More than half of women aged 30 to 35 are already facing moderate or serious symptoms linked to menopause, but most are waiting for decades before being treated.
- In women aged 30 to 35, 55.4 % said they had symptoms meeting the “moderate” or “serious” criteria of the menopause assessment scale.
- Psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression and irritability, appeared well before physical signs, such as sexual disorders, bladder problems, vaginal dryness, hot flashes and perspiration.
- However, most patients did not try to get treatment before the age of 56 or over.
A pivotal period. The perimenopause, which can last from two to four years, is the transition to menopause. It manifests itself by an alternation of short and long cycles, that is to say irregular rules, premenstrual syndrome (stretched breasts and irritability), the first puffs of heat and night sweats. These signs, which can have an impact on quality of life, are already present in many women, who think they are too young to suffer from the symptoms linked to menopause and believe that these demonstrations will not appear before the fifties. However, researchers from the University of Virginia (United States) have revealed that this false belief encourages patients to suffer in silence.
Menopause: 55.4 % of women aged 30 to 35 suffer “moderate” or “serious” symptoms
To achieve this conclusion, the latter carried out a study published in the journal NPJ Women’s Health. As part of it, they recruited 4,432 American women, aged 30 and over, who responded to a survey conducted online and in the FLO application on the presence and severity of the symptoms of the perimenopause. Among the participants aged 30 to 35, 55.4 % reported symptoms meeting the “moderate” or “serious” criteria of the widely used menopause assessment scale. This figure increased to 64.3 % in patients aged 36 to 40. However, most volunteers did not try to get treatment before the age of 56 or over.
Anxiety, depression: psychological symptoms arise first
The authors found that psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression and irritability, settled well before physical symptoms. They reached their maximum in women aged 41 to 45, then decreased to reach their lowest level in volunteers aged 56 and over. Regarding the severity of physical problems, such as sexual disorders, bladder problems and vaginal drought, it was higher in women 51 and over. In patients aged 30 to 35, these types of problems were the least frequent. As for hot flashes and perspiration, they reached their maximum in women aged 51 to 55 and their minimum in women aged 30 to 35.
“The physical and emotional symptoms associated with perimenopause are sub-studied and often ignored by doctors. This research is important to better understand the frequency of these symptoms, their impact on women and to raise awareness among doctors and the general public”, has concluded Jennifer Payneco-author of the study and expert in reproduction psychiatry at the University of Virginia.
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