KARACHI, May 10: The Sobraj Maternity Hospital on Friday launched the monthly awareness programme for women to impart knowledge regarding the problems of menopause and their solutions to the schoolteachers of the city government.
Attendants at the programme included more than 50 school teachers over the age of 40 belonging to different schools of the city government. They were informed that menopause is an important time in a woman’s life when her body goes through changes that can affect her social life, feelings about herself and her functioning at work or home.
Medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Shabeen Naz, explained that menopause occurs when the ovaries stop making hormones called oestrogens, leading to end of monthly menstrual periods.
She said that in the past menopause was often surrounded by misconceptions and myths but now it was recognised as a natural occurrence in the process of aging of women. She said it usually happened between the ages of 45 and 60, but it could happen earlier. The average age, she said, of menopause in Pakistan was 47.5 years. “Low oestrogen levels are linked to a number of uncomfortable short-term and long-term symptoms in women. The most common and easy to recognize are short symptoms that include changes in psychological behaviour such as restlessness, depression, sudden swings of mood and sleep disorders. The other symptoms may include irregular periods, urinary tract infections and inflammation of the vagina, and due to changes in urinary tract and vagina some women may experience discomfort or pain during sexual intercourse”, Dr Naz said.
She said many women also noticed changes in their skin leading to increase of wrinkles, digestive tract, weight increase and hair-loss during menopause. Some had problems linked with osteoporosis and increased risk of heart diseases.
She explained that osteoporosis was the medical term for thinning of the bones. “Thin bones become weaker and break easily, with the backbones, thigh and hipbones are most prone to fracture.”
Dr Shabeen further informed: “Oestrogen is known as a ‘female hormone’ because it plays a key role in shaping the female body and preparing it for uniquely female functions such as pregnancy. It stimulates skeletal growth and helps maintain healthy bones besides helping protect heart and veins from cardiac problems. Oestrogen may also affect a woman’s sexual desire.”
Qazi Ehtesham of Schering, the multinational company that produces most of drugs used to control menopause symptoms and which sponsored the programme, informed that menopause was usually diagnosed after the doctor reviewed a woman’s medical history and performed a physical examination. He said menopause could also occur when the ovaries were surgically removed or stopped functioning for any other reason.
Qazi said that the most widely used method for controlling those symptoms was to use the Hormone Replacement Treatment (HRT) after menopause. He said there were three stages of the HRT, one between the age of 45 to 50 when menstruation became irregular. Second, during menopause. And the third stage was post-menopause where different drugs were prescribed.
Dr Seema and Dr Amna presented a set of questions to the attendants to gauge their awareness level regarding menopause. Unfortunately none of them had considerable knowledge.
Dr Amna stressed that girls and women should ensure a calcium rich diet starting from puberty and continue it even after menopause. “That helps strengthen bones, and the best source of calcium are dairy products.”
She said that regular weight-bearing exercise such as walking might also help prevent osteoporosis. “The ideal exercise for women is to walk about 100 steps in a minute for half an hour, at least four days a week.” Dr Amna said. She said though changes of menopause were permanent, eating right, exercising, and making other positive changes could help a woman feel great and live a long and healthy life after menopause. The Sobraj Maternity Hospital runs a menopause OPD every Monday.—PPI