Have you been struck by moments like this? Your coworker makes an innocent comment that annoys you. Your kids are talking and you yell at them to be quiet. You arrive home and your husband gets off the couch to help you unload the groceries and you scream at him. He backs off with a puzzled look and you think, "Who am I? What am I doing?"

Recent research reveals there is a complex interplay governing your mental, emotional, and physical function.

This involves not only your ovarian hormones, but their interaction with your "stress" hormones, your metabolic hormones and your physical nerve cells.

Do certain phases of life make you more vulnerable and if so, how?

Understanding and coping with "PMS" or "perimenopause" or "adolescent mood swings" is not necessarily as simple as whitewashing the symptoms with hormones or anti-depressants. Access this experienced gynecologist’s double insider’s view.

Dr. Shelley S. Binkley has seen hormones from both sides. She puts her experiences together with those of her clients and synthesizes those within the context of modern science to give you the big picture and allow you to:
Get A Grip! On Your Hormones!

You can preview the book at www.drshelleybinkley.com.

Email the author with questions and suggestions for future books at info@alpinewomenscare.com.

Women in Western societies have adopted the belief that the birthing process should be painful, but it’s actually fear itself that causes the pain. Fear causes tension. Tension causes pain. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. When the fear-tension-pain cycle begins, true pain is experienced and the natural progression of labor may be impeded, requiring additional intervention.

The extreme relaxation of HypnoBirthing^® has the opposite effect- promoting the natural release of the body’s own endorphins, which are 200 times stronger than morphine.

Now there is a technique available here that offers an often pain-free option without the use of medications. Not only are the women birthing without drugs, they are aware and in full control, but proprofoundly relaxed. They learn to trust that their bodies know how to bring their babies into the world in the calm, gentle way that Nature intended.

HypnoBirthing^® Advantages:

• Teaches deep levels of relaxation to eliminate the fear that causes tension and thus, pain.
• Greatly reduces and often eliminates the need for chemical painkillers and drugs.
• Leaves mother alert, fresh, awake and with energy.
• Helps keep oxygen supplied to baby during birthing.
• Reduces the need for an episiotomy.
• Reduces and often eliminates fatigue during labor.
• Teaches breathing techniques that allow a woman to gently breathe her baby into the world.

Did you know that: breast self-exam is best done AFTER your period?

Mammography screening is recommended every 1-2 years for women ages 40-49 years, annually for women 50 years and older. Some experts recommend a baseline mammography at age 35, then screening beginning at age 40.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection by one or more HPV subtypes occurs in up to 80% of sexually active women by age 50.

FDA has licensed the first HPV vaccine shown to be effective at preventing infection with SOME genotypes of HPV.

This vaccine offers protections against Cervical Cancer, cervical &, vaginal dysplasia’s and genital warts associated with HPV genotypes 6,11,16,18. It is a 3-dose vaccine series at 0, 2 and 6 months.

Dysplasia means abnormal cells - sometimes a precursor to cancer - sometimes healed by your body’s immune system alone.

This vaccine is recommended for women ages 9-26.

This vaccine also protects against only 70% of HPV related cervical cancer and 90% of genital wart cases.

So, this vaccine is a preventive tool - not a substitute for cancer screening (Annual PAP test) for women. It does not treat HPV infections or cervical cell changes.

Modern, western medicine, as it is practiced in the United States, boasts amazing, state-ofthe-art technology and treatments for illnesses that were once deemed hopeless. However, health insurance limitations and the growth of corporate medicine have also brought an impersonal, even cold, element into the relationships between Americans and their health care providers.

Large numbers of Americans are now turning to alternative health practitioners for a more "natural" or "holistic" approach. There has been great interest in nutrition and Eastern medicine, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture, as well as healing approaches that focus more on spirituality than technology.

The relatively new concept of Integrative Medicine is to merge, or "integrate", these various alternative approaches with the best that modern western medicine has to offer, while addressing the whole person: mind, body, spirit and emotions.

"It can be tragic if a patient gets so turned off by our typical medical system that they think there’s nothing a doctor can do to help." - Dr. Weiss

Next Step^® Institute of Integrative Medicine has been one of the leading pioneers in this field for twenty-five years, and recently has established a new program with clinical offices in Vail and a healing center in Eagle, Colorado.

Dr. Gary Weiss, a Mayo-Clinic trained neurologist and one of the medical directors at Next Step^® Institute, said his purpose is to offer the best modern and alternative medicine has to offer, but with the type of old-fashioned care patients have been missing.

"It can be tragic if a patient gets so turned off by our typical medical system that they think there’s nothing a doctor can do to help," Dr. Weiss said. "But it’s also tragic if patients miss out on all the other, more holistic, options because they think they have to pick one way or another."

At Next Step^® Institute, local patients, as well as individuals and families who fly in for week-long programs, are thoroughly evaluated for mind/body/spirit and emotional issues that may be affecting health, and then a wellness plan is developed by a team of top physicians and other clinicians. Some patients are coping with serious, life-threatening illness, while others are looking to improve their overall wellbeing.

Next Step^® Institute offers a wide range of therapies, including Native American healing ceremonies, equine-assisted therapy, nutrition and naturopathic medicine, art and movement therapies, physical therapy and natural pain management, as well as acupuncture and Chi Kung.

For more information, contact Bonnie McDonald, Program Director, at 970-477-2800 or visit www.nextstepinstitute.org.