The experience of racism would also have impacts on women’s health. According to one study of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) published on March 8, 2022, racialized women would have a higher risk of early menopauseand one “greater burden of chronic disease compared to white women“.
For 25 years, 19,000 black, Asian, Hispanic and white women were followed in the United States during their transition from premenopause to postmenopause, that is, between the ages of 42 and 52. And in non-white women, the onset of menopause occurred earlier than in white women. While the average age is 51.4 years for white womenmenopause occurs 1.7 years earlier in Hispanic women and 1.2 years earlier for black and Chinese women.
According to the study, these disparities are due to the “chronic stress” developed by racialized women throughout their lives, particularly caused by the experience of racism and poverty. The study recalls in particular that these women grew up during the time when the “Jim Crow” laws – legalizing racial segregation in the southern United States – were still in force.
And an early menopause is not without consequences on a woman’s health: decrease in bone density, increase in fat mass, decrease in muscles, increase in cholesterol… All these factors increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. , heart disease or falls, according to the study.
In racialized women, menopause is also more intense than the others. The average duration of hot flashes and night sweats is 6.5 years for white women, compared to 8.9 years for Hispanic women and 10.1 years for black women. Hispanic women also complained more about vaginal painsuch as dryness or painful intercourse.
The importance of adapting the health system
Through this study, SWAN researchers have highlighted the importance of taking these disparities into account and adapting the health system and medical examinations for racialized women. “Increased attention to the role of structural factors and discrimination on health at the time of menopause is warranted“, says the study.
With a better knowledge of these disparities, health professionals will then be able to better guide patients towards earlier screenings in order to be better taken care of and to better manage the onset of this early menopause.
Sources:
- “Disparities in Reproductive Aging and Midlife Health between Black and White women: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)”, BMCMarch 8, 2022
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- Menopause: the questions we all ask ourselves
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