The Truth About The Menopause
Photo of Mariella Frostrup:: BBC
Write it on a Post-It note, put it in your diary, set a reminder on your phone. Tonight on BBC1 at nine o’clock, broadcaster and journalist Mariella Frostrup investigates the menopause, talks to experts and shares her own sleep-deprived experience. One of the guests is Myra Hunter emeritus professor of clinical health psychology at King’s College London, who I interviewed for my recent feature, ‘Five things I’ve discovered about the menopause‘.
‘Given that life expectancy for women is now almost 83 years, it’s astonishing that perception of successful females should still be tied up with our ability to procreate. People don’t walk around saying, ‘You can’t have babies, you’re finished’, but it’s implicit,’ Frostrup has said.
Programme details for The Truth About The Menopause are HERE. And the episode is now available on BBC iPlayer (for 30 days). Don’t miss it.
Discussion (10 Comments)
Karin Staddle says:
Unfortunately in Scotland we are getting something else but hopefully we can get it on catch up later.
Karen says:
Kirsty Wark presented a very good programme on the menopause which was shown in Scotland some time ago.
It’s on BBC iPlayer and I’ve added the link in the post – not sure if you are able to view/download it in Australia, Adriana (?)
Ann Carroll says:
hi Alyson, I watched the programme with my husband, although I was really happy that menopause was given a prime viewing slot. I would have liked some information on bio-identical hormones of which a number of doctors in the uk are prescribing which although still chemical it has an individual focus. A close friend of mine is on bio-identical hormones after trying hrt and believes it is more effective for her. I think the programme really showed the individuality of the menopausal symptoms, I have hot flushes only at night and regular sleep deprivation that leaves me so tired I want to cry in the morning. I have friends who have hot flushed during the day and night and another who has to shower a number of times during the night as she wakes up drenched with sweat. For me if I was asked one word re menopause I would say “silence” we just don’t talk about it enough, my Mother never once discussed it with me and my younger friends when I mention it tell me they don’t want to know and I have another friend who calls it “the moanypause” but she has yet to experience menopause. I will wait to see if continuous sleep deprivation has any effect on her positivity when she has menopause. Thank you for drawing our attention to the programme.
Mrs Tonia says:
As a follow-up to your recent blog post and discussion that generated I was keen to see if this program shed any new light on how best to cope with symptoms. It is a good move that the prime channel BBC 1 broadcast this at 9:00 pm. The previous similar film by the Scottish journalist Kirsty Wark was on BBC 2 at a later time. This program was widely profiled also.
A few observations on my part. There was a good discussion of why women like me, with close relatives with breast cancer, chose not to use HRT. And Jenni Murray broadcaster of about my age, did use it and contracted cancer unfortunately. One scientist explained the numbers who would get cancer in a population group of a thousand women and then illustrated the effects of HRT then obesity and drinking on that number which nearly doubled due to lifestyle factors as they are called. Much food for thought here. The advice surely is keep slim and keep exercising for overall health. A group were tested for bone density via body scans before and after a sedentary lifestyle, cycling and running. The runners came out best due to impact of hitting the ground. Presumably fast walking or hiking would be equally beneficial. Though Zumba classes were given as a fun healthy option !
The broadcaster’s checkups with Harley Street clinicians and similar were a world away from
My experience of trying to gain advice and get mammograms at NHS hospitals in Oxford with its world class teaching hospitals. I had never seen a breast mammogram. I queued in hospital waiting rooms, never got feedback apart from a letter a few weeks later saying results normal. No smiling endocrinologist to help and take blood samples etc. No bone scans offered for testing declining bone density. The group of women who underwent supervised CBT and made video diaries about using breathing techniques to deal with hot flushes certainly made an impression on me. They reported feeling far happier and more confident and better able to deal with everyday life. And everyone on the program wanted more publicity and more discussion at all levels from the domestic up about Menopause. Seems this was the exact thing that Alyson advocated in her earlier post.Paula says:
Thanks for the link. Looks like we in Canada can have a listen.
People don’t walk around saying, ‘You can’t have babies, you’re finished’, but it’s implicit,’ Frostrup has said.
I’m curious about this and I’m wondering if women in the UK have a different experience. In a quick poll of friends here, the majority of us childless (and most of those by choice), I couldn’t find anyone who felt they were being stigmatized in some way for not having had children, or for now being in menopause. We range in age from 49 to 58. Mostly we’re just happy to be done with all the period complications, and we’re all letting our grey grow in. I opted for a tubal ligation in my early 30s and experienced no pushback at all. Well, my mother did ask, “What if you meet a nice man who wants children?” but that was it. For what it’s worth she asked the thing about my first tattoo 🙂
Jenni says:
It’s not available in the US — BBC iPlayer won’t work here because of permissions issues. Any thoughts on how a US viewer could watch it?
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Will be interesting to see the content – I will definitely try and get my husband to watch it! I am glad that they have put it on at a reasonable time on BBC1 rather than relegating it to post 10pm and on another, less prime, BBC channel