POWER SURGE NEWS
FOR AOL AND THE WEB
A Free E-Mail Newsletter
of the Power Surge Women's
Midlife and Menopause Community
The Power Surge Web Site
Dearest (Alice Stamm)
Founder and Facilitator

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POWER SURGE NEWS
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Surgettes,

SPRING AHEAD! Would it were so that we could turn our biological time clocks BACK with the same ease with which we turned our electric clocks AHEAD Saturday night. Alas, it cannot be done, but . . . what a wonderful attitude to embrace - Spring Ahead! Women in menopause at the start of this new and hopeful season! Yes, my fe-mellow Surgettes - Spring has sprung. Now that the blizzardy winter is behind us, the azaleas and dogwoods are burgeoning forth, flowering plum trees burst out in fruitful song, everything colorful and bright is smiling upon our earth. The sky is an azure blue and, in case you hadn't noticed errrr . . .no lil white snowflakes are fallin' from da sky .

Give yourselves a treat and get out and   EXERCISE. Call a friend to join in a morning Power Surge walk! Get together with your menopause friends for a Power Surge Walkathon! Buy new running shoes. Get those endorphins going! You can't begin to imagine the excellent benefits to be derived from simple exercise. Pay no heed to those who would have you think you *must* have a Nautilus setup in your den or basement -- or even a Cardio-glide, or, heavens to Murgatroyd, one of those stair-stepper jobs - arrrgggh!. All you need, my friends, are your own two feet, the resolve to get yourself in good physical shape, and a sincere desire to simply feel better -- and give yourself what you deserve, a MENO-PERK.

Enjoy this Spring issue of the newsletter -- replete with the same type of informative articles to educate you about menopause. However, your host,being helplessly afflicted with the fever of the season, starts off the Spring issue of the Power Surge Newsletter with a ditty to give you a little chuckle .

I was sleepless til they mentioned Melatonin
And I praise the lord for primrose oil each daaaay
Revival has provided some protection
From the heart disease dismay

A Surgette said she had tried Premarin also
But had nightmares of the horses and abuse
Oh, why, must we make decisions?
Constant hot flashes are fused

When, we wonder, will this pause be done,
So, again, we're free and clear?
"Hon, it's Sunday, and I need the 'puter
Power Surge is almost here!!!!"

One says, "Hormones are much better for your health,dear"
While another shakes her finger to chastiiise
"Try Dong Quai and Black Cohosh and Ginseng, deeear
"Vitamin E makes skin less dryyyy!!"

But we feel so bright
As we chat on Power Surge night
So, it really does appear
That meNO-PAUuuuse SURE-ly IS heeere!

We can laugh and whine and say we're feeling awful :(
While we share great info and the latest newwws
Oh, why, must we make decisions
While in menopausal blues?

We are growing and becoming and evolving
Well, at least that's what we try hard to believe :)
We hold so very tightly to our youth, dear
While our lost menses we grieeeve

But we FEEL so bright
As we chat on POWER SURGE night
So, it really does appear
That meNO-PAUuuuse SURE-ly IS here!

I came across this splendid organization while surfing the Net, and decided to share it with you. If you haven't personally been touched by breast cancer, certainly someone in your family or circle of friends has. Please pass this information on as the work they're doing is so commendable.

Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization has a commitment to provide information and support to anyone who has been touched by breast cancer. Y-ME was founded by two breast cancer patients in 1978, when they realized that their needs for information and support could best be met by women who had also experienced breast cancer. For almost 20 years, Y-ME has served women with breast cancer and their families and friends--through our national hotline, open door groups, early detection workshops and our many local chapters. Through peer support programs--breast cancer patients talking with survivors, and spouses of patients talking with spouses of survivors--Y-ME helps thousands of people each year who are concerned about or personally affected by breast cancer. We are there for the woman who has just found a lump; a man whose wife has just been diagnosed; a daughter who is coping with her increased risk of breast cancer. We are there for the woman who wants to know when to start having regular mammograms; a man who has been diagnosed with breast cancer; a woman needing information about breast cancer in Spanish. Our goal is to replace fear with facts, and trepidation with information. Most of all, it is to let women and their families know that breast cancer is most often a treatable illness, and that there is much to hope for, even in the face of cancer.

If you have been touched by breast cancer, you've come to the right place. Here you'll find information about breast cancer, and resources for you to turn to for support and further assistance. Most importantly, if you have a concern or a question that just can't be answered by a web page, the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Hotline is only a phone call away. You can talk with a trained peer counselor about your concerns, and we'll take the time to make sure that your questions are answered, and give you the information you need in plain language. Best of all, you'll be able to talk with someone who really understands your concerns--a woman or man who has been there.

