LI FE STY L E S PO NS OR
Coping with the menopause in the workplace - your career doesn’t need to be over Dr Cheryl Lambe, Consultant Fertility Specialist at The Agora Clinic, discusses the impact on careers as well as symptoms, treatment and workplace best practice. The menopause is a
Lifestyle
normal, natural part of ageing, which
affects all women and is defined as the last
menstrual period. It is a retrospective
diagnosis that can be confirmed when a woman has missed her periods for 12 consecutive months. The gradual
transition over the preceding years is
known as “the perimenopause”. During
this time, which can last up to 10 years, the ovaries gradually produce less
oestrogen, periods may become irregular, fertility decreases and women may begin to experience menopausal symptoms.
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Most women (around 80%) will
have symptoms relating to their
menopause. One in four women
define these symptoms as having a
severe impact on their family, work, and home lives but despite this,
less than 50% of perimenopausal symptomatic women will access
medical help. The British Menopause Society cites 55 common symptoms
attributable to the menopause. These include changes in menstrual cycle, vasomotor symptoms (sweats and
flushes), sleep disturbance, fatigue,
sexual dysfunction, urinary symptoms, vaginal dryness, mood changes,
poor concentration, weight gain,
headaches, palpitations, joint pain,
impaired cognitive function “brain fog”, low self-esteem, and difficulties in
decision making. No one symptom is
diagnostic and many other symptoms are possible.
Due to changing demography, the
menopause is having an increasing impact on the workforce. In 1850,
female life expectancy was only 45. By 2018, when the average age of
menopause was 51, our life expectancy had increased to 83. Women are
now spending greater than 30% of