Menopause, ‘historically’ in the dark, now coming to light: experts

A Winnipeg gym is trying to help change the stigma around aging and women’s health.
Fifty 5 Fitness’s goal is to help women deal with everything that comes before, during and after menopause.
“With research coming out on women and menopause, they’re finding out that instead of doing regular strength training where you go to the gym and maybe (do a) rep range of eight to 15 reps … you’re really not building that strength up,” said Emily Parkes, who owns the facility. “What we should be doing now is a rep range anywhere between three to eight reps per exercise.”
Participants said they enjoy the camaraderie the gym offers.
They’re not the only ones looking to connect with others going through the same issues. Data from PatientMetRx shows that in 2021 and 2022, the number of social media posts about menopause jumped 57 per cent. That’s a change for the better, says Dr. Monica Christmas, the director of the menopause program at the University of Chicago Medicine.
“You learn about puberty in school for boys and girls … (and) what’s going to happen to their bodies. We have not historically, I’ll say, done the same for this other end of the reproductive spectrum,” she said.
Dr. Omolay Famuyide, a menopause specialist in Winnipeg, said she is increasingly seeing more women asking more questions.
“I have no doubt that apart of why we are seeing, what I call, this movement — and I hope it’s a movement — is because women are not only amazing advocates for their own health, but we have so much more information,” she said.
It’s an important posture to take, Christmas says.
“More of us are living well into our 80s. So a large portion of our life is being spent in this menopause phase,” she said.