Women of today’s world have to go through a lot of hormonal changes at various stages of their lives and menopause is one of them. Menopause usually occurs at the age of 40 to 50 and it refers to the stage when women stop having their monthly period. While menopause occurs naturally, it brings a lot of hormonal changes that can ultimately lead to heart and bone diseases. That is why world menopause day came into being to raise awareness about menopause and the changes it brings.
What is world menopause day?
World menopause day is conducted every year on October 18th. The main purpose of conducting this day is to raise awareness among the females about the approaching changes before, during, and after menopause. It is primarily done to keep the health and wellbeing of our fellow females in check. A lot of professionals and women are encouraged to participate in this event to raise awareness in the form of printed posters, social media posts, and much more. Not only the females but also the male members of the society are also encouraged to take part in this so that they can take care of their loved ones.
History of world menopause day
Menopause has been with us since the beginning of the world and since then, it has caused various diseases. In the 1800s, English doctors used to prescribe a pre-meal mixture of carbonated soda to their patients of menopause. Apart from this, doctors also used to prescribe cannabis and opium to cure the symptoms of menopause. Some doctors also used vaginal lead acetate injections to curb menopausal symptoms.
Talking about some other remedies, some doctors also used to place belladonna (a large plaster) over the stomach’s pit of the patient to cure the symptoms. Doctors did everything they could to cure menopausal symptoms, so it took them by surprise when they realized that hysteria was also a menopausal symptom. Then came Ovariin. This was the medicine that was prescribed by the doctors in the 1890s and it was the first commercially available medicine that had the capability to cure menopausal symptoms. It was produced by desiccating and pulverizing the ovaries of the cows.
By the 1930s, doctors began to describe menopause as a deficiency disease. To curb this deficiency disease, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was developed and this therapy is termed as one of the best remedies for menopausal symptoms to this date. However, even with the existence of all these remedies, there wasn’t much awareness about menopause and the changes it brings. That is why world menopause day was established and the first world menopause day was held in 1984.
The international menopause society encouraged all the ladies around the world to participate in this awareness day and the campaign they launched was known as “prevention of diseases after menopause”. The aim of this day is to let the women know about the possible chronic diseases that can occur after menopause. Talking about menopause is still a taboo topic and this day helps women to get comfortable with talking about their health issues after menopause. The main mission of world menopause day is to let women talk about their menopausal issues or symptoms openly in the public without having the fear of any kind of judgment. We want our women to stay healthy.
How to celebrate world menopause day?
World menopause day is celebrated all around the world on October 18th. A lot of events take place all around the globe by various societies that dedicate themselves to talking about the issues of women’s health and how they can be cured such as osteoporosis prevention and breast cancer reduction.
As mentioned earlier, myriads of professionals, doctors, women are encouraged to participate in these events. Various posters and social media posts are created for all our ladies out there to create as much awareness as we can. We need to celebrate this day in full swing to get rid of the taboo that women shouldn’t be talking about their personal problems out, in the open. Menopausal symptoms and diseases are real and it is about time we should get it all out for the wellbeing of our women. We want our women to be healthy all their lives!
