(RxWiki News) Every woman will experience menopause. However, the public, doctors and even women themselves often view menopause as a disability.
National Menopause Awareness Month (MAM) aims to educate the medical community and the public on menopause so women aren't seen as disabled and in need of a "cure."
Menopause is considered a medical condition even though it's a natural cycle that every woman goes through. It's the symptoms of menopause that women need medical treatment for, not menopause itself.
Menopause Awareness Month aims to allow women to embrace menopause rather than suffer from it, and to push the medical community to learn how to help women manage their symptoms on an individual basis in a positive way.
"Talk to a gynecologist about your specific menopause symptoms."
Menopause Awareness Month is not so much about people being aware of menopause; it's about being aware of how menopause affects women, and how menopause's "disease status" affects women.
Because menopause is considered to be a medical condition or disease, the public, the medical community and even women themselves often view it in a negative light. But menopause is not a disease. However, the many symptoms of menopause often do need treatment.
Millions of women are, and will be, going through menopause at some point. The process is usually defined by the end of menstruation. The average age of menopause is 51, but some women can experience menopause symptoms as early as 30.
Every woman experiences menopause differently, and as it stands, there are 34 symptoms that have been discovered. These symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, loss of sexual desire, sleep disorders, depression, allergies, digestive problems, mood swings, joint pain, dizziness, hair loss and memory loss, among others.
There are many ways to treat symptoms of menopause, and most women will differ in the methods used.
Doctors typically try to treat these symptoms with either prescription medicine and/or hormone replacement therapy. These methods can work for some women, but not necessarily all women, and they may need to be used in combination with other treatment methods.
The Menopause Awareness Month website suggests alternative medicine, such as herbal remedies, supplements or acupuncture. In addition, it highlights the need to eat right and exercise regularly.
Menopause Awareness Month hopes to shine a light on menopause in order to keep discovering more things to help the medical community treat women's symptoms using a variety of methods.
The organizers of Menopause Awareness Month want women to embrace their natural cycle instead of suffering from it and being ashamed. They invite women to visit the website to learn about menopause and share their stories.
