In the United States, more than a million women experience menopause each year. But although menopause is a common life transition, there is still much that is not understood about this stage of life, as well as confusion about how to safely help women to cross it.
A recent Yahoo News/YouGov survey reveals that many menopausal women suffer from multiple symptoms but are not using available treatments that can help them feel better. Doctors who treat menopausal women say that, unfortunately, they also see this phenomenon in their patients.
So, what are the main symptoms that menopausal women experience and what can help them? Here’s a breakdown.
First, some basics about menopause
Before looking at the survey results, it is important to clarify what menopause is. Menopause signals the end of the menstrual cycle and is diagnosed after 12 months of no periods, according to the Mayo Clinic. The years leading up to this are called the menopausal transition or perimenopause.
Menopause typically begins between ages 45 and 55 and typically lasts about seven years, according to the National Institute on Aging. The survey reveals that 53% of women aged 45 to 64 report being menopausal. During menopause, estrogen levels in the body drop. This can cause women to experience symptoms such as hot flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, mood changes, and weight gain.
What are the most common symptoms of menopause?
The Yahoo News/YouGov survey, conducted April 11-15, asked 1,794 U.S. adults about a range of lifestyle and health care issues, including menopause. Among women who reported being in menopause, many reported having uncomfortable symptoms. These included:
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hot flashes (48%)
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difficulty sleeping (46%)
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weight gain (44%)
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night sweats (39%)
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brain fog (35%)
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decreased libido (32%)
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mood changes (32%)
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pain during sex (16%)
Only 20% of postmenopausal women reported having none of these symptoms. But although 80% of menopausal people report having at least one menopausal symptom, the overwhelming majority – 79% – say they have never taken hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), HRT, also called hormone therapy, is a medical treatment that can help relieve symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. Hormone therapy is generally divided into two categories: estrogen-only therapies and estrogen-progestin therapies. Both are designed to help replace hormones that drop significantly during perimenopause and menopause.
Doctors stress that hormone therapy can help
Menopause experts overwhelmingly recommend using hormone therapy to relieve symptoms. Hormone therapy “is the most effective intervention for these problems, and the vast majority of women do not have contraindications that would preclude its use,” said Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor of obstetrics, of gynecology and reproductive sciences at the Yale School of Medicine and founder of Madame Ovary, tells Yahoo Life.
Dr. Lauren Streicher, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, agrees. “Hormone therapy is the safest and most effective way to not only treat short-term symptoms such as sleep problems, hot flashes and sexual problems, but it is also beneficial in the long term,” she said. she told Yahoo Life.
So why aren’t more women taking it? In 2003, researchers published preliminary results from the Women’s Health Initiative clinical trial, linking hormone therapy to serious health problems such as stroke, heart disease and breast cancer. The study was therefore stopped prematurely. After that, many women and doctors avoided hormone therapy.
But follow-up analyzes of the study found that the original finding was inaccurate: It included women 65 and older who were already at higher risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and more. , and also did not take into account the age of the woman. women when they started hormone treatment, which skewed the data. Research and menopause experts have since concluded that hormone therapy is a safe and effective treatment for menopausal symptoms. Even the original authors of the Women’s Health Initiative study said in a follow-up analysis released earlier this month that hormone therapy is safe for postmenopausal women.
However, many women and doctors — especially primary care physicians — are unaware that the data has changed and continue to avoid hormone therapy, Dr. G. Thomas Ruiz, chief of obstetrics at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. ., tells Yahoo Life. “But hormone replacement therapy is safe – that’s the main thing,” he says.
Minkin says there are “certainly other remedies that can help,” especially with hot flashes, including sleeping in a cool room, wearing layers of clothing, and avoiding known hot flash triggers such as red wine and spicy foods, both of which can cause blood vessels. to dilate. Exercising regularly and limiting alcohol consumption can also be helpful in combating menopausal symptoms, according to Dr. Jessica Shepherd, a women’s health expert, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Texas and author of the upcoming book on menopause. menopause, Generation M, tells Yahoo Life.
Minkin says certain herbal products like Remifemin (German black cohosh), Remifemin Good Night (Remifemin “with some herbs for sleep”), and Relizen (Swedish pollen extract) can also be helpful. There is also a new FDA-approved oral prescription medication called Veozah that is designed specifically for hot flashes, she says.
Overall, Shepherd says it’s important to meet with a menopause specialist, such as an obstetrician-gynecologist who is knowledgeable on the topic, to talk about your situation. “This is a hormonal and metabolic transition that requires careful consideration of lifestyle, hormone replacement and also supplementation,” she says. “It is important to understand that there are many options that can be used to resolve this issue.”
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