The Menopause Industry: How the Medical Establishment Exploits Women

``The justification for interfering in well people's lives must be firmly established before it is acted upon,'' Coney states in her exploration of one of the hot topics of the '90s. With baby boomers reaching menopause, the author contends that modern medicine sees this as another area of life to be managed by an establishment steeped in negative stereotypes of menopausal women. Menopause, she says, is a natural part of life, not an illness, and it doesn't necessarily require medical intervention. A New Zealander involved in women's health issues for many years, Coney (Hysterectomy) examines menopause, osteoporosis, hormone replacement therapy and cervical and breast cancer screening programs, charting ``medicine's discovery of the midlife woman.'' She shows that some medical interventions have been widely promoted before ``the risks and drawbacks have been fully resolved''-a strategy she calls into question. This is a serious examination of many of the important health issues faced by midlife women, not a pop guide to getting through. Quotes from medical literature and from her many interviews illustrate and personalize her thesis. Photos. (Sept.)