Description for BEFORE THE CHANGE: TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR PERIMENOPAUSE by Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S. with a foreword by Jonathan V Wright, M.D.: Head off depression, mood swings, weight gain, memory loss, hot flashes, and other menopausal symptoms before they start. Addressing one of today's hottest medical issues, Ann Louise Gittleman, co-author of the bestselling BEYOND PRITIKIN, gives women the power to understand and control the dramatic, often frightening symptoms of perimenopause.An estimated 21 million American women are now in perimenopause -- the life-changing, often misdiagnosed phase preceding menopause. While its symptoms -- including anxiety and heart palpitations, irritability and insomnia -- are not dangerous, most women, and their doctors, don't recognize them as being related to menopause. With virtually no information available to them, doctors consistently mistake perimenopausal symptoms for nervous conditions or heart disease and, in many cases, needlessly prescribe drugs such as Prozac. BEFORE THE CHANGE offers a total breakthrough for both women and the medical community with its clear definition of the perimenopause phase as a period of up to ten years in which profound hormonal, physiological, and psychological changes take place; thorough exploration of popular menopause treatments and fads (hormone replacement therapy, DHEA, Chinese medicine, and more); and detailed guide to diet, exercise, and natural alternatives that can help women take control of their own health during this transitional time.
