It is an old saying that, ‘a healthy mind dwells in a healthy body’, which states that nutrition is important part of life for all, but it is particularly important for women who are peri and post menopausal, say experts at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.
Dr Amarjeet Singh, Professor School of Public Health PGI, said, “In this era, when women empowerment has taken centre stage, perimenopausal women and their concerns are continued to be neglected. Menopause brings a drastic hormonal change in the female body which has far reaching psychological and physiological effects.”
Dr Singh, however, believed that, since the advent of hippie culture in the mid 1960s, there was a wave when feminist started equating both the sexes, but instead of reaping good results the movement caught the attention of the capitalist pharmaceutical market which left no stone unturned to exploit the situation, especially of women suffering the pangs of menopause.
This era saw the dawn of hormone replacement therapies, where the medics promised all kind of relief from the symptoms of menopause by administering colourful pills. It was only in 2002 that a Menopausal Hormone Therapy Study, established that administration of oral hormone to cope up with the symptoms of menopause, exposes the patient to higher risk of cancer. The study was a death blow for the pharmacies, thriving through politics of menopause.
Dr Ruchi Sharma of PGI said, “The need of the day is to educate the perimenopausal women and prepare them well in advance to look forward to more that 30 further years of life after menopause as years of quality and enjoyment. We should enable menopausal women to enjoy years of new found confidence with a positive attitude and years of independence.”
PGI holds a menopausal clinic in its room number 2042, every Tuesday. The institute has around 70 registered patients in past few years and around 24 patients have been regularly visiting this tertiary care institute for follow-ups after successfully coping up with their pre-menopausal symptoms, which at a point of time became a nightmare for them.
Doctors at the PGI are now more relying on counselling and alternative treatments to bring relief to their patients agonised by the sudden onset of pre-menopausal symptoms. It is here that Dr Amarjeet and his team has proved their mettle.Experiences of women during menopause are often unique to them. Some women are able to undergo the menopausal transition without any problem, whereas some experience a variety of menopausal symptoms.
“Menopause is often a difficult part of aging for women. Most women are concerned about hot flashes and weight gain, both of which are common during menopause. But the risk for diseases like osteoporosis, breast cancer and heart disease also increase after menopause,” said Dr Purnima Kaushal.
Hence Dr Amarjeet and his team who have been counselling women to glide smoothly past their menopausal symptoms, without the hassle of popping up a pill everyday, by tweaking a bit with their daily routine and bringing in some healthy changes in their diet and nutritional intake has jotted it all down in a book to be distributed free to the patients visiting PGI to keep their menopausal woes at bay.
The book highlights the importance of lifestyle modification like mediation, yoga, exercises and menopause related diet and home remedies to deal with the pangs of menopause.