It was just over a decade ago, that one of the largest sleep studies was conducted in Australia by the Sleep Foundation. Modeled on the large Sleep in America study at the time, the results illustrated that a considerable proportion of Australians (especially older women), reported frequent sleeping difficulties. These issues ranged from frequent waking during the night, waking unrefreshed and inadequate sleep. Daytime sleepiness, fatigue/exhaustion, memory concerns and irritability were common issues. [Hillman & Lack, 2013].  If I had of completed this survey at the time, I know th ..read more

Women’s health and ageing research is replete with cardiovascular disease studies and there’s a reason for this. The declining health of our mother’s generation have paved the way for this type of research in older women.   For many women, menopause is the start of their changing heart health … but unlike our mother’s generation, researchers now know, that it doesn’t have to be this way.  Menopause is the time of our lives when we are most at risk of high blood pressure and changing heart health and researchers now understand that our mid-life years are the time to change how ..read more

Ontario, Canada is a long way from the South Island of New Zealand. When Patricia emailed me and mentioned that she loved her exercise and was really struggling to recover from the exercise that she had easily managed for decades, I ‘got it’.  There were a few coaching emails that flew across the Pacific as I worked on helping her to understand the physiological changes that menopause creates in skeletal and cardiac muscle and in the liver. This includes a slower uptake of calcium into skeletal muscle, a change in Co-enzyme Q10 in cardiac muscle, which declines during ageing (CoQ10 help ..read more

Over the past decade, the gut microbiome has emerged as making an important contribution to human health, with increasing interest into how it may also influence symptoms during and after the menopause transition.  Feelings of melancholy and sadness are known symptoms during your midlife menopause transition. This is because the levels of your reproductive hormones are naturally declining and these changes in the brain, may affect some of your mood hormones, including serotonin. However, many women don’t realise, that these effects begin in our gut. Yes, that’s right. Our gut. With the ..read more

“After this past year of avoiding whole-grains completely based on the diet I was on, I now realise that this was the wrong thing to do now that I’m in my 50’s. I’ve lost 5 lbs & I’m feeling amazing. I have so much more energy.”  [Kirsten, USA] Most women joining me on the MyMT programmes are surprised that I give them permission to eat bread … but not just any bread. My recommendation is rye bread and there’s a reason for this.  One of the most important discoveries of the past few years, has been that the immune system and inflammatory processes are involved in, not just ..read more

“It was 2019 and a year where I felt totally uncomfortable within myself at 54 years of age. Stressful events, an all-consuming full-time job and life-threatening family illnesses had caused me to feel like I was constantly on the run and waiting for the next wave of something terrible to happen. I felt like I was running on adrenaline yet was totally exhausted. Some days it just felt like I was trying to pull myself through quicksand. My sleep was disturbed, and I was constantly changing beds in the night to find the cool sheets. I found myself easily losing the plot, and not coping with ev ..read more

Fitness Education Online interviews Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) as part of their series into fitness for Menopause.  Join Dr Sweet (PhD) as she discusses why we need to exercise to energise, rather than exhaust during the menopause transition and covers important topics such as: Why you may still be putting on weight even though you are exercising just as hard as you used to. Why you may be becoming more breathless with exercise.  Why, if you aren’t sleeping, you may need to reduce your exercise until you sleep all night.  Cardiovascular exercise for menopause – the unspoken hero for ..read more

Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) speaks to the University of Waikato, about her world-leading research into Women’s Healthy Ageing and Lifestyle Science Solutions as part of her Masters and PhD Studies.  Dr Sweet (PhD) completed both her Masters and PhD through the University, and at the time, was also a Lecturer in the Health and Human Nutrition Department.  Click the link below to go to the University of Waikato’s website to read the article.  READ MORE The post University of Waikato, Alumna Series: Pssst You Can Mention The M Word appeared first on My Menopause Transformation ..read more

Shortages of some hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products have hit the headlines lately and the Radio New Zealand reporting of a national shortage of Hormone Replacement Therapy patches in New Zealand didn’t surprise me (18th May, 2024). Afterall, the same situation happened in the UK in 2019 – “HRT: UK faces shortage for menopausal women” shouted the headline on the 19th of August, from the BBC news page. And according to both of these articles, the anxiety associated with these shortages may be sending thousands of women into the very symptoms that menopause-HRT is supposed to alleviate ..read more

“Since my body-building competition, I’ve been trying to grow muscle, but all I’ve gained is 6kg of mainly fat. My liver had become very unhealthy”. [Lyn, Australia] What your clients do each day of their life and how they live their life affects symptoms in menopause. I’m often telling my own clients this, including former body-builder, Lyn, from Australia.  Since the early 1990s the exercise industry has been expanding rapidly. As greater emphasis has been placed on strength and conditioning, more and more women have been enjoying heavy weight training. I know this, because back then ..read more