Menopause, and now perimenopause, are definitely having their moment and this is so needed! It’s encouraging to see more press and targeted attention being paid to midlife women’s health. But there is still so much misinformation being circulated, and fear of hormone therapy is still rampant. This needs to change!
Money speaks
Recently, Melinda French Gates, through her philanthropic organization, Pivotal Ventures, announced that she was donating $215 million to women’s health initiatives (including contraception, maternal health, menopause care and menopause-related research.) Of this, $10 million is being donated specifically to The Menopause Society to expand education for providers and improve access to care in underserved areas.
Research
While Ms. Gates’ focus has always been on women’s health in general, she is doubling down this year on midlife women’s healthcare and research, particularly in studies looking at how specific conditions and diseases affect women differently from men. These include cardiovascular disease, cognitive health, sleep, mood, and musculoskeletal health. Other conditions that disproportionately affect women, like autoimmune disease, will also be receiving research dollars.
Clinician training
As important as research funding is, also crucial is the the focus on expanding and improving training for our clinicians—physicians of all specialties and their allied health providers. Perimenopause and menopause should not just be within an OBGYN’s purview. Internal medicine and family practice doctors need to be able to recognize a seemingly disconnected collection of symptoms as possibly having a hormonal root cause. Instead of referring to cardiology, neurology, urology, orthopedics, and psychiatry, a clinician will recognize that hormones may be playing a key role and either be able to address it themselves or refer to a menopause/ hormone specialist. OBGYNs, as the major provider of care through a woman’s reproductive life, should receive dedicated education in perimenopause and menopause during their training so that they can educate their patients before they start to experience symptoms.
Patient education and access
Access to menopause care and to hormonal and non-hormonal medications is also an area of huge need. Women should not have to needlessly suffer through this hormonal transition like their mothers and grandmothers did. Literally a third of women’s lives will be spent in post-menopause. This should be a time of healthy living, not declining health. This means addressing cardiovascular risk in the menopause transition, cognitive symptoms and brain health, and the effects of sleep on women’s overall health.
I am excited to see the explosion of information coming out about perimenopause and menopause, vaginal health, and sexual health. We are still undoing the widespread fear that misinformation from the Women’s Health Initiative generated. We are finally recognizing the benefits (and very few risks) of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), and it’s time for all women to understand what’s happening in their bodies, and to have access to hormone therapy if they want it.