The following is the Q&A on Late Menopause: Q:"Are there any advantages to still having periods at the age of 56? Is there a benefit to late menopause, or is it better to undergo it earlier? "  Rosemary, Pennsylvania A: Having a late menopause (menopause after the age of around 55) is a double-edged sword. There's some evidence that a later menopause carries a decreased risk of coronary heart disease, but there may also be a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. However, the associations between these health conditions and menopause aren't very strong. The other good news is that there are ways to avoid many health problems  such as doing regular exercise, following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and so forth. There is an association between menopause and smoking  smokers often have an earlier menopause. You are probably a nonsmoker, though, which is also good for your health. Keep in mind too that 56 is well within the normal age range for menopause, though it's toward the upper end of the spectrum. So you have nothing to worry about right now. Last Updated: 08/04/2008 JoAnn Manson, MD, is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"...kind to offer your flat assurances that you know better than all of us what is best for all of us." In the broadest sense that no drugs is always preferable to drugs when one is discussing drugs that are not necessary to life and limb only, yes. Nowhere in either of your posts in this thread have you even mentioned the grave risks associated with these drugs. You have not mentioned weighing risks vs expected/desired benefits. Instead you suggest that there are (serious and negative) implications that follow from "declining ovarian hormone production." The intact female produces all the estrogen and testosteone required for the non-reproductive body. Progesterone, as the hormone of pregnancy, is not produced because it is no longer required unless one takes exogenous estrogen in which case it is used to counter the extreme carcinogenicity of estrogen. I have my feet sufficiently grounded in reality to know that most women are being pressured to take hormones of some kind after menopause despite the lack of evidence for benefit. They are not warned of the dangers and those who get their drugs from "compounding pharmacies" may well never even see the federally mandated warning that is supposed to be included in all estrogen drug prescriptions. Many women see the word "natural" and assume therefore safe. Compounding pharmacists/pharmacies encourage this belief because it contributes to their bottom line. In this last post you pay lip service to the notion that "absolute minimum" dose is best, but carefully avoid saying that for most women that minimum is none at all. The difference between our approaches is that I make my biases clear upfront. You disguise yours in apparently neutral but actually highly biased language - launguage that is eerily similar to that used by drug companies/compounding pharmacies/mlm scammers and the like to sell their product(s). I wonder if you would post in equally (apparently) neutral fashion, if someone came here asking about the use of street drugs or tobacco.

It's always so interesting to read everyone's views on something like this. And in truth, I don't find that I am very sympathetic anymore. I used to be, but this job hardens a person very quickly. Since I started running these 4 buildings in July of '06, I have had 1 suicide where she also killed her cat, that really upset me. I have had a murder on my front lawn. I have had two people die of drug overdoses. And now this latest fellow. While I appreciate that there must be alot going on for them to become suicidal like this, in the job it's very hard to see past the facts of the mess, the (possible) danger to myself and the other tenants, etc. I hope this man makes a full recovery, and while I didn't state it, there was evidence in the suite of drug use. Thanks for pointing out about the disposal of the carpet - we are having a restoration company come this morning to remove it, I'll have to ask them what they actually do with it. Suzan J

Sounds like it could be thyroid. On the other hand, I have my thyroid checked every six months now that I take thyroid supplements, (it's fine) and my immune system was crap this winter even though I did every thing imaginable. As for herbs and vitamins, be careful. You may be taking a placebo, very difficult to determine if the active ingredient in the supplement is actually present. Most of the time I doubt it. Would be best to grow your own, but even then, chemical composition varies. With vitamins, it is whether your body can even absorb what you are taking, many things cancel each other out, like asprin/acetominophin and vit. C, for just one example. Calcium and iron for another. Same with foods, vitamin content can drop dramatically when they've bee sitting around or upon cutting them open, etc. Other than what has been mentioned, (hydration, CLEAN humidifier, hand washing, etc.) with the cautionary note about "caveat emptor" (know your sources, freshness, interactions, etc.) another supplement I have had good luck with is lysine. Lastly, lots of sleep, a diet RICH in whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, and SOUP. I don't know if soup makes the vitamins in the ingredients extra absorbable or what, but soup along with other hot liquids helped me finally expel the last of the flu lingering in my lungs. I got a flu shot but it didn't stop the flu from laying me low for two months. Vit. D helps too during the low sunshine times, but it is tricky to get it absorbed. Stay away from alcohol.