Stay Healthy Beyond The Menopause

Our twilight years can be the healthiest we’ve ever enjoyed

- Tanya Pearey

Here’s an interesting thought – good luck and good health willing, you could live half your life in menopause. But how many of us know much about it? Or what we can do to improve our health during it?

‘The whole process doesn’t happen abruptly,’ says gynaecologist and menopause expert Dr Anne Henderson. ‘It starts with the perimenopause, in your mid to late 40s, when oestrogen levels start to decline. Many women don’t imagine they’re menopausal and they’re often misdiagnosed with depression, thyroid problems or other medical disorders.’

But understanding what’s happening to your body – and how you can help – can make a world of difference to your life. There’s a misconception that your body adapts to falling hormone levels at menopause, says Dr Henderson. ‘But it’s disingenuous to tell someone at 57 that she’s going to feel as well as she did at 47 – there becomes a new norm. That might mean adjusting to not sleeping as well, feeling more tired and having less physical or mental energy, concentration or focus, or a tendency to gain weight.’

What you can do

Changes to lifestyle, exercise and diet, and complementary therapies and remedies can all help. ‘The approach now to menopause is very much a holistic one,’ says Dr Henderson. ‘We’ve moved away from years ago when we were saying HRT is the answer to everything and away from more recent times when we were saying HRT is never the answer!’ The truth is somewhere in the middle – perhaps a mix of both.