Offices should provide desk fans to help menopausal women

Offices should provide desk fans to help menopausal women

• They should also provide rest areas, cold water and non-synthetic uniforms
• Menopausal women often struggle to work in traditional office environments
• Some suffer to the extent they quit their job or reduce their working hours
• Many find their colleagues unsympathetic towards their menopause symptoms
• In the UK, 4.3million working women are aged 50 or over; a 72% rise since 1994

By Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: 09:20 BST, 4 August 2017 | Updated: 09:20 BST, 4 August 2017

Offices should provide desk fans to help menopausal women manage their symptoms, a new Government report recommends.

Companies should also provide places to rest, special absence policies and cold water fountains, as well as any uniforms being non-synthetic, the report adds.

The report found that many menopausal women struggle to work in traditional office environments, with formal meetings exacerbating hot flushes.

Some women suffer to the extent they are forced to quit their job or reduce their working hours, the report adds. 

In the UK there are around 4.3million working women aged 50 or over; a 72 per cent rise since 1994. The average age women start the menopause is 51.

Offices should provide desk fans to help menopausal women manage their symptoms (stock)

HOT FLUSHES IN AN EARLY MENOPAUSE MAY BE LINKED TO HEART DISEASE 

Hot flushes in women aged 40 to 53 may be a sign of blood vessel damage, which can cause heart disease, results revealed back in April.

The uncomfortable symptom is also thought to hinder blood vessels' ability to dilate, which can cause high blood pressure, the study found.

Researchers found no association between hot flushes and heart disease risk in women aged 54 to 60. 

Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director, the North American Menopause Society , said: 'Hot flushes are not just a nuisance.

'In this study, physiologically measured hot flushes appear linked to cardiovascular changes occurring early during the menopause transition.' 

'Women feel they need to cope alone' 

The report outlines that many women find their colleagues are unsympathetic to their condition and, while pregnancy and maternity leave are taken seriously, menopause is often ignored.

The report is based on findings from the University of Leicester, who reviewed 104 studies carried out between 1990 and 2016 on the effects of the menopause on women's work life.

Study author Professor Jo Brewis said: 'The evidence indicates that many women find transition symptoms, especially hot flushes, difficu lt to manage and that being at work can exacerbate these symptoms.

'But women tend to feel that they need to cope alone, for example because they don't want their manager or colleagues to think their performance is being affected or because they find the prospect of disclosure embarrassing.

'Employers and managers can use the report to assist them in initiatives designed to create more menopause-friendly workplace', The Telegraph reported.

Vitamin D could prevent early menopause 

This comes after researchers from Harvard University found women can cut their risk of an early menopause by eating oily fish and eggs.

In a study published back in May, the researchers revealed a high vitamin D intake via food and supplements lowers the risk of an early menopause by 17 percent. Vitamin D is thought to slow the ageing of women's ovaries.

Calcium-rich foods make women 13 percent less likely to suffer. 

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