Menopause: An issue you don't want to talk about

[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Women in this phase of life may suffer from many complaints, including those with menopause-specific symptoms and non-specific ones. Starting from the perimenopausal period, menstrual disorders, vasomotor symptoms and neuropsychiatric symptoms would hit most women, followed by gradually obvious atrophy of the urogenital tract.

Chronic diseases that plague the elderly, such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and senile dementia in the later menopause period are also related to long-term estrogen deficiency. All of these will surely influence a woman's quality of life.

However, the general reaction to this among the public and general medical workers still rests on superficial impressions, such as so-called "physiological phenomenon" and "endure to get through it".

Chinese menopausal women instinctively reject all kinds of hormones, though much effort is being made to improve this situation.