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What's New About Menopause
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Viewing Ideas
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Before Watching
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This program examines different views about estrogen therapy as
a treatment for menopause. In the 1960s, many in the medical
establishment thought estrogen was a rejuvenating antidote to
menopausal discomforts, and the therapy was widely prescribed.
Soon, however, concerns were raised about the increased levels
of a rare uterine cancer among some women who used estrogen. Ask
your students how they evaluate the role and advice of experts.
Ask for cases in which experience has proved the experts wrong.
Why are people predisposed to believe them? When is "expert
advice" just an opinion and when is it fact? How do you evaluate
such advice and then make a decision that takes all available
information into consideration?
After Watching
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Ask students to recall moments in the film when the women had to
make difficult choices about which treatments to follow for
their postmenopausal conditions, for example, hesitancy about
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or a decision to pursue
alternative herbal cures. Ask students how well informed these
women seemed to be about their choices. What were the most
compelling reasons they gave for their choices? How did their
feelings about aging influence their decisions? What other
questions might they have asked? What other options might they
have pursued?
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