October marks World Menopause Awareness Month with World Menopause Day taking place today – 18th October!
50% of the world’s population will go through the menopause at some point in their lives, and yet due to a lack of understanding and embarrassment around the symptoms, or, even worse, being dismissed by healthcare providers, many women suffer unnecessarily in silence with their symptoms.
Menopause Awareness Month
Luckily, society is slowly changing. This is thanks to women speaking out in the media about the impact menopause has had on them.
The theme for Menopause Awareness Month in October 2023 is cardiovascular disease: Before starting our menopause journey, in general, women have a lower risk of being affected by coronary heart disease. However, post menopause, the risk increases. But why?
Changes to Oestrogen levels
Oestrogen does a great many things in the female body: nourishes the pelvic floor, keeps our bones strong and has a protective effect on our hearts by keeping controlling cholesterol levels and keeping blood vessels healthy.
During the perimenopause, oestrogen levels begin to fluctuate causing all sorts of symptoms such as hot flashes, low mood/libido, weight gain, aches/pains, incontinence…
The lowering levels of oestrogen also means that cholesterol levels can go up and increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease.
So what can you do to help your heart during the menopause? Menopause Awareness Month seeks to explore the many myths and mysteries of Menopause.
Nutrition
Eating a varied diet with plenty of fresh ingredients and avoiding processed high salt/sugar foods will help maintain a healthy body and heart. Incorporating food rich in Omega 3 essential fats, such as oily fish, nuts and leafy green vegetables can help protect you cholesterol.
Change comes from taking small steps, such as:
- Adding a side salad to your meal
- Add 1 more vegetable to your dinner
- Add berries (fresh or frozen) to your breakfast instead of sugar
- Swap white bread for wholemeal
Exercise
Exercise is a big theme for discussion in Menopause Awareness Month. When it comes to exercise, ALL movement is good movement! With current UK guidelines advising adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week (or 22 minutes a day).
That said, Strength-training exercises such as wall squats or holding the plank position have been found to lower blood pressure more effectively than aerobic exercise!
Resistance training (ie working against a weight, whether it be a dumbbell, exercise band or body weight) can reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and improve circulation by strengthening the heart and blood vessels. Not only that but it makes you stronger and less prone to injury by increasing bone density and strengthening the muscles, ligaments and tendons around your joints.
Menopause Awareness Month – tips for exercise
Why not include the following resistance exercises to your daily movements?
- Reverse lunges – From a standing start, take a big step backwards, letting the leg in front bend to allow your back leg to brush the floor. Push yourself back up through your front leg and return to a standing position. Repeat on the other side. You can make this more challenging by holding weights in your hands or carrying a weighted rucksack.
- Goblet squats – One of the best forms of squat as it helps with hip mobility and leg strength. Start by holding a weight (dumbbell, heavy book, bottle of water) in front of your chest. Feet around hip width distance apart. Keeping your weight in your heels, squat down as low as you can go, pause for a few seconds at the bottom, before pushing yourself back up.
- Suitcase carry – Hold a heavy dumbbell, kettlebell or rucksack in one hand, walk for a few metres, then switch hands and walk back. Brace your core to keep yourself upright, and keep your other arm out for balance if you need to.
- Overhead press – these are shoulder-friendly and equally possible with dumbbells or soup cans. Start with the weights at your shoulders, brace your core and push your arms straight up overhead, letting your hands rotate naturally as you go through the movement. Slow and controlled is the winner here.
- Many people worry about their heart health when going through the menopause and want to know what their risk is. Your doctor can talk you through your individual risk factors. But by making small changes to your diet and daily movement, you can take help look after your heart.
Thrive Physiotherapy for Women
At Thrive, we’re delighted to support Menopause Awareness Month. We feel that Menopause is a topic we should discuss every month!
We offer a Menopause MOT. Physiotherapy for Menopause can change your life and alleviate your symptoms. The menopause starts when the levels of oestrogen in your body start to fluctuate and drop. These changes can impact both your body AND your brain. They affect each person differently, meaning your Menopause journey is as unique as you are.
The menopause is a journey NOT an illness! It will impact each woman differently, some may sail through it, whilst others may have life altering symptoms.
Get in touch to book your Menopause MOT today!