Menopause health education brochures

Menopause is a physiological transitional stage in which women's ovarian function changes from strong to declining. It is not a "hypocrisy" or a "disease". As long as you choose scientific intervention methods based on your own situation, you can go through it smoothly without having to bear it, and you don't have to be shy to ask for help.

Last week at a community free clinic, I met a 52-year-old Sister Wang. She hid behind the crowd holding her phone and waited for ten minutes before she came over. She said in a very low voice: "Doctor, I've been suddenly sweating recently. I woke up in the middle of the night and my pillow was half wet. I exploded before I could say more than three sentences to my wife. Am I having a mental problem?" I don’t dare to tell others, for fear that they will laugh at me for looking for trouble in my old age. ”In fact, situations like Sister Wang's are too common. In the six years I have been doing women's health education, more than 70% of the menopausal women I have come into contact with first reacted with "I'm embarrassed to say it" and "I'll just bear with it." There are also many people who secretly bought a bunch of health products claiming to be "ovarian maintenance" and "anti-aging" and ate them blindly, only to fall into the trap.

At present, there is no unified "standard answer" for menopausal care. Practitioners in different fields also have different intervention ideas. Everyone can choose according to their own acceptance and physical condition. Many Western gynecologists will first recommend menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) to women who meet the indications. This is also a solution clearly recognized by global obstetrics and gynecology guidelines: as long as they are within 10 years of menopause, under 60 years old, and have no contraindications such as breast cancer and active blood clots, low-dose estrogen and progesterone supplementation can not only quickly relieve hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia, but also effectively prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in the elderly. Many people are worried that "using hormones will cause cancer." In fact, this concern mainly comes from clinical cases of using large doses of hormones in the early years. Nowadays, with individualized prescriptions and regular follow-up visits to adjust the dosage, the risk is completely controllable. I met a 49-year-old sister before. Two years after menopause, she had already suffered from severe bone loss and it was painful to turn over. After the evaluation, she used a small dose of MHT. After three months of review, her bone density became stable and her sleep also changed from 2 or 3 hours a day to 6 or 7 hours a day.

If you really have concerns about hormone treatment, TCM syndrome differentiation and care are also the choice for many people. For example, those with yin deficiency, excessive fire, and severe hot flashes can follow the doctor's advice and use Zhibai Dihuang Pills. Those with anxiety and liver qi stagnation can use Xiaoyao Pills. Together with external treatments such as moxibustion and Baduanjin and exercise, the symptoms can also be gradually relieved. There used to be an Aunt Zhang who was a square dancer in our community. She was afraid of the side effects of taking hormones, so she consulted a traditional Chinese medicine doctor for three months. She did moxibustion twice a week, followed by Baduanjin for 20 minutes every day. She used to have seven or eight hot flashes a day, but later it only happened once every day or two. Her overall condition improved a lot.

No matter which intervention method is chosen, lifestyle adjustment is the foundation that everyone cannot avoid. You don’t need to engage in high-intensity fitness. You can just walk briskly or dance square for 30 minutes every day. Avoid strong tea, coffee, alcohol and other things that easily stimulate the nerves. Eat more soy products and dark green vegetables, and spend 15 minutes in the sun every day to replenish vitamin D. This is more effective than taking any number of health supplements. By the way, don’t buy those three-no health care products that claim to “can regulate menopause without going to the hospital.” Last year, we met an aunt who took the Internet-famous “ovarian maintenance supplement” for three months, and her symptoms were indeed relieved. The physical examination showed that the endometrium was abnormally thickened. Later, I learned that the health care product contained a large dose of estrogen in violation of regulations, and it did not even match the progesterone. Long-term consumption may lead to the risk of cancer.

In fact, there is really no need to regard menopause as a scourge. Like puberty and pregnancy and childbirth, it is just a necessary stage in a woman's life. Don’t always think that “it will be over if you endure it”. If you endure some serious symptoms, it will not only lower your quality of life for several years, but may also cause hidden dangers to the health of the elderly. If there is a woman of this age group at home, don't always think that she has a "bad temper" or "is looking for trouble." Give her more cups of warm water and less rhetoric, which will be more effective than any empty comfort. After all, menopause is not a sign of aging, it is just the beginning of the second half of life. Once the minor discomforts are adjusted, the comfortable days will still last.