Study Findings: Average Woman Experiences Nearly Seven Symptoms of Menopause.

March, 2004 - When most people think of menopause they think of hot flashes. As the most universal symptom of menopause, hot flashes are commonly perceived as the most significant concern for women experiencing menopause.

But a recent study of nearly 10,000 women experiencing menopause symptoms demonstrates that, although hot flashes may be the most common symptom, they are definitely not the only one -- and not the major health concern.

"It's true that hot flashes are the most dominant symptom with over 75% of women with symptoms experiencing them," said John Sunyecz, M.D., a Board Certified Ob/Gyn and President of MenopauseRx , Inc. which conducted the study in 2003. "But the average participant in the study reported nearly 7 different symptoms." The next most common symptoms, listed in order, are mood changes with 72%, irritability/anxiety with 71%, sl eep disturbance with 68% and night sweats with 64%. According to Dr. Sunyecz, "the combination of these symptoms is significantly affecting the health concerns of women experiencing menopause."

When asked specifically to rank their major health concerns (besides menopause) from a list of over twenty-five problems, the women in the study ranked depression first. Nearly 30% of the participants identified depression as their major health concern followed closely by irritability/anxiety with 27%. Both of these concerns outranked breast cancer by over two-to-one. The next most common concerns were arthritis, migraines and PMS.

" It is logical that, for most women, their primary health concerns involve the issues they are facing everyday," says Sunyecz. "It's not that breast cancer and heart disease are not important to them, but the issues of depression and irritability or anxiety are immediate. They affect all of their relationships and impact how they are getting through the day."

It is similar for women who are experiencing the pain of arthritis, migraines or PMS, says Sunyecz. "Pain is debilitating. It's hard to see past today's pain to concerns that may or may not even be issues for you down the road."

The study group was comprised of 9,928 women requesting a free Menopause and Perimenopause Survival Kit from MenopauseRx .com during a five-month period in 2003. Over 85% of the participating women were 35 - 54 years old. The average age of menopause is 51, however symptoms commonly begin up to ten years prior to the cessation of the menstrual cycle.

"One thing we learned from the study is that during the beginning and at the height of menopause symptoms it may be difficult to get women to focus on broad issues like breast cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis," said Dr. Sunyecz. "Unless they are directly experiencing symptoms of those diseases they may not be considering them serious 'health concerns' at this time in their life."

In fact, the problems of hair loss and changes in facial hair as well as reflux and heartburn ranked ahead of high cholesterol in this study. Similarly, gas/flatulence and sexual dysfunction ranked ahead of osteoporosis, breast cancer and hypertension indicating that women are more focused on responding to the changes that menopause is causing in the short term than possible health consequences in the long term.

"As physicians, if we do a better job helping women manage the symptoms of menopause, we will have a better chance of motivating them to protect their long-term health," concludes Dr. Sunyecz. "Of course, this is made much more complicated by the publication of the results of the Women's Health Initiative over the past two years. We can no longer rely on long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as the preferred management option."

This study was implemented approximately one year after the first WHI announcement that recommended against long-term use of one form of HRT. Interestingly, 78% of the women responding to this study had never tried any form of HRT and more than 88% were interested in alternative ways to treat menopause symptoms.

To view the complete results of the study or for information about the free Menopause and Perimenopause Survival Kit go to www.MenopauseRx.com .