The following is the Q&A on Late Menopause: Q:"Are there any advantages to still having periods at the age of 56? Is there a benefit to late menopause, or is it better to undergo it earlier? "  Rosemary, Pennsylvania A: Having a late menopause (menopause after the age of around 55) is a double-edged sword. There's some evidence that a later menopause carries a decreased risk of coronary heart disease, but there may also be a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. However, the associations between these health conditions and menopause aren't very strong. The other good news is that there are ways to avoid many health problems  such as doing regular exercise, following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and so forth. There is an association between menopause and smoking  smokers often have an earlier menopause. You are probably a nonsmoker, though, which is also good for your health. Keep in mind too that 56 is well within the normal age range for menopause, though it's toward the upper end of the spectrum. So you have nothing to worry about right now. Last Updated: 08/04/2008 JoAnn Manson, MD, is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

My mother started her period near 16 yrs of age and came into early menopause in her mid to late 40's. When she was 35 she had a child (my brother) w/ Downs Syndrome. Something about her was never right I thought, especially the extreme late period. I started at 11 1/2 yrs old. I never really suffered much and my periods were no more than 2 days long at the most and on the light side, but a couple of years ago, they began to become heavier and less than the 28 days. It is rare that I go a month without 2 and I am always in fear that it will 'surprise' me and go right through my clothes.

I'll be shocked if Lee's new single is a hit b/c I didn't think it was very good. I don't mean the way he sung it, just the melody of the song itself. It was rather boring/blah. That song was released by U2 in 2000 and has been one of their most successful hits. It was surprising to me that AI chose songs that were previously recorded instead of a new song written just for the contestants as the first release. I think it is a good move though cause I've hated all of the first releases from the winners... none of them were written for a particular person, but just whoever ended up as the final contestants. I didn't think it worked well.

i have no pity for the owners in this article, as they thought the run-up would continue and their home or "investment" would further appreciate..A home is a home, and if it is worth more when you go to sell it, thats great, and if not, oh well The wife was left money by her father. They can make lemonade out of those lemons and realize that they probably couldn't afford to live like this without the money she was left. Maybe the father would have been happy to know they chose to build a house, live in this dream and have the chance to learn a lesson from it. When my dad made his will, we talked a lot about what he expected when it came time for us to collect if there was anything left. My dad didn't want it spent foolishly, but for us to invest some and bank the rest so that if the time came and we needed it, it was there. My dad came here from Hungary in the 50's with $50 in his pocket and after struggling for 50 years, had finally gotten his "American Dream" where he could retire comfortably. He didn't want us to have to worry like he did. It's not just builder's remorse. Since the home was built partly with an inheritance, Roger feels a special responsibility that the money left to his wife by her father turns out to be a wise investment. It doesn't help that because Roger served as his own general contractor he chose many of his home's pricey extras. Their house has a $40,000 epoxy-metal roof with a lifetime guarantee, hurricane-proof windows, super efficient insulation and an emergency generator. They're great safety and energy-saving features, but Roger doubts that buyers in the current market would value them anywhere near what they cost. It's a good possibility that the next person won't like the kitchen that was put in, or the tile in the bathrooms. The built the house for them. I can't count the number of houses I walked where the owners either used cheap builders grade or it was so expensive & personal that they were looking for a specific buyer that liked their taste. We sold our FL house in November 2005. It had been on the market for a while with one contract that fell through and then ultimately a bidding war at the end to over the asking price. For the entire year or maybe 15 months before we signed the closing papers, I was absolutely positive I was in a race against time to make our "paper profit" a reality, before the window closed. I used to go walking every morning with a neighbor, and we would debate whether there was an end in sight. I was talking to my hubby's grandmother the other day, she lives in Coral Gables. She said a house sold within the last month there, still in the $500k range. I keep telling her to get out while she can but she won't. lol She loves it there and didn't buy the house to make money off of.