WOMEN in India can delay the advent of menopause in their lives, provided
they adopt a certain lifestyle and nutritious diet.
This was a joint finding by doctors, dieticians and gynaecologists, who
spoke at length during an interactive lesson on ’Menopause and Stress’,
organised by the Centre for Adult, Continuing Education and Extension (CACE&E),
University of Jammu, on May 18, 2008.
Dr Sudha Sharma, eminent gynaecologist and chairperson of Indian Menopausal
Society, Jammu Chapter, said that as the life-expectancy has gone up to
almost 71 years, one-third of the life of a woman is spent in menopause and
thus it is very important to take care of one’s health.
Discussing various sub-themes including menopause, relation between stress
and menopause and how to cope up with it besides various changes in the
lifestyle one adopts to overcome this stress, Sharma said that during the
past few years, there has been an increased awareness among the women about
menopause.
Quoting figures, Dr Roopali said that while the average age of menopause in
rest of the India is 47.5 years, in Jammu and Kashmir it is 48 years. The
doctors opined that with the changing lifestyles, there is an increasing
demand and need to look young.
Roopali stressed the need to have nutritious diet and a variety of foods to
get all the nutrients a woman needs. Calcium, she said, was very important
for a woman. She also added that plant-based foods containing plant
estrogens work in the body and may help relieve menopausal symptoms. Some
may help lower the cholesterol levels and have been suggested to relieve hot
flashes and night sweats. Isoflavones can be found in foods such as soy
products like tofu and soy milk. She asserted that yoga is beneficial for
menopausal women.
Prof Poonam Dhawan, director, CACE&E, said on the occasion that in the
present times, there was a need to make women more aware about their
health-related issues. Menopause, she said, was an important part of a
woman’s life and she needs to be fully aware of it.
Prof Deepshikha Kotwal, Prof Posh Charak, Dr Renu Nanda, Dr Neeru Sharma, Dr
Anupama Vohra, Dr Arti Bakshi, Dr Sapna Sangra, Dr Sarika Anand, Dr Vishwa
Raksha, Dr Kavita Suri, Dr Nirojini Bhan, Dr Bharti Prabhakar, Hema Gandotra
and Pallavi Sachdeva attended the interactive session aimed at educating
women on the subject.
