Writing in the British Medical Journal, they said there was an urgent need for a more realistic and balanced narrative that actively challenges the idea that menopause is synonymous with an inevitable decline in women’s health and well-being, and called for continued efforts to raise awareness about symptoms and how to deal with them. “Menopause is a natural event for half of humanity. While media attention in the UK may give the impression that an increasing number of women are struggling with menopausal symptoms and seeking hormone therapy, there is no universal experience and most women prefer not to take medication unless their symptoms are severe. “, Martha wrote. Hickey, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Associates. They added that over-treatment of menopause risked collapsing this wide range of experiences into a narrowly defined disease that requires treatment. “It tends to highlight the negative aspects of menopause and, while effective treatments are important for those with distressing symptoms, medication can increase women’s anxiety and worry about this natural stage of life.” Menopausal women’s experiences were strongly influenced by personal, family and social factors, they said. For example, a recent review found that negative attitudes and expectations before menopause predicted the likelihood of women experiencing annoying symptoms. A separate study of women in the United Kingdom who experienced hot flashes found that those with negative menopausal beliefs were more likely to rate these symptoms as “problematic” and report embarrassment and shame. “Changing the narrative by normalizing menopause and emphasizing positive or neutral aspects, such as freedom from menstruation, pregnancy and contraception, along with information on managing distressing symptoms, can enable women to manage menopause with more confidence, “Hickey said. More than 75% of menopausal women report symptoms, with about a quarter describing them as severe. Although some women benefit from hormone therapy, dietary changes, regular exercise, smoking cessation and finding ways to reduce stress can also help. Haitham Hamoda, president of the British Menopause Society, and Sarah Moger, CEO of the company, wrote in a related article: “Healthcare providers need to take a personalized approach to evaluation and enable women to make informed decisions. based on unbiased evidence – based information that is applied effectively “. Although the benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were likely to outweigh the risks for most women with problematic symptoms, current data do not support its use to prevent dementia or cardiovascular disease and should not be prescribed without explicit indication, they said. . Dr. Rammya Mathew, a BMJ columnist, added that the recent critique of doctors by TV presenter Davina McCall in her menopause documentary series fueled a narrative that the country’s doctors were unskilled and inferior, and therefore failed women. He said: “The subtle truth is that there have been many upheavals about HRT security, which have had a lasting impact on professional confidence in the data available. Women’s symptoms can not always be attributed to menopause, and although the benefits of HRT outweigh the risks to most women, this is not always the case. “I do not deny that individual women have been disappointed and I applaud Davina for raising awareness of what is often still considered a taboo subject in society. “But the question of the ability of general practitioners must be questioned.”