FREE HOTLINE: 1-800-221-2141
9AM to 5PM CST, Monday through Fiday
24 HR HOTLINE: 312-986-8228
For more information, send e-mail to:
info@y-me.org

Check out the Power Surge comprehensive list of breast cancer support groups.

FREE BONE LOSS TESTS & NEWS

DENVER, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Colorado Center for Bone Research announces its first-ever bone loss testing program to be held Thursday, April 4 through Sunday, April 21. The program, made available through a grant provided by Ostex International, Inc., is designed to help educate women about available bone loss testing methods. The program is also intended to help create a dialog between the patient and her physician or nurse practitioner about the importance of bone health. As a public service, the testing will be provided at no cost.

Women age 40 and over can visit the pharmacy counter at their local PayLess Drug Store beginning Thursday, April 4 to pick up information, specimen cups and forms required to receive the NTx test. From April 11-14 and April 18-21, women may visit the Colorado Center for Bone Research, P.C., 3190 South Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 250, Lakewood, Colorado 80227, between 8:00am and 2.00pm to drop off their specimen. The subsequent NTx test will measure their rate of bone loss and their physician will be notified of the results.

For more detailed information about the testing program, women should visit their local PayLess Drug Store beginning Thursday April 4 or call 800-TEST-NTX.CO:
Ostex International, Inc.; PayLess Drug Stores
ST: Colorado, Washington

BEAR IN MIND

Those of you experimenting with mega-doses of vitamins and herbs --
"All chemicals have the potential to cause harm at high exposure levels. Even vitamins and herbs can be toxic if you take too much of them."

URINARY INCONTINENCE

What is urinary incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is the condition in which there is uncontrolloble leakage of urine causing a social or hygienic problem.

How common is female urinary incontinence in Singapore?

Occasional incontinence of urine occurs in at least 20% of women in Singapore. Whereas troublesome incontinence occurring regularly affects about 10% of Singapore women. This problem of urinary incontinence gets worse as one grows older.

What are the types of urinary incontinence in women?

There are four types of urinary incontinence in women:

1. Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence is the commonest type of urinary incontinence in women. It can occur in young women, during pregnancy, after childbirth and around the menopause (when the menses end). In these women there is uncontrollable leakage of small amounts of urine when they cough, sneeze, laugh, excersise and sometimes even during sex.

2. Urge incontinence

In this type of incontinence a woman feels a strong urge to pass urine that she cannot control; resulting in a continuous leakage of urine, usually until the bladder is empty. Sometimes coughing, the sound of running water or hand/dish/clothes washing may trigger off urge incontinence. Poor toilet training eg. the habit of passing urine very often may lead to this type of incontinence when the brain cannot control the bladder.

3. Overflow incontinence

In overflow incontinence the bladderis not functioning because its nerve supply is impaired. This results in a distended bladder which leaks urine whenever the bladder becomes overfilled: such women do not feel the urge to pass urine. The bad habit of delaying the need to pass urine in certain occupations (eg. shop assistants, factory assembly line workers), medical conditions like diabetes and spinal injuries can cause this type of incontinence.

4. 'Continuous' incontinence

In this very uncommon type of incontinence there is leakage of urine more or less all the time without any warning. 'Continuous' incontinence is caused by urinary tract abnormalities which may be congenital (since birth) or resulting from childbirth (rare these days), pelvic surgery(eg. complicated hysterectomy, radiation treatment (for cancer of the cervix or uterus) or advanced cancer within the pelvis.

I have urinary incontinence, how can my doctor help me?

Your doctor will have to find the cause of your incontinence first. This may include:

1. - A list of questions about factors which may affect your urinating habits.
2. - A record of the amount of fluid you drink, the amount and timing of urination and leakage of urine.
3. - Your medical history.
4. - A physical and pelvic examination to detect any condition that might be linked to incontinence.
5. - A pad test to determine how much urine you leak.
6. - Laboratory tests to detect urinary tract infection.
7. - Special tests to determine the capacity and control of the bladder, the pressure within the bladder and urethra, the way you pass urine, and what the inside of your bladder and urethra look like.

Note: Not all these tests are required in every patient. Your doctor will then select the most appropriate treatment for you.

What are the treatment options available for my incontinence?
These would depend on the precise cause of your problem:

• - Antibiotics to treat infection.
• - Drugs to control abnormal bladder contractions (for urge incontinence).
• - Drugs to help your overdistended bladder to contract (for overflow incontinence).
• - Hormone replacement therapy for menopause and stress incontinence.
• - Pelvic floor exercise to strengthen the muscles that surround the openings of the urethra, vagina and anus in stress incontinence.
• - Electrical stimulation of the muscles around the bladder and urethra in stress and urge incontinence.
• - Surgery to correct pelvic support defects in stress incontinence, urinary tract abnormalities or to remove abnormal tumours eg. uterine fibroids pressing on the bladder.

