(Pallabi Munsi/ Tucson) — Women are not a monolith, their experiences of menopause are not all negative, and this stage of life should not be medicalized, argue an international group of experts.
In an analysis piece published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday, obstetrician Martha Hickey of the Royal Women’s Hospital in Victoria, Australia and three women’s health professors from the UK, US and Australia discuss the social and cultural attitudes to the life stage when most women’s periods stop — typically between the ages of 45 and 55 — and argue the need to “normalize” menopause.
In 2021, a global survey revealed 16% to 40% of women experience moderate to severe symptoms during menopause, such as feeling tired, hot flushes, sleep difficulties and aching muscles or joints. (…)