As women, we experience
several stages of transition based on hormone fluctuations throughout our
lifetimes. Though menarche and pregnancy get much of the attention in Obstetrics
and Gynecology, the large and growing population of women living past middle
age has been historically overlooked by medicine. This transition, known as
perimenopause and menopause has only gained major recognition in medicine in
the last 30 years. As one example, the National American Menopause Society, a
non-profit organization with the agenda to “promote the health and quality of life of all
women during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause and
healthy aging” was formed in 1989. Today we
know that women experiencing menopause and beyond require more dedicated
research attention so physicians can better understand and manage the natural
course of this major physiologic transition that affects all aspects of their
health. 
As an aspiring physician with special interests in women’s
health, I am boggled by the idea that at baseline, physicians and researchers
are just now investigating menopause in depth. One major study from 2015
published in JAMA Internal Medicine
looked at the duration of vasomotor symptoms in women transitioning through
menopause.
Many physicians currently espouse that women should expect
symptoms to persist for 1-2 years and have been treating with hormone
replacement therapy for a very limited period of time to alleviate discomfort. Yet, based on the study in JAMA which followed 1,449 US women from
several racial and ethnic backgrounds beginning at age 42 to 52 for up to 17
years, the transition appears to be more gradual, lasting up to 13 years based
on epidemiological studies.
Emerging studies like this one provide hope for a future of
equality of women’s healthcare and gender equality in research.
For menopause updates, follow the Normal American Menopause
Society (NAMS) on twitter for some of the latest research and developments in
post reproductive women’s health.
Lindsey Lee DUCOM 2018
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