Finally:
Urinary incontinence is a very common problem in women. If you are bothered with symptoms of urinary incontinence, or if they affect your daily living, tell your doctor. A complete and thourough examination is needed to find the cause of the problem. In most cases urinary incontinence can be treated with success.

An insight into the urinary tract

The urinary tract is made up of kidneys, which produce urine; tubes called ureters that carry urine to the bladder, a sac- like muscular organ, where it is stored; and the urethra, a small, muscular tube about 5cm long that channels urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

AU NATUREL

"Pass the vitamin C," and "Give me a garlic capsule," are requests more and more Americans are making as the exploding nutritional and herbal supplement industry continues to pervade mainstream America.

The market for nutritional and herbal supplements -- including vitamins, minerals and herbal products -- was estimated at $5.1 billion in 1995 and is expected to exceed $6.7 billion by the year 2000. This represents a 32 percent growth rate in five years -- according to a 1995 Gallup study on nutritional and herbal supplement usage in the United States.

What's Fueling the Growth?

In a nutshell...an aging population and an increased emphasis on prevention. A recent Gallup Organization survey reports that more than a third of the U.S. population currently takes vitamins and minerals everyday. Consumers over age 35, which represent 78 percent of vitamin users, comprise more than 63 percent of health food suppliers total sales, and this age bracket is expected to increase by 30 percent in the next 10 years.

While vitamins remain the most popular product sold, herbal supplement sales are steadily rising. In 1995, herbal products were the third largest selling category at GNC, for example, and are expected to continue to be one of the fastest growing categories over the next several years.

According to Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council -- the leading non-profit organization in herbal education -- the rapid growth of the herbal supplement industry is being propelled by a renewed consumer interest in that which is natural. Blumenthal says that consumers, particularly baby boomers, are becoming increasingly health-conscious and are turning to plant-based products for their nutritional and medicinal values, believing the products are better and safer than chemical alternatives.

"The aging of our population combined with skyrocketing health care costs are making preventive, self-care a must in today's society," Cooper said. "From here on into the future, we anticipate that herbal and nutritional supplement usage will be more than a surging trend; it will be a way of life."

RECOMMENDED MENO READING

Power Surge Recommends The Following Books On Menopause.
For direct links to these books, visit the new Power Surge Bookstore

I've brought the first four celebrated authors directly into your living rooms as guests in Power Surge and AOL -- Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Lonnie Barbach, Charlotte Libov and Vicki Hufnagel. Now, it's time for us to get out there and buy their wonderful books

• Getting Over Getting Older, Author, Pogrebin, Letty Cottin
• The Pause; Author, Barbach, Lonnie
• No More Hysterectomies; No More Menopause; Author: Hufnagel Victoria; Golant, S.
• The Women's Heart Book: The Complete Guide To Keeping Your Heart Healthy; Author, Libov Charlotte.
• What To Do If Things Go Wrong; 50 Essential Things To Do When The Doctor Says It's Heart Disease; Author, Libov, Charlotte.
• Silent Passage; New Passages; Gail Sheehy
• Change: Women, Aging And The Menopause, Author: Greer, Germaine
• Choice Years: Health, Happiness; Beauty Through Menopause; Beyond, Author: Paige, Judith; Gordon, P.
• Complete Book of Menopause, Author: Landau, Carol et al.
• Estrogen Decision: A Self-Help Program, Author: Lark, Susan
• Homeopathy For Menopause: A Guide To Health For The Middle Years, Author: Smith, Trevor
• Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way-Alternative Approaches For Women 30-90, Author: Weed, Susan
• Menopause Naturally: Preparing For The Second Half Of Life, Author: Greenwood, S.
• Menopause Without Medicine: Feel Healthy, Look Younger, Live Longer, Author: Ojeda, L.
• Menopause: How to Benefit From Diet, Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs... (Getting Well Naturally) Murray, Michael
• Natural Menopause: The Complete Guide To A Woman's Most Misunderstood Passage, Author: Perry, Susan
• No More Hot Flashes And Other Good News, Author: Budoff, P.
• PMS, Menopause and Hysterectomy: What You Need To Know About, Author:Donsbach, Kurt W.
• Smart Medicine For Menopause: Hormone Replacement Therapy; It's Natural Alternatives, Author: Cabot, Sandra
• Super Nutrition For Menopause: Take Control Of Your Life; Enjoy New Vitality, Author: Gittleman, Ann Louise