Almost one in five women in Ireland suffer severe symptoms from menopause, according to research which underwrites a new awareness campaign.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on Friday launched a menopause awareness campaign to give women access to greater knowledge and information on an experience that can have a significant adverse effect on their physical and mental wellbeing.
The campaign is grounded on new research commissioned by the Department of Health which shows the impact of menopause on women’s lives. A total of 17 per cent of menopausal women have severe symptoms. More than nine in 10 women going through menopause say they experience constant or occasional symptoms.
More than half of Irish women report fatigue, lack of energy, insomnia, “brain fog”, pain, hot flushes and changes in period and body shape. For almost nine out of every 10 women, the experience has had a big impact on their everyday lives.
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The research was carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes and comprised a sample of 1,250 adults.
The campaign will include broadcast adverts, posters, adverts in national papers, and a social media campaign. The theme of the campaign will be: If you know a woman you should know about menopause and Let’s take the mystery out of Menopause.
Mr Donnelly said: “My department, the HSE and I have worked hard to deliver services and supports for women experiencing peri-menopause and menopause.”
He said there are now four clinics providing treatment in the State and a further two would be opened before the end of the year.
He said the campaign would allow Irish society “to eradicate any stigma or secrecy that’s associated with it”.
The vast majority of menopause-related issues can be dealt with by the woman’s GP, said Dr Deirdre Collins, a board member of the Irish College of General Practitioners.
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When asked to describe the more serious symptoms, Dr Deirdre Lundy, clinical lead at the National Maternity Hospital Complex Menopause Service, said that they could be physical but also emotional and psychological.
“Psychological ones can be much worse … if you are woken five, six, or seven times a night from a deep sleep by being dripping wet, you can’t function. Imagine that going on for years and years.”
She said a significant number of patients who present to her clinic were in their teens, 20s or 30s who have menopausal symptoms caused by surgery or radiation, or have been born with a gene for early menopause. “Their need is enormous.”
She said psychological symptoms were the more unspoken ones. She said a lot of people are prone to low mood and anxiety, which are not helped by menopause.
Dr Lundy said that there was a time when Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) was controversial because of the perceived risks associated with it. She said that view has changed because modern HRT products have a very good safety profile.
