Introduction

One of the most significant challenges for contemporary nursing is helping women preserve health after menopause. The modern approach to menopause has changed dramatically to reflect both the complexity of the changes that occur during this transition and the potential for improved quality of life in the years beyond. Not only are the standards of normal aging being revised, but there are also new therapeutic options that can help women prevent a number of disabling conditions.

For nurses, managing menopausal health is more than an issue of understanding aging or hormone loss. It requires an ongoing effort to keep up to date with the options and benefits available to menopausal women. Moreover, perimenopause represents an important opportunity for establishing preventive health goals and helping women understand how they can be responsible for their own well-being.

The changing approach to menopause must include knowledge from a number of areas. By interweaving physiology, pharmacology, and lifestyle modifications in a nursing management plan, it is possible to enhance life expectancy and function. This monograph covers current concepts in menopausal health and focuses on new information from basic science research.

Such a discussion is particularly important given the new discoveries about how estrogen acts in the body. This new concept of estrogen action is emerging from basic science research. The recent identification of a second estrogen receptor suggests an expanded role for estrogen in a number of body systems. Not only is hormone loss related to a broad range of menopausal changes, but hormone replacement may have more beneficial effects than previously recognized. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the form of estrogen (ERT) alone or in combination with progesterone (HRT) is a comprehensive therapy that offers both short-term and long-term benefits to the majority of menopausal women.

Monograph 1 is part of a program that is designed to help nurses and their patients weigh the risks and benefits of HRT, explore therapeutic alternatives, and make appropriate choices for a healthy life. Menopause can be a time of positive change provided that women and their nurses understand and individualize their healthcare.