When will there be support for women in their menopause?

“I’m menopausal, okay? Shame should no longer surround menopause.” On May 2, 2024, actress Halle Berry, aged 57, spoke publicly in front of the US Capitol, joining a group of committed senators. Their goal? Change legislation tostrengthen care related to menopause, fund research and carry out educational work to destigmatize this period of upheaval in women’s lives.

Flying over the Atlantic, in France, we are also talking, more and more, about this natural phenomenon, that of the cessation of periods – for twelve consecutive months – and all the hormonal storm that leads to it. Which some even compare to that of puberty!

The effects of menopause

Two episode podcasts – Come on I dare et Hot inside– have been entirely dedicated to him. At the microphone, specialists, women, some of whom are famous – Carla Bruni, Michèle Bernier, Linda Hardy, Véronika Loubry or Maïtena Biraben, for example – evoke, pell-mell, the invisibility of those who are no longer of childbearing age, body changes, hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disorders, anxiety, mood, difficulty concentrating, vaginal dryness, etc.

Some, of course, experience little or no effects of menopause. But this is not the case for the majority of women, who suffer without necessarily knowing who to turn to. More and more companies, filling a gaping void, are investing in this credo, such as Omena, an application developed “for a peaceful (peri)menopause”.

In an interview with the magazine ElleEmmanuel Macron, who created a parliamentary mission on the subject, even declared: “We realized that we knew very, very little about this subject. It is a real taboo in society, with all its consequences, hormonal imbalances and pathologies. I tend to think that if men were confronted with it, this subject would have been dealt with much more quickly! »

A parliamentary mission

The fact remains that the Parliamentary Mission, whose leadership had fallen to the deputy Stéphanie Rist and the doctor Florence Trémollières, remained a dead letter with the dissolution of the National Assembly. And that in terms of medical support for menopause, we have gone backwards rather than forwards over the last quarter of a century.

“For around twenty years, hormonal treatment for menopause has been completely abandoned by health professionals, to the point that in most faculties, the problem of this treatment is no longer even taught, regrets Florence Trémollières, head of the Menopause Center at Toulouse University Hospital and professor of medical gynecology. All the young doctors who have established themselves over the last fifteen years know very little about the management of menopause, and even have misconceptions about the possibilities of using hormonal treatment. »

An impact on bone and heart health

The origin? A study, dating from 2002, pointing to cardiovascular and breast cancer risks associated with treatment. “Subsequent reanalyses showed that there was no significant increase in the risk of breast cancer in women who received hormonal treatment during the study period, provided that they did not never received before.”

What is certain is that menopause has an impact on the health of women’s bones and hearts, with, in some of them, “an increase in the prevalence of myocardial infarction and osteoporotic fractures”.

So, menopause is an opportunity to embark on a little health check-up, so that everyone knows their “ cardiovascular or skeletal risk factors. To possibly adapt your diet, pay attention to your physical activity, take the opportunity to stop certain toxic substances, such as tobacco! And if necessary, start medical treatment.

Flore Mabilleau