Advances in vasomotor symptom treatments
Transcript: Menopause: Awareness and perspective
Dr Sheryl Kingsberg
All transcripts are created from interview footage and directly reflect the content of the interview at the time. The content is that of the speaker and is not adjusted by Medthority.
Menopause at this moment in time is having a moment. It's in the news, it's in social media, and so you kind of have to be living under a rock if the concept of menopause and talking about midlife health hadn't occurred to you.
However, at least in the US media, there tends to be a focus on things like vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes. So most women will associate menopause with hot flashes and night sweats. But I don't know that there is an awareness of the multitude of symptoms that can occur with peri-menopause and menopause and that there tends to be sort of a negative perception of menopause and menopause symptoms.
So while menopause is having a moment and we think about women thinking about hot flashes and night sweats VMS, the reality is that there is a multitude of symptoms that might be associated with menopause. And I think that that does women a disservice because they may be seeking help for symptoms that are related to menopause, going someplace else and not really having their peri- and post-menopause symptoms addressed.
I think that's also the case for healthcare providers as well. Many healthcare providers who are even more expert in menopause than we'd be surprised to think, often do not, or are not aware of the symptoms beyond vasomotor symptoms that are related to menopause. And so there's a disconnect between women seeking help and some women kind of just learn to live with it. They're just assuming it's a natural part of ageing, and so they are not getting help that they might otherwise get, and the impact in their overall life is pretty significant.
We know that symptoms can affect professional life, we know the impact on work performance is significant in terms of billions of dollars lost in work performance as women in midlife are really often at the peak of their careers, and either because of mood symptoms, which are very common, or vasomotor symptoms, or sleep problems, which also are very common. Those really can impact relationships, and work life and overall quality of life.
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