Perimenopause has been in the spotlight of late. Filmmaker Miranda July's new book, "All Fours," was called the "first great perimenopause novel" by The New York Times, and actor Naomi Watts recently declared that perimenopause should become the "new puberty," such that it might garner more empathy and attention.
What is perimenopause? To be clear, perimenopause is not literally a second puberty. There's only one of those, and it happens during adolescence. But while "second puberty" is not an official medical term, the slang is sometimes used to describe the point in a woman's life when "irregular estrogen levels cause the physical changes of perimenopause," said Healthline. Perimenopause typically occurs about three to five years before menopause (which usually begins during a woman's 40s) and is a "natural process prompted when the ovaries gradually stop working," said Johns Hopkins Medicine.Â
Perimenopause can cause symptoms like declining bone and muscle mass, wrinkles, sagging skin, graying hair, irregular periods, decreased fertility, vaginal dryness and hot flashes. A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders last month also links perimenopause to a significant increase in the likelihood of depression. According to the study, "women in this stage are about 40% more likely to experience the mental health condition than premenopausal women," said CNN. This is partly because levels of estrogen, the main female hormone, rise and fall "unevenly" during perimenopause, said the Mayo Clinic.
Why does it fly under the radar? Many women do not expect to experience menopausal symptoms as early as their 30s and, thus, do not link these symptoms to menopause. "I'm seeing more and more women in perimenopause who feel that their symptoms are being dismissed," JoAnn Pinkerton, an OB/GYN at the University of Virginia and the executive director emeritus of the North American Menopause Society, said to The Washington Post.
The problem does not merely lie with doctors. Ninety-nine percent of preclinical aging studies ignore menopause, said Harvard Medical School, and "this gap in research translates to gaps in women's health care." Normalizing and promoting this tricky stage of life seems to be an important first step in helping women better navigate their health struggles. |