What Italian Women Do for Menopause?

In 2001, 53 Italian women ranging in age from 45 to 75, living their lives in Canada, were studied for how their particular Italian cultural perspective might affect their feelings about menopause and the use of hormones. Italian women of today are more liberated than their mothers. But Italian women entering menopause in the past decade and in the years to come are still very much grounded in patriarchal family mores with clearly defined gender roles and a more traditional approach to life, all of which inform their relationship with menopause.

Significance

• Women in the study described menopause as "the change" ("il cambiamento"), a "developmental/evolutionary stage of life" and "the third age." In large part, the Italian women viewed menopause in a positive light, describing it as uneventful and wholly natural in terms of aging. The authors of the study report that all participants described menopause as freedom from fear of pregnancy and the hassle of monthly periods and menstrual cramps.

Coping Strategies

• This group of women seemed to prefer use of traditional nonmedical relief for their menopausal symptoms, including vitamins, healthy foods, herbs, alternative remedies and exercise. Home treatments mentioned by some of the women included herbal teas, such as chamomile and mallow, to help fight insomnia and the taking of vitamins to ease vaginal dryness and address hot flushes. This is not to say that they didn't seek medical treatment when necessary, but the prevailing attitude was one of reaching a life stage, not suffering an ailment.

Use of Hormones

• Many women declared that they would approach menopause as their mothers had done, without the use of hormones. Some reported that their doctors were in favor of hormone treatment and yet they themselves were not. Mallow tea, St. John's wort and hawthorn were mentioned as good for the uterus.
  Most of the women in the study said they had never taken hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or had stopped HRT. Only seven of the women were undergoing HRT, and all under a doctor's supervision.

Discussion

• The Italian women in this study saw menopause in an opportunistic way, according to the authors. Entering this phase of life pushed them to change their lifestyles, with many becoming healthier eaters, better exercisers and generally adopting a more balanced way of living.

Conclusion

• The authors of the study point out that economic and sociopolitical factors have altered the menopausal landscape. It has evolved from being seen as a natural biological process, as the Italian women in the study viewed it, to a medical malady. How a woman reacts to menopause seems to be a function of how her traditional values might override a more modern orientation. Many of this study's Italian women view menopause in a traditional light and as a natural process and seek remedies accordingly.