Hi! I hope you’re doing well. I’m so excited to share that we’ve just hit 10,000 downloads of the podcast! I’m so grateful for your support in listening to the show, and if you’ve been sharing it with others too, thank you so much. The more we can get the word out, the more women can be encouraged to start stepping into a healthier, happier version of themselves. It’s amazing how much better you can feel with some simple changes to your diet and lifestyle, and it’s the little habits, built up over time, that make such a difference.
As I write this, we recently celebrated International Women’s Day, and I just want to let you know that you’re amazing! Whatever it is that you do, you’re special and unique and have wonderful gifts to bring to the world.
As we celebrate women, it’s kind of fitting that today’s episode is all about the history of menopause. I don’t mean in terms of the biology of it, but in the way that it’s been approached in history and talked about and treated over the years. I hope you’ll agree that we’ve come a long way, and yet we’ve still got a long way to go too.
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to grab your free copy of my Menopause Weight Loss Guide. You can find the link at the end of this post.
Clarifying Menopause Terms
So, before we look at the history behind menopause, let’s just clarify again what it actually is. I don’t know about you, but even though I went to an all-girls’ school, we were never taught this. I had this vague idea growing up that at some point my periods would stop, and there might be some hot flushes to deal with, but I didn’t know much more than that.
What Is Menopause?
So, let’s define some terms. Strangely enough, most of us will have no idea of the exact date we entered menopause. And that’s because a woman is defined as being in menopause when she hasn’t had a period for 12 months. Now, some women might go through surgical menopause, where menopause is brought on immediately because of surgery that removes the ovaries, but generally, for most women, you kind of get to a day where you realise: ‘Oh, I haven’t had a period for 12 months, this is it then!’ Which seems a bit strange, but there you go. It seems a bit sad really, that you can mark the first period, and in some cultures this is a celebrated time, but you usually can’t mark the last period. I guess you could have a little 12 months celebration instead.
The average age of menopause is between 45 and 55, and in the UK it’s around 51. You’re said to have gone through early menopause if you hit menopause between the ages of 40 and 45. If it happens below the age of 40, you’re said to have gone through Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, or POI. This is actually more common that we think. 1 in every 100 women will go into menopause before the age of 40, 1 in 1,000 before the age of 30, and 1 in 20,000 go into menopause before they reach their twenties. Which is another reason why it’s crazy that we’re not taught about all this earlier.
What About Perimenopause?
Now, what about the term Perimenopause, what’s that? Well, this is a recently new, but very helpful term. It describes the years leading up to Menopause when your hormones start to change and you start to experience symptoms. We’ll talk about symptoms in another episode, but briefly, you might start to notice things like weight gain around the middle area, night sweats and hot flushes, aches and pains, fatigue, anxiety, vaginal dryness, headaches and mood swings.
On average, perimenopause lasts about four years before your final period, but for some women it might just be a few months, and for others it can be up to ten years of struggling with symptoms.
Once you’ve reached menopause, you’re said to be in the postmenopausal stage. Now, usually, symptoms will ease, but unfortunately, for some women, they can continue to experience symptoms due to fluctuations in their hormones for another 10 years after they’ve reach menopause.
OK, so now we’ve defined the terms, let’s have a quick look at some of the history.
Menopause in Ancient Times
Even though menopause is a completely natural transition, it hasn’t always been treated that way in history. As you can imagine, there wasn’t much interest in medical research into menopause in ancient times. It seems that women were no longer considered useful to society once they’d gone past childbearing years. On the plus side, though, these older women were often given more freedoms because, the view was, they were now more like men. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians used the term ‘hysteria’, which comes from the word ‘hystera’ meaning uterus, because they thought the symptoms of menopause were caused by a wandering womb. They would prescribe various herbal substances to encourage the uterus to return to its correct place.
