It is one of the most common medical issues in the workplace. At the same time, there is hardly any talk about the transition. Experts agree: it is time for more knowledge and less taboo on this theme.
How often does Jolanda Oest have that. That she gets up to grab something from the kitchen or bedroom and that when she gets there, she has no idea what she was supposed to do. Also something like that: remembering names of people she just met. The Hoogezandse used to have no problem with that, but she has not been able to do it very well for a few years now. “My short-term memory is a colander,” says Oest.
At night she regularly wakes up in a sweat. “My internal thermostat rises by two degrees every now and then,” says Oest. “I can tell you that you will wake up broken.” Then she just goes back to work. That doesn’t always go well, because of the complaints she’s been experiencing since she’s been in transition.
‘We don’t want to talk about it’
In fact, exactly like countless other women who are going through menopause. The difference is that Oest does discuss why she doesn’t always sleep well at work. She is a quality and patient safety employee at the UMCG. “I don’t feel that myself, but it is clear that there is still something of a taboo about the transition,” says Oest. “We don’t seem to want to talk about it.”
Because it is a subject that is not liked to be broached, it also lacks knowledge, sees Stef Boes, who is active as a nursing consultant in Friesland. “Women also often know much less about it than you might expect. After all, it is something that every woman has to deal with.”
As a result, she says, women often don’t realize what’s going on with them, if they start sleeping worse somewhere between the ages of 40 and 45, for example. “That is then devoted to all kinds of other things, such as a bad relationship or a burnout, while in reality it could be due to a changing estrogen level,” says Boes. According to her, general practitioners and medical specialists do not always make the right link with the menopause.
Week of the transition
We then speak of premenopause, the first of several phases of the menopause (see box), in which the hormonal balance begins to change. “That is often new to many people, that the transition consists of different phases,” says Boes. “It is also often unknown that it will last for about 7 to 10 years all in all.” To increase knowledge about the subject there is the Week of the Transition (April 17 through 21), with numerous webinars and workshops across the country.
If the complaints continue and the correct conclusion is not drawn about the cause, there is a chance that women will start calling in sick or will work less. “That’s what I see a lot. That is sad, because with the right interventions, a lot can be done about the complaints,” says Boes. She mentions a different lifestyle (healthier eating, more exercise), hormone treatments and more autonomy in organizing working hours and partly working from home as possible solutions.
Careerkiller
Gynecologist Yenny Kurniawan, who retired last month after 35 years at Martini Hospital, calls menopause a “potential career killer” because of the absenteeism that comes with it. She also points to the costs to society, which are estimated at more than 500 million euros per year in the Netherlands. In addition to the lifestyle changes, Kurniawan would like to point out the possibility of medication, in case the complaints become too intense. The threshold for giving hormones has been lowered after the guideline for GPs on prescribing estrogen was changed in August last year.
The Dutch Association for Occupational and Occupational Medicine and the Dutch Menopause Society (DMS) stated two years ago that every woman has the right to a good quality of life, work and care during the transition. A position supported by a majority in the House of Representatives.
Slowly but surely, employers are becoming aware that they have to do something about this. The UMCG, for example, has started offering workshops for managers and other employees on the subject. “It is certainly in the interest of employers that this subject gets more attention,” says Oest. “Certainly for healthcare organizations, where a very large group of women work between the ages of 40 and 60. If you come to prevention, then an employer saves a lot of absenteeism. And women a lot of misery.”
The phases of the transition. And what is the difference with menopause?
Menopause in women is the phase of life when the ovaries gradually stop producing the hormone estrogen. Estrogen affects many functions in the body, such as heart and blood vessels, bones and urinary tract. Frequently mentioned complaints during the menopause are hot flashes, poor sleep, muscle and joint pain, mood swings, lower libido, depressed moods and headaches. There are 140 different complaints that women can suffer from.
It is often thought that transition and menopause are synonymous, but that is not the case. Menopause occurs after the last menstrual period. The transition is divided into phases.
Premenopause is the first, in which the hormone balance begins to change. Then comes perimenopause. In it, menstruation becomes increasingly irregular and most complaints are experienced. Next comes the menopause: the phase in which the last menstrual period occurs. The average age for this is around the age of 50, but it can also be (much) earlier or later. Postmenopause is the final stage. There is no more menstruation, but the menopause symptoms still exist.
