📩 02/10/2023 10:43
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Platform (CİSÜ) called for the "We Talk About Menopause" campaign on the occasion of Menopause Awareness Month. The platform pointed out that although menopause covers an important period in a woman's life, many women do not have enough information about menopause due to prejudices in society.
CISU Platform Sözcüsü and TAPV Foundation General Coordinator Nurcan Müftüoğlu stated that according to TUIK, there are approximately 45 million women over the age of 14 in Turkey and that women spend one third of their lives in menopause.
Emphasizing that there is very little known, talked about and written about menopause, Müftüoğlu said, “Both socio-cultural reasons and the fact that women's health is reduced to reproductive health are effective in this. However, menopause is a physical and spiritual process that occurs with the change in hormonal balance, as well as a process in which women need to get to know their own bodies and establish healthy relationships. Menopause is medically defined as the state of not having a menstrual period for a year. Although women generally enter menopause after the age of 45, there are also women who enter menopause at much earlier ages due to genetic, environmental factors or external intervention (such as surgical removal of the ovaries, etc.). "This situation is called early menopause," he said.
LIKE FEMALE SEXUALITY, MENOPAUSE CANNOT BE TALKED ABOUT
CISU Platform SözcüNurcan Müftüoğlu stated that some changes experienced in the female body during menopause develop together with the changes brought about by aging, and emphasized the social dimension of the issue and said, "In this period of life, physical/psychological changes brought about by aging, such as retirement, children leaving home, withdrawal from social life, etc. The results go hand in hand with hormonal changes. There are many false beliefs in society that menopause is the end of femininity and sexuality. "Ignoring and shaming women's sexuality feeds these myths about menopause, and women cannot freely talk and share their menopause experiences," she said.
Stating that methods such as estrogen supplements can be recommended for the psychological/physiological effects of menopause, Nurcan Müftüoğlu said that informative public spots about menopause should be prepared and shown in public places, and women should be informed about the consequences of hormonal changes that occur with menopause.
EVERY WOMAN'S MENOPAUSE IS DIFFERENT
Müftüoğlu pointed out that menopause can be experienced in many different ways and said that general judgments should be avoided. Stating that the risks of high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, bone and joint pain, osteoporosis, breast and cervical cancer may increase with menopause, Müğftüoğlu said, “Not every woman experiences menopause in the same way. For example, some women may never experience hot flashes, insomnia, and restlessness that occur during menopause. "How you experience menopause may vary depending on many genetic, environmental and cultural factors," he said.
Pointing out that menopause should not be treated as a disease or a period to be feared, Müftüoğlu said, “Menopause is a process that occurs due to hormonal changes in the female body. The withdrawal of these hormones from the body can bring about some changes with age, such as acceleration in osteoporosis and predisposition to some chronic diseases. "Not neglecting calcium intake, reducing smoking and alcohol use, doing plenty of exercise, paying attention to a healthy diet, routine health checks and mammography are among the things that should be taken into consideration during menopause," he said.