Evernow is doing some great data collecting when it comes to menopause, and now has a wider look with the new Menopause in the Workplace report. Founder Alicia Jackson shared the findings via this LinkedIn post: Silent Quitting and the $26.6 Billion Drain: Why Employers Can't Afford to Ignore Menopause Anymore.
Top lines from their ongoing survey of 2,000 women, ages 40-60:
70 percent of women rated their symptoms as “severe” or “very severe”
50 percent reported inability to focus and 48 percent reported brain fog as the symptoms with the greatest impact on their work, closely followed by headaches and fatigue
women report missing an average of 9 days per year, and 65 percent believe their needs in this transition are overlooked by their employer
Alicia’s top lines:
Companies are losing US$26.6 billion annually due to decreased productivity and increased medical costs related to menopause
85 percent of women report impacts on productivity, performance & satisfaction
60 percent of women have tempered their career outlook and ambitions as a result of menopause – passing on promotions or considering leaving, retiring and quitting earlier than otherwise planned
Wherever the research is being done, it seems to me that there are six key issues that come up over and over (and please email me with more):
Women are suffering in a variety of ways and need adaptive workplaces that provide support and flexibility without some sort of big huge deal being made about it.
The economy is losing too much money due to perimenopause and so are women, who are being passed over for promotions, not going for promotions, and sometimes leaving the work force altogether.
Contrary to all the AI fearmongering going on, we are a “critical cohort” in a working age population that continues to shrink, and the workforce really needs our experience, wisdom and expertise.
More than ever at midlife, women are finding that we need to do work that fulfills us, for people who respect it. We really don’t ask much.
The rising number of tribunals indicates that if workplaces don’t do something about this issue, they just might have it done for them.
One of the most reasonable suggestions comes from Acas, a charity that provides guidance and training on the workplace: managers should be educated on what this transition is all about and how it might impact staff and how to talk about it without everyone cringing, and women going through menopause who need to talk about workplace adjustments should be given options other than their boss. (Because even after all that training, talking to the boss will probably not be many people’s first choice)
In other parts of the world, pharma firm Abbott and market researchers Ipsos joined forces to survey 1,200 women across 7 cities in India for the Women@Work study.
Their findings:
• 81 percent said menopause affected their work life
• 18 percent said they worked through their symptoms
• 26 percent took time off for menopause symptoms without telling their boss why
Science + research + data + stuff
Phytoestrogens, phenolics and flavonoids, boron, ursolic acid and pectin – these are things I really don’t think about when I eat an apple, to be honest. But Dr Vincent Candrawinata, a food scientist in Sydney, says eating fresh apples daily can provide important vitamins and minerals that improve memory and ward off neurotoxicity that leads to Alzheimer’s. Oh, and he says relieve symptoms of menopause. (Yes, he has a product line. But you can also just eat apples, which are delicious and demonstrably a good thing to eat no matter what’s going on with your hormones) Daily Mail, Nine
Research presented at the Menopause Society annual meeting in Philadelphia last month found an association between the two pieces of bread in our sandwich generation and worsened menopause symptoms. The Hormones and ExpeRiences of Aging study, the first of its kind, surveyed 4,295 women ages 45–60 via questionnaire about their levels of caregiving. They found that 15 hours per week – whether it’s children or elders – led to a significant increase in a range of symptoms, even genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Fortune
Gastrointestinal distress is associated with worsened menopause symptoms, and vice versa, which seems to be a function of little-understood or studied relationships between the brain, sex hormones and gut microbiome, according to a new study published in Menopause. From the International Journal of Women’s Health in 2022: “taken together, research suggests that menopause is associated with lower gut microbiome diversity and a shift toward greater similarity to the male gut microbiome”.
Surveys have shown that women with Multiple Sclerosis face worsened symptoms during menopause and hormone therapy can help, the director of UCLA’s MS program told the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis Congress Neurology Live
Osteoporosis Canada updated its guidelines and men got some attention, which apparently is rare: Osteoporosis International . The US Preventative Services Task Force is updating theirs too. (Via Medscape)
A new menopause AI model out of the US was accurate 80 percent of the time Medium via Future Fem Health
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The Hotflash inc podcast
This week on the podcast I speak with the co-hosts of the Hot Flashes & Cool Topics podcast Colleen Rosenblum and Bridgett Biagi Garratt. These are two of the smartest, nicest women around and I love what they are doing every week. We talk about all the things: perimenopause of course, starting new projects when you don’t know what you are doing, interviewing celebrities, empty nests and more.
Read, watch, click, follow and learn
Anyone seen it? Astellas Pharma launched a new national TV ad in the US for Veozah, set to Flo Rida’s Good Feeling called Fewer Hot Flashes, More Not Flashes. They are also doing campaigns on TikTok and Pinterest Medical Marketing and Media, Fierce Pharma
Women are turning to cannabis to manage menopause symptoms. Does it help? Yahoo Life
“The first thing we need to do is a randomized controlled trial on women who are using cannabis to treat these symptoms — and a control group not on cannabis — in order to see which symptoms improve and which don’t.” - Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health and medical director of the Menopause Society
Author Zoë Folbigg: ‘I’ve got perimenopause paranoia – the celeb horror stories are terrifying me!’ OK
Friend of Hotflash inc Gabriella Espinosa (look for her coming up on the Hotflash inc podcast) writes How To Get Started With Yoga In Menopause Womaness
Did you catch the MenoClarity LIVE summit yet? It was brilliant. And you can watch it all for free MenoClarity
LEARN
Are you a movement teacher or coach who would like more education and awareness to help your clients? Over in the UK Jane Dancey and Julia Davis are offering a 7-week Perimenopause Yoga Facilitator online training, starting Monday.
The program includes:
• a weekly two-hour educational workshop
• access to all sessions, which are recorded, along with a resource library
• a one-to-one coaching session
Get a 10 percent discount on the training with discount code LIVE10
Editor’s note
I’m speaking on a panel at the University of Birmingham, Dubai on Monday on menopause at work – there is so much to say, and I have so much to learn, too.
I am someone who thanks my lucky stars I didn’t have to show up anywhere rain or shine at 9am for the last six years. At the same time I’ve struggled in other ways, and definitely on the mental health, motivation and concentration front. Freelancing can be wonderfully freeing and a lonely and destabilizing gig, which is why I’ve probably spent so much money and time at coffee shops.
Also: there are unspeakable things happening in the world.
And beautiful, unimaginable things too.
It’s too much to think about.
Or write about.
That is all.