All women go through menopause. But little is talked about, even though women can suffer from a series of unpleasant symptoms in the years leading up to their period. SWAN’s National Women’s Health Survey focuses on middle-aged and older women across the country. Their study found that menopausal symptoms were more severe for women of color.
Tushane Thompson is a patient at Dimock Health Center in Roxbury. Massive uterine bleeding occurred and her life almost ended.”I was rushed to Beth Israel. They gave me an emergency blood transfusion and emergency surgery,” she told NBC10 Boston’s LaToia Edwards.
She is currently in menopause, which she calls bittersweet. “There is no longer any possibility of pregnancy of any kind,” she said. Menopause can also cause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, mood swings, and vaginal dryness. This is defined as 12 consecutive months without a period. Many symptoms can last for several years, leading up to a period known as perimenopause. It can last up to 8 years.
“It’s been a pretty big part of women’s lives,” explains Danielle Grimm, clinical director of obstetrics and gynecology at Dimock Center, a certified menopausal nurse and nurse. She said the SWAN study, which has now been ongoing for 25 years, found significant differences between groups.
“Black women in particular were 50% more likely to experience quality of life issues related to hot flashes and night sweats than white women. They were also half as likely to receive care for those symptoms. ” It can cause more serious heart problems. When asked why black women don’t receive proper care, she said it comes down to structural racism.
Grimm said, “Our system was not designed with the care of Black women in mind when it was founded. There’s also a historical mistrust of the medical community, which is why women don’t come seeking care,” She added that historically, the concerns of women of color have been ignored.
“Their pain is not taken as seriously. Their health is not taken seriously. Their experience is not taken seriously.”
“I think women of color are generally looked down upon. Their pain is not taken as seriously. Their health status is not seriously considered.”
Daniel Grimm, Clinical Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Dimock Center
Christy Grimes Mallard is a practicing women’s health nurse. Part of the problem, she says, is that menopause isn’t discussed enough.
Grimes-Mallard said. “Menopause and women’s health in general is not being discussed. It’s not being discussed among many women, nor really being discussed among the black community.”
”It comes from Caribbean culture. So we don’t talk about those issues,” Thompson said. Grimes-Mallard tries to get her patients to share details about their feelings by asking questions about specific symptoms that open up conversations. You can do something like this.”Well, do you have vaginal dryness, hot flashes, feelings of sadness like you can’t explain what’s going on? And they’re like, wow. And is that really true? And they’re like, ‘OK. “It’s like, X, Y, Z is going on.”
“Then we solve the problem of how to make you feel like your best self,” she explained. She said she was given a hug once in appreciation during her first week treating a patient and said that representation is so important and she just wants everyone to feel seen and heard.
resource
Songs of SWAN: Researching women’s health in recurring themes across the country
