\n<\/p>\n
A growing number of women are seeing misleading information about perimenopause on social media \u2013 prompting concerns that some could be led to false conclusions that obscure real underlying health difficulties or even create the risk of unintended pregnancies.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the key facts behind the problem.<\/p>\n
Perimenopause is the phase in a woman\u2019s life that leads up to menopause. It involves fluctuating levels of hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone, and can cause symptoms such as changes in menstrual patterns, hot flushes, mood changes, heavy periods and difficulty sleeping.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerimenopause can start several years before menopause, often in the early to mid-40s, although it can begin earlier for some women,\u201d said Dr Zara Haider, the president of the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.<\/p>\n
The worry is that while social media has helped break down stigma around menopause, women are also encountering misinformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing people turn to supplements or alternative treatments marketed online, sometimes instead of established, effective options \u2013 often at significant personal cost,\u201d said Haider.<\/p>\n
Misinformation can have serious consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing some women in their late 30s and early 40s questioning whether they\u2019re perimenopausal based on what they\u2019ve\u00a0seen online, and in some cases assuming they can stop contraception,\u201d Haider said.<\/p>\n
Haider added that perimenopause symptoms can overlap with a range of other conditions, including primary ovarian insufficiency.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there are concerns, women should speak to their GP to explore what\u2019s going on and make sure they\u2019re still protected against unintended pregnancy if needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no single \u2018best\u2019 method, it\u2019s about finding what works for the individual,\u201d said Haider.<\/p>\n
There are many forms available, including condoms \u2013 which also protect against sexually transmitted infections \u2013 and the hormone-free coil (IUD), although this may not be suitable for women with heavy periods.<\/p>\n
However, Dr Paula Briggs, a consultant in sexual and reproductive health, said hormonal contraception offers many benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne [benefit is] prevention of unplanned pregnancy, but there are other non-contraceptive benefits: reduction in bleeding, pain, fibroids, improvement in endometriosis, acne, so loads of other things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And while some forms of hormonal contraception have been associated with a slight increased risk of breast cancer, there can be benefits for reducing the risk of other types of cancer.<\/p>\n
Progestogen-only contraceptives \u2013 which contain synthetic progesterone-like substances \u2013 include patches, the mini-pill, injections, implants and intrauterine systems (IUS), some of which last for years. And while progestogen-only contraceptives can help reduce heavy bleeding, HRT can be used alongside to ease other symptoms of perimenopause.<\/p>\n
Traditional combined pills contain ethinyl estradiol \u2013 a synthetic, non-natural form of oestrogen \u2013 and a progestogen. While they are effective contraceptives, there are drawbacks.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Ethinyl estradiol is] actually an incredibly strong steroid with some oestrogen-like properties,\u201d said Prof Channa Jayasena, an expert in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London. \u201cAnd that increases chances of blood clotting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such risks are greater for people with certain health conditions, such as obesity, and among people who smoke. And they increase with age.<\/p>\n
However, Briggs said the idea that older women cannot have the combined pill is erroneous.<\/p>\n
\u201cAge alone is not a contraindication [as to whether contraception is needed]. It\u2019s about assessing for risk factors, which include migraine with aura, being overweight, hypertension \u2013 but if it\u2019s treated, then the patient might still be able to access the combined pill,\u201d said Briggs.<\/p>\n
Crucially, a newer type of combined pill has been developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt contains your natural oestrogen, which doesn\u2019t confer that same blood clot risk,\u201d said Jayasena.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are really good modern, next-generation contraceptive pills, which have a safety advantage and could be much more suitable for women in their 40s in particular, or even their 50s,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a mini-pill with natural oestrogen.\u201d<\/p>\n
If women have not yet reached menopause, are under the age of 55 and do not wish to become pregnant, then yes.<\/p>\n
While HRT contains oestrogen \u2013 and progestogen if a woman\u2019s womb is intact \u2013 the doses are thought to be too low and the substances not potent enough to prevent the ovaries from releasing an egg.<\/p>\n
Body-identical hormones are natural forms of oestrogen and progesterone that are the same as those found in the body, although they are made in the laboratory.<\/p>\n
But experts say whether these are better than non-natural versions depends on the situation.<\/p>\n
Body-identical hormones are already used in some forms of HRT, with early research suggesting there can be some benefits.<\/p>\n
However, Jayasena noted that only non-natural forms of oestrogen and progesterone are strong enough to act as contraceptives.<\/p>\n
In addition, Jayasena noted that some non-natural progestogens for HRT have a greater testosterone action, which can boost libido, whereas other non-natural progestogens have an anti-testosterone action and can be useful for women who have acne or excess hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo actually, there are advantages sometimes to deviating from nature,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A growing number of women are seeing misleading information about perimenopause on social media \u2013 prompting concerns that some could be led to false conclusions that obscure real underlying health difficulties or even create the risk of unintended pregnancies. Here are some of the key facts behind the problem. What is perimenopause? Perimenopause is the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[10276,12778,788,5824,290,1186,5823],"class_list":{"0":"post-49743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-counter","9":"tag-facts","10":"tag-key","11":"tag-menopause","12":"tag-misinformation","13":"tag-online","14":"tag-perimenopause"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}