According to many doctors, women imagine many of their reported symptoms of menopause, or doctors connect the symptoms to something other than menopause. Women have never been viewed as the most credible of the sexes by doctors. New research, however, is beginning to support one of the claims of so many menopausal women: difficulties with memory and concentration. A new study in the Journal Menopause shows that the mental fog reported by many menopausal women is valid. Researchers gave a battery of cognitive tests to seventy-five menopausal women and also asked them how menopause affected their thinking. "Nearly half of them reported serious forgetfulness in the study, and the women who described the most problems with concentration and memory also scored worse on the cognitive tests." (1) The researchers hope that these findings will spur on additional research directed at finding treatments.
For me, a good night's sleep - rare these days - makes a huge difference in my thinking and memory skills as well as with my outlook on life. For many women it becomes more difficult to fall asleep, to stay asleep, and to enter stages 3 and 4 of deep sleep. Fluctuating, unbalanced hormones lie at the root of this type of insomnia during this stage of life.
D.
(1) Scientific American Mind, July/August 2012, "The Mental Pause of Menopause", Carrie Arnold, p. 11.
About Me
- Deborah K. Hanula
- Deborah K. Hanula has a year of Journalism training from Humber College, a Political Science degree from the University of Waterloo, and a Law degree from the University of British Columbia. In addition, she has Diplomas in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Child Psychology, and Psychotherapy and Counselling as well as a Family Life Educator and Coach Certificate and Certificates in Reflexology, Assertiveness Training, and Mindfulness Meditation. She is the author of five cookbooks, primarily concerned with gluten-free and dairy-free diets, although one pertains to chocolate. As an adult, in the past she worked primarily as a lawyer, but also as a university and college lecturer, a tutor, editor, writer, counsellor, researcher and piano teacher. She enjoys a multi-faceted approach when it comes to life, work and study, in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Check out her new book: A Murder of Crows & Other Poems (2023).
