75% Of Women Complain Of Menopausal Symptoms But Just 7% Say The Symptoms Are Not A Problem

The findings of a recent MORI poll reveal that 75% of 45-65 year old women complain of unpleasant and uncomfortable menopausal symptoms ranging from hot flushes to depression, however, three in 10 haven't even consulted a doctor. Reasons for not being on HRT include heightened fears of the possible side effects of HRT (made worse by adverse publicity), the fact that the doctor didn't recommend it, and an old-fashioned "stalwart" theory that you shouldn't interfere with nature.

According to the MORI research commissioned by HRT Aware (backers of the Choices campaign), 51% of menopausal women aged 45 - 65 have suffered at least three symptoms including hot flushes (56%), irritability (33%), loss of energy (30%) and insomnia/sleeplessness (30%). 26% suffer from depression.

Dr Annie Evans, an expert on women's health says: "The fact is, that for most women HRT would be a great "life-enhancing" option both in terms of short-term symptom relief and in long-term disease prevention, for example osteoporosis and possible benefits for heart disease."

"What we need is for women to realise they have choices, they don't have to soldier on through the menopause - no-one thinks women should cope without pain relief in childbirth or even during a period, both natural female processes - so why do many women feel unjustified in managing the menopause? In my view it's time for women to take control of the menopause, speak to their doctor and find out about the choices available to them whether it is HRT or not".

Angela Rippon has launched an awareness campaign that hopes to arm women with the information they need to manage their menopausal symptoms. "The campaign is called "Choices" because we want to tell women they have a number of choices available to them for dealing with the menopause." says Angela.

Angela Rippon, a firm advocate of HRT: "I've been taking HRT for 4 years and continue to take it because of the osteoporosis prevention. I've witnessed at first hand, through friends and family, how much of a life improver HRT can be although I do realise it doesn't work for everyone. I feel it is exceptionally important for women to find out more and get a direct and balanced view from a GP."

In fact, usage of HRT among health professional themselves is very high. Research has shown that 88% of postmenopausal female gynaecologists and 72% of postmenopausal female GPs use HRT .

The Choices Campaign

The Choices campaign, will run throughout the year with activity linked to Mother's Day, including encouraging daughters to discuss the issues with their mothers.

"Choices" has also linked up with over 1,600 Unichem and Moss chemists across the country in a joint initiative to communicate to women in the pharmacy environment. Informative leaflets will also be provided in environments such as hairdressers and bingo halls, to increase women's' awareness of the options open to them whatever background or walk of life.

This is the first MORI Healthcare/HRT Aware Survey. MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 708 women aged 45 - 65 in 153 sampling points on the first wave and 156 on the second. Fieldwork was conducted from 20 -24 January and 3 - 7 February 2000. All interviews were conducted face-to-face in-home using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). Data have been weighted to the known profile of the British population.

The 708 women were interviewed to assess menopausal symptoms, advice sought to deal with the symptoms and why women had chosen not to use HRT.

The survey revealed that 42% of women have sought information on treatment for the menopause from newspapers, books, magazines, radio programmes, television or the internet.

HRT Aware is an industry-supported organisation that provides a central source of media information to increase understanding of the benefits and risks of hormonal replacement therapy for the relief of menopausal symptoms.

1. Aged 45 - 65 years
2. When shown a card of 15 items. A further 8% said none of these, and less than 0.5% said don't know.