Event set to bust the myths on menopause

Menopause, a natural part of aging for females. For some it’s quick, for others it may take years. But just because it’s natural, should females have to suffer through it? Not a chance, if Dr. Cindy Barha, PhD, has her say.

Barha, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, and a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Libin Cardiovascular Institute and Alberta Children’s Research Institute at the Cumming School of Medicine, is passionate about getting the right information into the hands of those going through menopause. 

“When you search for information about menopause, it’s amazing how much is outdated or completely inaccurate, and menopause can impact your heart, your brain, your life!” says Barha.

“This assumption that because menopause is a natural state and menopausal symptoms are common, that women should just suffer through it silently is just not true. If symptoms are impacting your quality of life, you should be seeking help from your clinician.” 

Barha wants to dispel the many myths that surround menopause. 

“This idea that menopause is a similar experience for everyone, happening around the same age and lasting only a couple of years, is simply not the case. Natural menopause typically occurs between 45 and 55 years of age, and the onset and severity of symptoms varies widely between individuals. Perimenopause, the stage leading up to menopause, is when estradiol fluctuates dramatically and eventually declines, causing a lot of these symptoms that we see,” says Barha.

Another myth that Barha wants to dispel is that menopause is only an endocrine transition involving the ovaries.

“Menopause is also a neurological transition. In essence, many menopause symptoms originate in the brain,” says Barha.

“Estrogens have an impact on many of the body’s systems, including your central nervous system (your brain), skeletal system and cardiovascular system, and because levels will fluctuate and eventually decline, it’s important to understand its role and also the impact that movement and exercise can have,” says Barha. 

Gaps in research

Females have been historically under-represented in many areas of medical research, such as in clinical trials. 

“It will take a long time to recover from the gaps in the evidence base that resulted from this exclusion,” says Barha. 

“Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades, and many conditions that mostly or only affect women, or affect women differently, have received little to no attention,” she says. 

According to a 2021 Alberta Women's Health Foundation report, only 3.4 per cent of research funding goes to health research for females.

“I believe women's health is undervalued, underfunded and consequently, understudied. We need more research focused in this area if we want to fill the evidence base,” says Barha.

Community event on menopause

To share current research on menopause, Barha has organized a forum for the community titled Moving for Brain and Heart Health in Menopause. 

The event will include Dr. Jennifer Reed, PhD, who will share her expertise about heart health and menopause. 

Reed, program chair of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, is a researcher who focuses on exercise and physical activity in preventing and managing cardiovascular disease, particularly for female’s heart health. 

At the forum, Barha will share her research expertise on brain health during menopause. 

To round out the evening, Dr. Shafeena Premji, MD, will explain what menopause is and the latest guidelines for managing it. Premji is one of the few doctors in Canada who specializes in menopause care — she opened the first menopause clinic in southern Alberta. 

The forum will be on Jan. 29 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Vivo for Healthier Generations in northeast Calgary, the community partner for the forum. The event is free and will include snacks and door prizes. Learn more and RSVP by Jan. 23.