MENOPAUSE UPDATE 2025

Flawed studies, a ‘critical HT window’, vaginal oestrogen, testosterone supplementation and restricted eating are among a rash of hot topics emerging for women gingerly negotiating menopause. Here’s what we know now.

GLYNIS HORNING

Treatment of menopause symptoms has come a long, hard way. In the Middle Ages, many women over 50 with signs of menopause were labelled witches and burnt at the stake, descriptions at trials noting their weak bones, wrinkled skin and, yes, thinning hair (The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584). And in Victorian times, doctors like Edward Tilt medicalised menopause, prescribing leeches, stomach plasters of opium and belladonna, and injections of (highly toxic) lead acetate into the vagina. Today, we’re encouraged to see menopause as a natural phase of life, and offered a sometimes confusingly wide range of medical and alternative options to address hot flushes, night sweats, aching joints and bones, mood swings, insomnia, vaginal dryness, low libido, painful intercourse, new-onset unexplained anxiety and depression, and fatigue. By far the hottest…

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Fairlady South Africa (Digital) - 1 Issue, Mar/Apr 2025

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