Menopause and ethnicity

Did you know women from different ethnic backgrounds experience menopause in different ways. This blog goes into more detail and explains the need for a personalised approach to find out what matters to you.

Sally Arnison

6/28/20242 min read

Menopause and ethnicity

I had a really interesting conversation with a woman of South Asian Origin last week who I have spoken to three of four times before over that last two years. She is really struggling with her menopause symptoms. She feels achey all over and her mood is particularly low at the moment. She has always been reluctant to start HRT and was keen to get through menopause naturally. In this last conversation we spoke about her increased risks of diabetes and heart disease due to her ethnic background. We then discussed what we know about the health benefits of HRT if given at the right time and in the right way. This unlocked the conversation and at the end of our chat, she said “why is noone talking to Indian women about HRT in this way?”

This blog is the beginning of my commitment to change the way I introduce conversations around HRT for women from non white ethnic backgrounds, and here’s why.

We know that different ethnic groups experience menopause in different ways. For example;

  • Black women are more likely to have an earlier menopause, report hot flushes and experience significant depression than white women during menopause.

  • Women from south asian backgrounds will experience menopause earlier (around age 46 v 51 for white women) and will report body aches, palpitations and urinary symptoms more than hot flushes.

In addition we know that some ethnicities have higher risks and prevalence of certain diseases e.g women of south asian backgrounds will have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis than white women. After menopause, these risks increase further, due to reduced levels of oestradiol and its anti-inflammatory effects.

There is good evidence to show that taking the right form of HRT reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. HRT can also help to lower cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk of heart disease. We also know that women taking HRT have fewer broken bones due to osteoporosis. These benefits are greatest if you start taking HRT within ten years of your menopause.

And yet we know that only around 15% of white women in Britain are taking HRT. In ethnic minority communities only around half of this number are taking HRT at about 8%, and we know in more deprived communities this figure is much lower. The reasons for this are likely to be due to perceived risks of HRT and also due to barriers accessing menopause care, including accessing information in mother tongue.

More research is needed into women’s health and the way women of different ethnicities experience perimenopause and menopause. For this reason it is important to discuss menopause and HRT in an individualised way and identify concerns about risks of HRT and pitch the benefits in a personal way getting to the heart of what matters to you.