The TV star explains why she welcomes a new shift in awareness (Picture: ITV/Harry Page/REX/Shutterstock)
The menopause uprising started long before Davina McCall’s Channel 4 documentary Sex, Myths And The Menopause, last year. However, what has come since has been nothing short of seismic.
World Menopause Day is on October 18, and in her new book, Menopausing: The Positive Roadmap To Your Second Spring – with Dr Naomi Potter – Davina shares information about the science of this natural life transition.
‘I’m just another cog in an amazing menopausal wheel of wonderful women, like Kirsty Wark and Mariella Frostrup, who have been campaigning for years,’ says Davina. ‘When I watched the first documentary go out, I thought a few people might think it interesting. I felt nervous about revealing quite a lot of very personal stuff about myself. But I felt it was worth doing in case it could help someone.’
And help it did. Around 13 million women are currently going through perimenopause or menopause in the UK. The Channel 4 report revealed a huge lack of support for their symptoms – of which there are about 60 and counting – and their needs, both in the workplace and from healthcare providers.
It found that one in three women fails to go to their GP, despite 77% finding at least one symptom ‘very difficult’ and 69% finding the anxiety and depression symptoms ‘difficult.’ Shockingly, the highest rate of suicide for women is between the ages of 45-54 and that coincides with perimenopause and menopause.
Thankfully, a shift has happened. Firstly, we are all talking about it which lessens the stigma. Next, the Women’s Health Initiative report, which suggested a woman’s breast cancer risk increased when she took combined HRT, is still being picked apart.
‘For ages we were advised not to talk about it [menopause], but when you are prepared, it can massively help with your mental health’ (Picture: PA)
However, a factsheet from Women’s Health Concern confirms oestrogen-only HRT and oestrogen with micronised (body-identical) progestogen is unlikely to increase the risk of breast cancer. Oestrogen with synthetic progesterone is associated with a very small increased risk.
Davina herself has been on HRT for nearly 10 years and says she feels excited about life again. ‘Spring is the time when everything awakens and that’s what post-menopause looks like,’ she says. ‘I’m just waking up to the next exciting part of my life.’
Prescriptions for HRT have more than doubled in England over the past five years, NHS data shows. And while HRT is not advised for those with a history of breast or endometrial cancer, it has helped hundreds of thousands of women.
‘I have found that exercise has been my happiness in later life,’ says Davina. ‘It keeps a hold on my spare tyre, and I work out three to four times a week with a mix of cardio and weights, which is good for bone health. I also include lots of protein for muscle mass which declines after the age of 45.’
Policies and procedures are also changing in the workplace. Alongside hot flushes, women describe difficulty sleeping (84%) and brain fog (73%) as symptoms, so it’s no wonder almost half (44%) said symptoms had affected their ability to do their jobs.
Yet, there’s such a taboo that women often don’t tell their employers what’s going on and it’s estimated that a million women have quit their jobs due to the menopause.
‘I have found that exercise has been my happiness in later life’ (Picture: Zoe McConnell/Women’s Health/PA)
However, corporations such as Channel 4 and Google paved the way for employee support with dedicated menopause policies and now AstraZeneca, BBC, Royal Mail, Co-op and TSB are among 600 to sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge, promising to recognise and support women in the working environment.
Across the Pond, neuroscientists Dr Lisa Mosconi and Dr Roberta Brinton have been researching the benefits of oestrogen on the brain, with fascinating results. Insomnia, anxiety, depression, hot flushes and brain fog are neurological conditions and the doctors discovered oestrogen regulates parts of the brain that look after body temperature, insomnia and energy levels.
Dr Roberta has stated: ‘There is substantial evidence to indicate that oestrogen and hormone therapy can significantly (by 50-80%) reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.’ She added: ‘The women who were on hormone therapy also had a significant (50%) reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, Parkinson’s and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).’
So, what does the future hold? ‘My life has had an unexpected turn,’ says Davina. ‘Now I feel like it’s my duty to talk about menopause. ‘Some might say “everyone talking about it is making it worse”, but for 25% of women, perimenopause can be so tough they can’t see a way through.
‘For ages we were advised not to talk about it [menopause], but when you are prepared, it can massively help with your mental health. I’m excited the world seems to be changing.’
Menopausing by Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter is out now, for £22 from HQ.
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The TV star explains why she welcomes a new shift in awareness.