LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
Counselling can help eradicate crippling menopause symptoms and ‘significantly improve’ quality of life
The treatments faced criticism when they were approved for use on the NHS last year
COUNSELLING can help women ride out the menopause, a study shows.
Mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy help reduce problems with mood, memory and concentration caused by the change, University College London Researchers found.
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Talking treatments should be offered alongside hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as “additional support”, they said.
Dr Roopal Desai said: “GPs and healthcare providers often struggle to know what to offer beyond medical treatment.
“This research will help give GPs and patients more options.”
Current NHS guidance states menopausal women should be given HRT as a first line of treatment for menopause — when periods stop due to lower hormone levels.
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HRT is a treatment which uses oestrogen and progesterone to relieve menopausal symptoms.
In a win for our Fabulous Menopause Matters campaign, costs for prescriptions were last year dropped to £20 per year.
The campaign has also called for women to get better support at work.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy that is most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression
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Sessions for menopause were approved for the NHS by watchdog Nice last year but critics said it was patronising and distracted from a need for more HRT.
The research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders and carried out by University College London (UCL), involved data from 14 countries including the UK and US.
Researchers analysed 30 studies involving 3,501 women to see how CBT and mindfulness — a form of meditation — treatments impacted menopause symptoms.
Low mood "significantly benefited" from CBT and mindfulness.
We are not in any sense suggesting this as an alternative or recommending this instead of HRT
Professor Aimee Spector
Data from 11 studies showed a small to medium effect when it came to improvement in anxiety, the researchers said.
Individually, CBT had a small effect on anxiety, while mindfulness had a medium effect.
When it came to depression, CBT had a small to medium effect, while mindfulness had a small effect.
Overall, both interventions offered a medium to large effect on improvement in quality of life.
Lead author Professor Aimee Spector, said there was some evidence that mindfulness could be offered alongside HRT to women.
She said: “The message we want to be really clear about is that with that we are not in any sense suggesting this as an alternative or recommending this instead of HRT.
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“My personal experience of HRT has been extremely positive.
"I think what we know is that HRT doesn't get to everyone and not everyone wants it, and not everyone's eligible for it, so we do need to consider other things."
Common mental health symptoms of menopause and perimenopause include:
- changes to your mood, like low mood, anxiety, mood swings and low self-esteem
- problems with memory or concentration (brain fog)
Common physical symptoms of menopause and perimenopause include:
- hot flushes, when you have sudden feelings of hot or cold in your face, neck and chest which can make you dizzy
- difficulty sleeping, which may be a result of night sweats and make you feel tired and irritable during the day
- palpitations, when your heartbeats suddenly become more noticeable
- headaches and migraines that are worse than usual
- muscle aches and joint pains
- changed body shape and weight gain
- skin changes including dry and itchy skin
- reduced sex drive
- vaginal dryness and pain, itching or discomfort during sex
- recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- sensitive teeth, painful gums or other mouth problems
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