|
 Women age 60 or older had better overall quality of life scores and
fewer complaints about memory problems and physical symptoms,
researchers report in Maturitas, but they still had issues like
sexual dysfunction, fatigue and mood swings.
“This study emphasizes the need for clinicians to initiate
conversations with women about sexual health and psychosocial
changes associated with aging,” said senior study author Dr. Carolyn
Torkelson of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“Women are living healthy, productive lives many years beyond
menopause, thereby creating a demand for services that are unique to
this population,” Torkelson said by email.
Women go through menopause when they stop menstruating, which
typically happens between ages 45 and 55. As the ovaries curb
production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the years
leading up to menopause and afterwards, women can experience
symptoms ranging from vaginal dryness to mood swings, joint pain,
memory trouble and insomnia.
For the study, researchers examined data from questionnaires
completed by 932 women in Minnesota who were part of a larger trial
examining whether green tea extract influences the odds of
developing breast cancer.
Women in the study were about 60 years old on average. Most of them
were white, and they were typically a healthy weight or just
slightly overweight.
Overall, participants under age 55 reported more night sweats and
hot flashes than their older counterparts.
These younger women in the study also reported increased severity of
changes in sexual desire.
Older women, meanwhile, reported less severe symptoms for physical
problems like fatigue, difficulty sleeping, weight gain and changes
in appearance.
The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether
or how menopause symptoms impact quality of life.
Beyond its small size and the lack of racial and ethnic diversity
among the study participants, another drawback is that participants
were typically healthier and better educated than the average U.S.
woman.
[to top of second column] |
While these limitations mean the results may not apply to a more
diverse population of women, the findings still add to the evidence
that menopause can impact quality of life, said Dr. Susan Davis, a
researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, who wasn’t
involved in the study.
“It is well established that menopausal symptoms peak during the
early postmenopausal years,” Davis said by email.
Given the broad variety of ways that menopause and aging can impact
women’s daily lives, it’s essential for doctors to ask patients
directly about symptoms that patients may not necessarily bring up
like sexual dysfunction or bladder issues, said Dr. Mary Jane Minkin,
a researcher at Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut, who
wasn’t involved in the study.
“Most women do associate hot flashes with menopause, and some blame
just about everything on menopause, like a 40-pound weight gain,
which is highly unlikely to be a strictly menopausal issue,” Minkin
said by email.
“Most surveys show that most women do not talk about vaginal
dryness, which is a significant issue for most women,” Minkin added.
“And unfortunately, associated with the vaginal dryness are bladder
symptoms, like recurrent urinary tract infections, which neither the
patient nor the provider often associate with menopause.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2yL0jZO Maturitas, online November 1, 2017.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
