WOMEN in London go through a tougher menopause than in other parts of the world, according to a new survey from the University of Westminster and it could be down to the food they eat.
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“The women in our survey reported more menopausal symptoms than in the international comparisons we had available,” said Dr Volker Scheid, team leader at the University.
Symptoms ranging from hot flushes, tiredness, difficulties with sleep and stomach problems were all more common for the 1,000 London 45-55-year-olds questioned than for their international counterparts.
Japanese women appear to suffer the least from the mid-life change.
For example, while 64% of London women – the highest figure – and 38% of American women reported tiredness as a menopausal factor, only 6% of Japanese women felt the same.
Some experts believe that the high levels of soy sauce in the Japanese diet can help with hot flushes. Soy contains chemicals that act like oestrogen, the hormone that falls during the menopause.
Decreased levels of oestrogen have traditonally been cited as the cause of menopausal troubles, but this survey shows that other elements play a part.
“It may be that symptoms experienced during the menopausal transition arise through a complexity of factors, and not simply declining levels of oestrogen,” said Dr Scheid.
“Ethnicity, geographic location, stress, local culture and age are factors that also need to be taken into account.”
