the times | Monday May 2 2022 9
News
One in ten women working while going
through the menopause have left a job
because of their symptoms, a survey
has found.
Another one in seven had reduced
their hours at work, a similar propor-
tion went part-time and one in 12 did
not apply for promotion.
The survey was commissioned for a
documentary being shown tonight,
presented by Davina McCall, who has
pushed for more support for meno-
pausal women.
Shortages of hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) have left women in
many areas without the drug and the
government is rationing supplies.
McCall described the situation as “ri-
diculous” and responded to critics who
said greater publicity about the benefits
of HRT was adding to the problem.
She told the BBC’s Sunday Morning
programme that a shortage of insulin or
any other drug would get “sorted out
immediately”. Asked about the so-
called “Davina effect” — the idea that
demand for HRT increased after
McCall raised awareness in a Channel 4
documentary last year — she said: “I’m
not going to feel bad about that. I get
really annoyed when people are like,
‘well it’s Davina’s fault’. You know what,
we are actually trying to help women
sort out their hormones and live a nor-
mal, healthy life. There were shortages
way before that documentary came
out. Apparently there is a surplus of
hormones in Europe. Why is it taking
this long to sort this out?”
McCall said that GPs needed to learn
more about the menopause, adding
that women seeing their GP should go
“armed with information”. Experts
have spoken about women being given
out-of-date information by doctors
who may be unaware that newer types
of HRT have fewer side effects and
appear to pose less risk of causing
cancer or blood clots.
The survey of more than 4,
women was conducted by Finestripe
Productions, which was commissioned
by Channel 4 to make tonight’s docu-
mentary. It questioned women aged
45-55 who are experiencing or have
previously experienced the perimeno-
pause or the menopause. The research
was supported by the Fawcett Society,
which has produced a report called
Menopause and the Workplace.
The report said the rate of women
leaving jobs due to menopause symp-
toms would represent 333,000 of the
population of women aged 45-55.
The research found that disabled
women were more likely to have left
work due to the menopause, as were
women who experienced five or more
“very difficult” menopause symptoms.
HRT can help alleviate symptoms in-
cluding hot flushes, night sweats, low
mood, anxiety, tinnitus, brain fog and
difficulty sleeping. Prescriptions for it
have more than doubled in England
over the past five years.
Jemima Olchawski, chief executive
of the Fawcett Society, said: “Meno-
pausal women are experiencing unnec-
essary misery and it’s a national scan-
dal. Too often menopause symptoms
have been dismissed as a joke and HRT
has been labelled a lifestyle drug. But
with 44 per cent of women facing three
or more severe symptoms, our research
helps to dispel that nonsense.”
She said the government should re-
quire employers to have menopause
action plans and ensure GPs were
trained to spot menopause symptoms.
HRT shortages, letters, page 26
How to spot
the perfect
guide dog
Researchers may one day be able to an-
swer the age-old of question: “Who’s a
good boy?” — at least when it comes to
dogs for the blind.
Guide Dogs, the sight-loss charity,
has launched a research project which
will put seven-week-old puppies in dif-
ferent scenarios to find out what makes
a good guide dog.
Puppy Cognition includes interactive
tasks which will allow the animals’ per-
sonalities and interests to be assessed.
The aim is to get an early understanding
of how individual puppies observe and
react, to gauge what they may be like to
raise and train, and to potentially exam-
ine any hereditary traits.
The puppies will be monitored over
the coming years to track correlations
between reactions and later behav-
iours. Dr Helen Whiteside, the charity’s
chief scientific officer, said: “What
we’re looking at is how our dogs are
able to problem-solve. And we know
with people that that’s always different
— different people learn in different
ways... they think in different ways.”
She added: “From the breeding per-
spective [we will be] looking at which
aspects of this are heritable... any bits
of this assessment that we can see come
from mum and dad so that we can make
sure that we’re keeping those amazing
traits... within our breeding popula-
tion. Once we discover this data... we
can make sure that we are setting our
volunteers up to really support those
puppies and help them thrive.”Menopause forces 330,000 to quit job
as ‘Davina effect’ drives HRT surge
Nicola Woolcock
W
hether you think
Davina McCall’s
eye-opening new
documentary about
the menopause is
well timed or the opposite probably
depends on whether you are the
health secretary. If I were Sajid
Javid I might adopt the brace
position. Because some of the
claims made in Davina McCall:
Sex, Mind and the Menopause are
likely to prompt a huge surge in
demand for hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) at a time when
supplies are already so stretchedthat the government has appointed
an HRT tsar.
McCall’s previous film on the
subject, in May last year, is said by
one pharmaceutical company to
have led to a 30 per cent rise in
demand for HRT. Well. Having
seen the new one I think it could
create a stampede. Not only does it
produce evidence that HRT should
be given to women years before the
menopause to prevent damage to
their brains, it also features
testimony from two doctors in
America who claim that taking it
can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s
disease in women by, drum roll,
between 50 and 80 per cent.
“That’s completely fried my
brain,” McCall said and indeed, if
true, it is astonishing. All those
years that women were scared off
HRT and now here we are being
told it may help stave off one of the
most dreaded illnesses. The doctors
also claimed it could lessen the risk
of Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis and motor neurone
disease. Mind-blowing.
Of course these claims may be
challenged — we’ll see — but
McCall has undeniably started
what she calls the “menopause
revolution”, refusing to accept that
women should just put up withtheir debilitating symptoms, which
have wrecked careers and
marriages, as an inevitable part of
ageing and demanding treatment
for it like they would for any other
condition. Good for her.
Expect some turbulence, though.
McCall reveals that Utrogestan, a
progesterone tablet, is not widely
available in Scotland because it is
considered too expensive by the
Scottish Medicines Consortium.
GPs might also find their phones
ringing off the hook with women
demanding testosterone. McCall
pointedly stood by one of Antony
Gormley’s naked iron men, camera
lingering on the genitals, to make
the point that for years women
have associated testosterone with a
risk of side effects such as body
hair but here was evidence it can
restore libido and energy levels.
If you are a woman of a “certain
age”, or actually, even if you’re not,
I would make sure to watch it
tonight because it is full of valuable
information. If you work at the
Department of Health you may find
you need all hands to the pump.
Showing tonight at 9pm, Channel 4Astonishing
call to arms for
every woman
Davina McCall hopes to start a
“menopause revolution” in which
more women demand treatmentCHANNEL 4Television Carol Midgley
Davina McCall: Sex, Mind
and Menopause
Channel 4
HHHHIKylie and Jason
together again
for Neighbours
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will
return to Neighbours as Scott Robinson
and Charlene Mitchell for the pro-
gramme’s finale.
The Australian soap, first broadcast
in 1985, will cease production in June
after being dropped by Channel 5.
A message was shared on the pro-
gramme’s Twitter account, saying:
“Scott and Charlene are the ultimate
Neighbours couple and it would not feel
right to end the show without them.
“We are thrilled that Jason and Kylie
have come home to play a very special
part in our series finale.”
Minogue posted a photo of what ap-
peared to be a Neighbours script on In-
stagram, with the caption: “Omg!!” Do-
novan posted a similar image.
Minogue and Donovan, both 53,
played the characters from 1986 until
their departures in 1988 and 1989, re-
spectively. Scott and Charlene’s wed-
ding episode was watched by more than
two million Australian viewers in 1987,
and pulled in an audience of almost
20 million when it was shown in the UK
the next year.Scott and Charlene were described as
“the ultimate Neighbours couple”