While I’ve been confined to bed (I backed up my tooth infection with a really bad cold), a lot has been happening in the menopause world. The North American Menopause Society had their annual conference, and the Australian Senate inquiry into menopause released their report.

North American Menopause Society Annual Conference

The Menopause Society conference is aimed at health professionals and is quite detailed. If you are looking for up-to-date, evidence-based information about menopause, I recommend reading Dr. Jen Gunter’s summaries here and here.

Australian Senate Inquiry into Menopause

The Australian Senate inquiry into menopause was really interesting and very relevant for us Aussies. It was started last year to look at the health and economic impact of the menopause transition on Australian women. Here are the five key findings:

Lack of Understanding Among Health Professionals Menopause is not well understood by health professionals. Some medical practitioners receive only one hour of training on menopause during their degrees. One doctor even mentioned that he was taught menopausal women are either “mad” or “sad.” No wonder we feel misunderstood!
Based on this low level of education, the inquiry recommended that more menopause education be made mandatory during medical degrees.
Flexible Work Hours for Menopausal Women Employers should allow flexible work hours for women in the menopause transition. This was proposed as “reproductive leave” that all genders can take when needed.
Public Awareness Campaign Menopause is also not well understood by the general public. A national awareness campaign should be developed.
Challenges with Medication Accessibility Medications for menopause can be hard to source and frequently go out of stock. Additionally, the most effective medication options aren’t on the PBS, making them inaccessible for many.
Lack of Research There isn’t much research available on menopause and its mental and physical impacts, primarily due to a lack of funding.

The Importance of Talking About Menopause

When I look at all of these findings, it makes me realise that we need to talk about menopause more. We should discuss it with our friends, colleagues, mums, daughters, and nieces. If we don’t talk about it, the medical profession won’t know it’s a problem, our workplaces won’t be informed, funding for studies won’t be allocated, and nothing will change.

Take action

So that’s my call to action for you this week: have some menopause discussions! If you aren’t in the age group yet, ask someone older about their experience. If you are in the menopause transition, talk to your kids or workmates about it. If you’re past it, share your experience with your grandkids. Or feel free to email me. Talk about it. Don’t hold it in.