In France, menopause affects 17.2 million women aged 45 and over. “This affects half of the country’s women and a quarter of the population,” states a government report from last April. However, “this aspect of women’s health is still too often ignored”, according to researchers at the Foch hospital, origin of the “Climatere” research project, who will publish the partial results of their work this Friday, October 17.
Specifically, menopause corresponds to the end of ovarian activity and the cessation of menstrual cycles. All women can enter menopause. This natural phase, which usually occurs around age 50, is considered truly established when menstruation has been absent for more than a year. Most often, menopause is accompanied by various symptoms that disrupt women’s lives.
To better understand what menopausal women feel, Foch Hospital launched this project in March 2025. “Our ambition is to provide solid data to transform the prevention and management of women’s health,” explains Alexandre Vallée, director of the research project, in a press release.
Some 6,000 women affected by menopause participate in the project. They respond, in particular, to questionnaires that allow them to “evaluate the quality of life, their symptoms and the main difficulties encountered,” explains the Foch hospital. Among all these women interviewed, “49% affirm that menopause significantly alters quality of life, including 13% to an extreme degree.”
Sleep problems, pain…
According to this data, 49% of women say they are more tired than before, 40% have noticed significant weight gain, 27% experience problematic hot flashes, and 27% say they experience daily brain fog, that is, mental fatigue that causes difficulty paying attention or memory loss, among other things. Sleep disorders, night sweats and joint pain are also part of the multiplicity of symptoms.
Menopause still has multiple stereotypes to combat, such as a supposed loss of femininity. “Some topics remain particularly taboo, but their consequences on daily life are notable,” writes the Foch hospital report. In particular, a decreased libido, vaginal dryness or even urinary problems…
If menopause has consequences on women’s personal lives, their professional careers are also affected. According to the government report cited above, 50% of French women believe that menopause has consequences on their work. In the UK, 10% of women have left their job due to the burden of menopausal symptoms.
Source: BFM TV
