Reclaim the MENOPAUSE

Has menopause dented your self-esteem? If it has, that’s not surprising. Most of the time, talk of menopause is all about “management” – of hot flushes, anxiety, a thickening waistline, plummeting sex drive and vaginal dryness – not exactly messages that fill you with vitality. In our society, this time of life is usually seen as something to dread, and that’s largely connected with our cultural mindset, believes Dr Christiane Northrup, a holistic physician trained in gynaecology, and author of (Piatkus). “For decades, we’ve been taught that without hormone replacement, we’d lose our attractiveness to men, dry up and become brittle,” she says. “This is partly