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Menopause awareness on the rise in S'pore
The Straits Times
|December 29, 2024
2024 marked the year more Singapore women broke the silence surrounding menopause.
While their mothers suffered without complaint, more women in midlife today are seeking help for menopause, which marks the end of a woman's fertility and is defined as 12 months without a period.
Some 1.1 billion women, or one out of eight people worldwide, will be post-menopausal in 2025. The average woman in Singapore hits menopause at age 49, two years earlier than their counterparts in Western societies.
It is preceded by perimenopause, a turbulent time when fluctuating hormones can cause a plethora of physical and mental symptoms such as joint pain, hot flushes and mood swings. Perimenopause can last up to 10 years and affect a woman's health, work and relationships.
More than six in 10 women here experienced at least one moderate to extremely severe symptom during perimenopause and menopause, according to a study published by the National University Hospital's Integrated Women's Health Programme in October 2023. This is a cohort study of 1,200 women aged 45 to 69 that started in 2014.
This story is from the December 29, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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