Hot flashes, fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, weight gain, night sweats or mood swings: the apparent symptoms of menopause are numerous and can be particularly unpleasant for women. Around age 52, ovarian production of estrogen and progesterone stops naturally. This is when the woman stops ovulating and her period disappears. Menopause is said to have started when a year has passed since the woman had no blood loss.
Bernadette Barathé was 62 when her life became hell. “I haven’t slept anymore. All the points of support have hurt me. I was obviously very tired. And a little depressed too. In short, I couldn’t stand myself anymore,“says this 87-year-old former teacher. Her gynecologist prescribed her hormone treatment with gels and tablets and things have been better since then.”I have been doing this treatment for 25 years. It changed everything. There was nothing to worry about because at my age everything is still fine.“
A (biased) American study caused panic
The issue of concern, gynecologists are confronted with it in each of their consultations on this topic. In fact, in 2002, an American study linked hormone treatment of menopause with an increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular accidents. The 2002 WHI study of the Women’s Health Initiative (THM) was launched in the United States to examine the efficacy of estrogen / progesterone and estrogen-only treatment for postmenopausal women. It is stopped abruptly because the risks become too great compared to the benefits of the treatment for patients. The publication of the study creates a huge wave of panic and women around the world massively turn away from hormone treatments for menopause.
Except that the results of this study have since been widely questioned. The populations of women studied multiplied the carcinogenic and cardiological risk factors (obesity, advanced age, late treatment, diabetes, etc.). Furthermore, the treatments used in this study are totally different from those used in France, not to mention that they were administered without personalizing the prescribed dose according to the patient.
A treatment that can improve women’s lives
Several other studies will show that the effects of menopausal hormone treatment have, on the contrary, a rather favorable risk-benefit effect for women. “This treatment will reduce the risk of osteoporosis in women, a risk that will reach approximately 50% of womendetails the Doctor Michel Mouly. He is a gynecologist, surgeon and oncologist and author of the book “Menopause, everything can change” with Robert Laffont. It will also allow the pursuit of a libido. Hormone treatment for menopause can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 25 to 35. You should know that menopause is not a disease. It is a phase of life that will last 35 years and we can do something about it. “
However, the gynecologist is aware of the skepticism of the patients he receives. In front of them, he explains that you have to take your time. “Personally, when I have a woman in front of me, I explain to her, I inform her. I do not impose myself, but I explain what will happen. If a woman does not want to undergo the treatment, she does not give it to him. Instead, I try to put it on hygiene-dietary rules. But I warn them of the signs that are coming and I tell them, when you are ready, when you can no longer bear all this, you will be the one knocking on the door.“
Finally, with or without treatment, the doctor adds that the important thing is also to continue to see a gynecologist, even until old age.
