International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Women's health research has shown that many people opt for non-medicinal strategies to cope with the menopause and experts have said these treatments should be looked into further.

A survey published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found 38 per cent of respondents who had been through the change had used herbal remedies.

The most common way of coping was by taking social strategies like talking to family or friends.

While 60 per cent of the 4,407 women in north-east Scotland asked to complete the questionnaire reported they had done this, one-third said they would have liked to have more support from their GP.

Dr Lisa Iversen of Academic Primary Care at the Division of Applied Health Sciences at the country's University of Aberdeen and co-author of the paper said the results suggest "a large need for effective non-hormonal management options for menopausal women".

Meanwhile, deputy editor-in-chief of the journal John Thorp suggested support from healthcare workers is "important" and herbal remedies used by women should be "tested for efficacy and safety to the same standard as hormone replacement therapy".

Recent research published in the journal Nature Genetics and conducted by a team at the University of Exeter and University of Oxford in England showed 13 new regions of the genome associated with the onset of menopause have been identified.

Posted by Alexandra George