A previous blog post discussed the meaning of solstices and equinoxes and this one will discuss the concept of a month.  What an interesting coincidence that our moon, like healthy young women, cycles every 28 days.

The moon appears to  “wax and wane” depending on its position relative to the Earth and the sun’s illumination.  In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words:

As I mentioned, the moon is often associated with women because of the similarities of timing in humans.  Interestingly, the time that females are ovulating and their libidos are high is called estrus or being “in heat” and derives from Latin for “frenzy” or “mad impulse”.  The frequency with which that occurs varies in different animals. and in many mammals estrus can be associated with raising the hindquarters and arching the back.

For example, female horses are in heat for about one out of three weeks, but only in spring and summer.  Dogs are in heat only two to three times a year.  Estrus can be associated with different smells, behaviors, and even swelling and redness of the genitals in baboons and chimpanzees.  In humans, the ovulation is concealed although there is an interesting paper showing that strippers get much more tips during their “heat” that you can read here.  Arguably, some have theorized that the display of cleavage , bright red lipstick, and other not-so-subtle clothing choices such as high heels are forms of mating displays:

So why did I choose this topic on Chinese new year? Because this week, I received emails this week from a 42-yo woman shocked to find that she is pregnant and a 75-yo post-menopausal woman resuming menstruation after taking a telomerase activator. She writes:

After-about 1year ovulation may be occurring.how can I be sure when I
am very far past menopause and the slight bleeding continues for how
long..?.

Believe it or not, I have seen women well past menopause in their 50’s and 60’s briefly start cycling again and several women in their 40’s unexpectedly conceive. First and foremost, I advised the 75-yo to get an endometrial biopsy to rule out precancer and check her pituitary FSH to see if her bleeding is possibly caused by ovulation.

To learn more about how female fertility might be influenced by telomerase activation, watch this video:

http://youtu.be/xLy_bpr2l-0

So we’ve talked about the nature of solar time, lunar time so what’s left?  Genetic time. Part 3 will explore a year in the life of your DNA