Maintaining health, promoting wellbeing

Menopause draws attention to health and wellbeing. It presents a good opportunity to go through a personal health checklist for this new stage of life. Whether you feel good or bad at the time. A healthy lifestyle combined with additional measures can help prevent osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

The following recommendations can provide some guidance.

Relaxation, healthy sleep and self-reflection
Meditation, yoga, Qi Gong, breathing exercises and other methods can relax body and mind. They can also support healthy sleep. Some women have already been using them, others start during their menopause. There are often special services on offer for women, and for certain age groups. This can help with getting started.

Physical exercise
Regular physical exercise supports healthy sleep and general wellbeing. Sport builds muscle mass, strengthens bones, uses up energy and lifts the mood. In this way, exercise helps to prevent numerous health issues, for example heart attack, osteoporosis, depression and dementia. Many women find exercise easier when they meet up with other women for this purpose. This is true especially when starting a new activity.

When it comes to how much exercise to do: every bit of physical activity counts and helps! For example, you can build more physical exercise into your everyday life: take the stairs more often, avoid the lift. Run small errands on foot or by bicycle. Go for a walk during your lunch break. An additional minimum of 2 to 3 hours per week of physical exercise are recommended: weight training and sports that put pressure on the bones strengthen them. A combination of strength and endurance training, complemented by coordinated movement such as dance, is ideal.

Exercise is always easier when it's fun! Each person experiences this differently. It is worth trying out different options – by yourself or together with others!

A balanced diet

A balanced diet supplies the necessary energy for everyday life. It provides the body with everything it needs to stay healthy. To eat a balanced diet means to give the body all important nutrients at the correct ratio. This is how you achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. A balanced diet and exercise are related because the are particularly effective in combination.

Women's caloric requirement drops slightly from about age 50. This means that they will slowly gain weight even if their diet and exercise routine remain the same. Menopause is therefore a great opportunity to check and adjust your eating habits. Of course, this varies from person to person: for people who are underweight, natural weight gain is beneficial. It is worth discussing this topic with your doctor. Nutritionist advice can help with a change in diet.

Menopausal women do not generally need a special diet. The recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung, www.dge.de) apply. They include calcium-rich foods that help strengthen bones and thus contribute to the prevention of osteoporosis.

A sufficient supply of vitamin D is also important for the prevention of osteoporosis, either through exposure to sunlight or vitamin D intake. Your doctor will assess your personal vitamin D requirements.

Sex and contraception
Sexual pleasure is a natural part of life. Regular sexual activity – whether alone or with others – relaxes and promotes mental wellbeing. Menopause means a fundamental change to avoiding unwanted pregnancy. Important to note: only when a woman under 50 years of age has not menstruated for two years, or a women over 50 years of age has not menstruated for one year, can pregnancy ordinarily no longer occur. This point in time cannot be predicted and varies from woman to woman.

Women and their partners decide which method of contraception suits them best. However, some recommendations differ because of the hormonal changes during menopause.

Preventive health care
Those over the age of 35 can get a free health check-up every three years. It is covered by statutory health insurance. Among other things, it serves the early detection of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes. Always bring your vaccination certificate to the health check-up. This allows your general practitioner to update your vaccination status in line with current recommendations. Prevention of osteoporosis and cancer prevention are particularly important during and after menopause.

Osteoporosis is a possible consequence of menopause. But it also depends on many other factors. About a third of women over 50 are affected. Doctors take all risk factors into account and recommend bone density testing if required. Other measures may include vitamin D supplements, medication and physiotherapy.

Maintaining bone stability and muscle strength is important for all older people. This prevents bone fractures.

Prevention includes:

• Balanced diet with enough calcium:
  use the calcium calculator available at www.gesundheitsinformation.de/kalziumrechner.
• Physical exercise:
  put sufficient strain on the skeleton and muscles. If you are underweight, weight gain is beneficial.
• Falls prevention:
  eliminate trip hazards in your living environment. Do exercises for balance, responsiveness, coordination and muscle strength.

If you do have a fall, make sure you determine the cause of the fall together with your doctor! This applies especially when the fall resulted in a bone fracture.

Cancer prevention is also important during menopause and afterwards. How to stay healthy: annual cancer screening at the gynaecologist's, and mammography screening every 2 years for women between the ages of 50 and 75. Recommended are also regular skin cancer and bowel cancer screenings for early detection. Your general practitioner can advise you further.

A supportive environment – at home and at work
Menopause is sometimes still a taboo subject. Feeling shame can prevent women from talking about it. This means that women can end up being left alone with their discomforts in the family, at work or in their circle of friends.

Many women have sick days at work during their menopause. Some women even decide to work less, or to stop altogether. But a lack of assistance with problems is only part of how society turns a blind eye. It also means that the positive aspects of this life stage, such as increased self-confidence, wisdom, and leadership qualities are pushed to one side.

Especially in the world of work, women would like to see more attention on this topic. More flexibility, working from home options, quiet spaces and healthy food options are some examples of how women could be supported in this situation.