Gino Pecoraro
Practicing obstetrician and gynaecologist, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Queensland (Australia) and president of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (NASOG)
Every woman on the planet will eventually go through menopause. For some this is a relatively benign normal transition and routine part of healthy ageing but for others, debilitating symptoms can adversely affect daily living and functioning.
While it is laudable that menopause and its many presentations is finally being spoken about more openly in both the medical literature and the general population, we must be careful not to undo any good that has already been done and throw out the baby with the bathwater.
No doctor treating a woman suffering from menopausal symptoms would deny the role of empowerment and nonpharmacological treatments to help sufferers better deal with this transition. However, there remains a place for symptom control with hormonal and nonhormonal medical therapies. We must not forget that HRT [hormone replacement therapy] can have other incidental beneficial effects such as a 50% reduction in osteoporotic fracture.
Rather than trying to pitch one model of treatment over another, wouldn’t it be great if women and their doctors were aware of all treatment options and individualise treatment to the particular needs of each woman seeking their help?