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How a Hotter World Will Impact Menopausal Women
Menopause is about to get a lot worse for a lot more women
This summer saw the hottest July on record — perhaps the hottest-ever month in 174 years of record-keeping, according to scientists.
We know what that means as far as drought, wildfires, power-grid outages, rising seas, and other heat-related disasters. And we know that an increasingly hotter world impacts the most vulnerable — the old, the sick, the poor. And, perhaps, not surprisingly, women.
That’s because women are more likely to live in poverty than men, have fewer basic human rights in many parts of the world, and suffer more violence during periods of instability — just ask Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood. But it goes beyond that. A hotter world directly affects our bodies and health in different ways than it affects men.
Climate and environmental changes are impacting everything from the onset of a girl’s puberty to her fertility to pregnancy and neonatal outcomes to lactation and menopause.
While most of the studies have focused on the impact of climate change on reproductive and maternal outcomes, the impacts of a hotter climate on menopausal women’s health and well-being haven’t gotten as much attention.
A recent review of available studies illustrates why that’s so problematic. As if menopause isn’t challenging enough for many women!
So, what will a hotter world do?
For one, vasomotor symptoms — the hot flushes and night sweats that many women experience, interfering with their sleep, mood, energy, work, and general well-being — may impact even more women and worsen the symptoms for others.
It may also worsen the so-called “brain fog” many women experience around menopause as well as change the microbiota in the vagina, which already undergoes vast changes due to the loss of estrogen. This could lead to all sorts of vulvovaginal, urinary, and sexual health issues.
A warmer climate and increased exposure to pollutants — think of the toxic wildfire smoke from Canadian fires that blanketed the Midwest and East Coast this summer — may also accelerate the age at which a woman starts menopause. Women who…
