For some people it is torture, for others it is liberation. For all of them, a passage, before and after, is at least a turning point in life. Until yesterday, it was whispered among friends or in doctors’ offices in secret, dealing with advice on anti-hot flashes, anti-nervousness, anti-insomnia, anti-depression. Then, slowly, the word “Menopause” emerged from the shadows, from a subtle taunt uttered to define a woman’s bad mood, which is essentially the vestibule of old age.
“We give voice to a ‘Vamp’ story that has the power to challenge clichés”
by?Lisa Ginzburg and?Valeria Parrella
The showgirls break the silence, Martina Colombari speaks directly about her “intermittent” cycle, Caterina Balivo relaunches on social media. Two writers, Valeria Parrella and Lisa Ginzburg, inaugurated a podcast that happened to be called “Vamp”. And menopause is being talked about (loudly) in Florence, in “L’Eredità delle donne”, with Parrella, Ginzburg and Cristina Tomasi, specialist in internal medicine, metabolism expert, practice in Bolzano and thousands of followers – 85% women – on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Doctor Tomasi, can we talk about the “menopause revolution”?
“Today we can experience this phase as a beautiful age, full of future, desire, even health, as long as women are not left alone. But this is not a complete revolution: there are still strong cultural and health prejudices against this part of women’s lives.”
However, the loss of the menstrual cycle causes psychophysical shocks for many women.
“It is precisely for this reason that many years ago, after a long career in hospitals, I decided to dedicate myself to providing medical information also on social media, to talk about metabolism, nutrition, how our hormones actually work. Everything I wrote and explained I experienced myself. Today I am sixty years old, but I went through menopause when I was 41, I had a lymphatic tumor, I underwent chemotherapy, then a stroke. I changed my life and chose to provide information. My theory is: if we were informed, we were free.”
So let’s get started: why do you say that women are left alone in dealing with menopause?
“Because treatment minimizes disturbances. “Madam, don’t worry, sooner or later this will pass” is a phrase often heard by many of my patients. On the other hand there are women for whom menopause is a daily hell that even damages family relationships. Just read the comments under my post: “My children say I have become a hyena”. “I’m hot and feel rotten.” However, there are also those who experience before and after without any symptoms, in fact they experience it as a liberation. The reality is that at university, doctors are not taught to treat menopause.”
Perhaps the stereotype that still exists is that to be a woman “you have to put up with it”. A vision that ignores gender medicine.
“Yes, that’s how it is. On the contrary we can do a lot of things. After all, menopause occurs around the age of fifty and the average lifespan of a woman is now over eighty-five years. Do you know how many amazing things can be done? Let’s take “TOS”, hormone replacement therapy, which is the pharmacological administration of the female hormone – estrogen – which the ovaries stop producing when menopause occurs. She is possessed by a demon. Absurd. It is the lack of these hormones that causes depression, difficulty making love, overall fragility and decreased desire. There are couples who live Her sexual development returned with hormone therapy.”
But during menopause, you gain weight.
«It is true, but with a few simple rules, by accepting the changes in the body, excess weight can be avoided. I propose some basic rules: skip dinner, take a walk outdoors, expose yourself to as much natural light as possible, eat more protein and fewer carbohydrates. I recommend everyone read Halle Berry’s advice that talks about her beautiful rebirth on the threshold of sixty, after a very grueling menopause.”
And the male? How strong is their prejudice against menopausal women?
“I think we are witnessing a slow change. After all, andropause is happening to them too. But it remains a taboo subject.”
