When I was ten, I was curious about adolescence--those years when my body would change from girl to woman. Fast forward 40 years. All the hormonal influences that brought on womanhood ended in menopause. It's been fifteen years since then, and my body is still changing.
In the United States, the average age for women to become menopausal is 51. Then what? If life expectancy is 80 years that leaves at least 29 years post menopause.
There's been a lot of buzz lately about the transition to menopause for women in "midlife" but very little about what comes next. In February, Susan Dominus wrote an excellent article, Women Have Been Misled About Menopause in The New York Times. Ms. Dominus focused on the menopause transition and the history of hormone replacement therapy. It all needed to be said. However, post-menopause was hardly mentioned.
The more curious we are about this season of life, the more tools we will have to manage our health. Currently, research spotlights the years directly around menopause. Emerging questions include: How does menopause accelerate aging? Which menopausal challenges can be prevented? I don't want to wait ten or twenty years for answers.
Many women have spoken to me about their menopausal and post-menopausal issues. I struggle too. That is what prompts me to write about what is known and what can be done in our sixties to improve the quality of our lives. Women and men age differently. That needs to be better understood. What are your questions and concerns? Let's move forward together!
"...in general, menopausal women have been underserved...one of the great blind spots of medicine." Rebecca Thurston, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburg (as quoted by Susan Dominus, NY Times, February 1, 2023)
--Robyn