, repetitive and often tedious commercial for hormone replacement therapy. While the author makes many wonderful and important points about symptoms, the benefit of reading the book is reduced by the repetition of cases. I also was hoping for a more balanced approach with respect to treatment, but it seemed that just about every page touted HRT as the cure for EVERYTHING.
Rating:
Summary: ADDENDUM
Review: I sent in an online review of this book a few weeks ago; now I want to share a joke for anyone interested in this book: Q: How many perimenopausal women does it take to change a light bulb? A: I can't remember ....
Rating:
Summary: Fellow "brain author"/physician endorses this book!!!
Review: In writing my own recent book, "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" I searched the world's medical literature to produce a brief but well-documented "for women only" section. I can tell you that both the cyclical and the menopausal hormonal changes can wreak havoc on normal and even super normal brain function if not dealt with and managed properly. In "Menopause and the Mind",Dr. Warga documents this very clearly and offers many of the solutions I found in my own research and interviews. I enjoyed it immensely. It is well written. May I also suggest "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" as a good companion guide to support this and to help you with optimizing your natural baseline of mental functioning...All the best to Dr. Claire Warga...Kenneth Giuffre MD
Rating:
Summary: Fellow "brain author"/physician endorses this book!!!
Review: In writing my own recent book, "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" I searched the world's medical literature to produce a brief but well-documented "for women only" section. I can tell you that both the cyclical and the menopausal hormonal changes can wreak havoc on normal and even super normal brain function if not dealt with and managed properly. In "Menopause and the Mind",Dr. Warga documents this very clearly and offers many of the solutions I found in my own research and interviews. I enjoyed it immensely. It is well written. May I also suggest "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" as a good companion guide to support this and to help you with optimizing your natural baseline of mental functioning...All the best to Dr. Claire Warga...Kenneth Giuffre MD
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