HRT crisis: Menopause should ALWAYS not be ‘medicated’ into something that needs treatment

Experts said the “medicalization” of the risks of menopause into something that should always be treated.

Most women don’t want a treatment like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) unless their symptoms are severe, the researchers said.

Experts wrote in the British Medical Journal yesterday that the “message that menopause is a sign of decline and deterioration” has been amply reinforced, but has left women “expecting the worst”.

Researchers from King’s College London and universities in the United States and Australia wrote: “Medication therapy and limited attention to symptoms can fuel women’s negative expectations of menopause and affect the physical and emotional experiences attributed to them.” .

But an article in the British Medical Journal notes that menopause is at risk of being “medicalized”, and that instead there is a need to “change history by normalizing menopause and emphasizing positive or neutral aspects such as amenorrhea, pregnancy, and birth control.”

In the UK, for whom HRT is a lifeline, tens of thousands of women are struggling to take menopausal medications due to a shortage in supply.

The Daily Mail’s hormone replacement therapy campaign took a big hit last month after pharmacists were given the green light to offer alternatives to out-of-stock treatments.

Experts said the research suggests that “negative premenopausal attitudes and expectations predict the likelihood of bothersome menopausal symptoms.”

They added: “We argue that the medicalization of menopause risks transforming the wide variety of middle-aged experiences associated with this natural process into a well-defined disease that requires treatment.

“Medicalization tends to emphasize the negative aspects of menopause, and while effective treatments are important for those with troublesome symptoms, medicalization can increase women’s fear and anxiety about this natural stage of life.

By normalizing menopause and emphasizing positive or neutral aspects such as menopause, pregnancy, and birth control, and changing the past with information on how to deal with troubling symptoms, women can more confidently control menopause.”

During menopause, women may experience hot flashes and night sweats, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, and muscle or joint pain. However, the researchers said these symptoms are “usually time-limited” and “the nature and severity of which varies significantly over time between women and within the same woman.”

They argued that doctors “should normalize the physical changes of menopause.” The article also suggests focusing on diet and exercise, mindfulness, and perhaps cognitive behavioral therapy.

Celebrities, including Davina McCall, have helped bring menopause to the fore amid the nationwide HRT shortage.

The Daily Mail campaign also includes the immediate introduction of a £18.70 annual prescription supplement for hormone replacement therapy drugs.