A leading Athlone GP working in the area of menopause care and treatment has called for more awareness and research around the health issue in women with intellectual difficulties.
Dr Deirdre Forde of Céile Medical in Athlone, a dedicated menopause clinic, has noted that the issue of women with intellectual disabilities and menopause is one that is largely going unnoticed, unchecked and unreported.
Dr Forde says she became alerted to the issue when professionals, caring for women with intellectual disabilities, brought some women to see her for potential diagnosis and bespoke treatment.
“The women’s carers are fantastic - they are well attuned to their needs and they notice when things are amiss. They are really a lifeline for the women, they are their voice,” she said.
“Some carers, really concerned with the symptoms and difficulties of some women in their care, contacted me to see if they could make appointments for the women and so I have been seeing a number of women in my clinic who heretofore were not receiving any specialised menopause treatment whatsoever.
“I was quite shocked and taken aback that in this day and age women with real issues around menopause were not being treated, largely because they don’t have an understanding of what is happening to them.
“This is a real area of concern to me, having treated women with intellectual difficulties as they go through menopause. It really doesn’t receive any attention at all and it is very worrying to me as a doctor treating women going through menopause, and as a woman who had a hugely difficult menopause myself, that a large cohort of women are simply not receiving the care they badly need and deserve.
“Women who are intellectually challenged are often unable to communicate the very real difficulties menopause is presenting to them and it is exacerbating other problems they already live with. It is a vicious cycle, and they are a silent group who are going unnoticed. This is not acceptable and I want to see change around this.
“The women themselves are quite traumatised by the changes they are experiencing around menopause. They don’t have a great understanding of it and it really does knock them, it’s frightening for them and they feel quite vulnerable and out of control, because they don’t always have the tools to articulate what they’re going through, they don’t receive the care they deserve and I want that to change.
“Menopause is a difficult transition at the best of times but untreated menopause is seismic, the mood swings can be absolutely horrendous and can cause even the most mild mannered woman to snap.
“What is basically an hormonal imbalance can wreak havoc with women’s personalities. For women with intellectual difficulties this can be absolutely devastating and challenging beyond belief,” Dr Forde asserted.
The Athlone GP has called for cohesive research to be immediately conducted in Ireland to enable a better understanding of the issue at this time.
“We really need some cohesive research into this in a bid to gain better understanding and better treatment outcomes for these women. Any research we have access to really is from the UK so I am calling for our own research to be conducted as a matter of urgency.
“The UK research shows that women with intellectual difficulties who are going through menopause are not being adequately prepared or supported and I have absolutely no reason to think that it is any different in this country.
“My experience of treating these women strongly bears this out. We need to educate the carers to be on the lookout for changes and symptoms with the women they care for, and by extension empower the women themselves to look for help,” Dr Forde concluded.