Menopause in the 13th Century
Moving on to the next stage in history. By the time we hit the 13th Century, there was definitely a very unfavourable view of postmenopausal women. The German philosopher, Albertus Magnus, believed that (and I’m quoting from Mariella Frostrup’s book Cracking the Menopause): “Older women were poisonous and dangerous, with the ability to kill children just by looking at them.”
It’s clear where the link between older women and witches came from. Indeed, these older women, especially those who were healers with a good knowledge of herbs, and particularly if they were also widowed and had no one to protect them, were easy targets for those looking for someone to blame for unexplained illnesses, crop failures or bad luck.
Hysteria, as it continued to be called, began to be seen as something sinful, and even as satanic possession. Some kind of madness that needed to be treated with exorcisms rather than with medicines. Thankfully, we moved on from that, but things weren’t much better in the nineteenth century.
Menopause in the 19th Century
By this time in history, instead of menopause being seen as witchcraft, it was now viewed as an illness that needed treatment. The term ‘menopause’ was first coined by a French doctor in 1821 – Meno in Greek means ‘period’ and pausis means ‘stop’. But doctors still continued to refer to any symptoms linked to menstruation or menopause as ‘hysteria’, and exorcisms as a potential cure were replaced by a stint in the local lunatic asylum. It was around this time that the idea of perimenopause was discussed, though it was called by the term ‘clilmacteric’. Doctors began prescribing pills and potions, despite still knowing so little about a woman’s physiology. There were some rather nasty ‘cures’ as well, such as bloodletting with leaches, ice and cold water injections, all to the poor woman’s nether regions.
Menopause in the 20th Century
Fast forward to the history of menopause in the 20th Centry. By the 1930s, we see the development of an early form of HRT once the role of oestrogen was beginning to be understood, although at the time it took 4 tonnes of sows ovaries to produce just 12mg of oestradiol. Thankfully, especially for the pigs, the science has come a long way since then.
Gradually, in the 60s, things started changing, and very slowly a more positive view of menopause began to form. The International Menopause Society was established in the 70s, but menopause was still being discussed among women behind closed doors and in hushed tones, and often referred to as ‘the change’. Many women were embarrassed to admit that they were on HRT. And this, sadly, is still the situation in many western countries today. Menopause is generally viewed negatively and with embarrassment. It’s heartening to see that the tide is turning.
In 1984, World Menopause Day was established by the World Health Organization, to fall on October 18th each year.
Menopause In The News Today
In 2018, UK journalist Mariella Frostrup presented one of the first documentaries about Menopause. And shortly after the taboo was broken as more and more celebrities started sharing about their experiences. In 2021, UK celebrity Davina McCall presented another documentary on the subject. I highly recommend both their books. Mariella Frostrup’s book is called Cracking the Menopause and Davina McCall’s book is called Menopausing.
So there you go, I hope that was an interesting tour of the history of menopause for you.
Don’t forget to grab your free Menopause Weight Loss guide below.
That’s it for now, have a wonderful week, and I’ll catch you next time.
Episode Show Notes
Grab your FREE Menopause Weight Loss Guide.
Cracking the Menopause by Mariella Frostrup
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If you’d like to give my feedback and suggestions for future episodes, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at hello@catherineshelton.com
If you’re generally not feeling your best and would like to make some changes, there are a lot of simple steps you can take by modifying your diet and lifestyle which can have a hugely beneficial effect on your overall health and energy levels, as well as help ease your symptoms. If you’re interested to find out more, jump on a free, 30-minute discovery call with me, I’d love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not replace advice given by your primary care provider. Please see your doctor if you’re considering making substantial changes to your diet and lifestyle.
GRAB YOUR FREE MENOPAUSE WEIGHT LOSS GUIDE!
Are you finding the pounds are gradually creeping on? Are you frustrated because the usual trick of ‘eat less, move more’ just isn’t working anymore?
In this guide, I explain why women often gain weight in perimenopause, and I give you 3 simple tips so you can start to turn that around right away!
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