March 2015, Angelina Jolie wrote her experience undergoing surgical removal of the uterus. The operation was chosen by Jolie because she did not want any cancer in her womb. The genes in his body make him at risk of getting cancer, and he decided to remove the uterus so that the risk can be minimized.
The decision was not an easy matter. Jolie who was still aged 39 years, inevitably have to experience early menopause. For women, the arrival of menopause is not an easy stage in life. The loss of an egg-nesting in the womb-is a massive hormonal change.
Due to his courage to admit his menopause condition, Jolie appreciated a number of feminists. One of them was Allison Pearson who wrote for the Telegraph. He called Jolie's actions as an act of kicking off the "bravest menopause taboo ever made of Hollywood stars of all time."
Some of the effects of menopause on women's bodies, indeed make this natural event rarely discussed even by women themselves.
What Actually Menopause?
In fact, according to the WebMD health website, menopause is a normal condition that affects all women at a certain age. Generally occurs when a woman is 45-50 years old. It is commonly described as the cessation of the menstrual cycle in women, as well as the end of the reproductive period. But some women may have early menopause, such as Jolie, either as a result of surgery, such as hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries, such as from chemotherapy.
Under normal conditions, menopause occurs when the ovaries no longer release eggs every month and menstruation stops. This is because a woman is born with a limited number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also make estrogen and progesterone hormones, which control menstruation and ovulation.
Symptoms are many. The most common is the irregular menstrual schedule: sometimes coming, sometimes not. Other: insomnia, mood changes, severe fatigue, depression, rapid heart beat, headache, joint pain, libido changes, and frequent urination. But according to research, not all women experience this. It could be symptoms that appear just a few.
About 80 percent of women experience irregular menstrual cycles before entering the menopause stage. Only about 10 percent of menstruation cycles remain regularly and completely stop unexpectedly.
Another symptom that most often happens is hot flushes aka heat fluctuations. This condition makes the female body temperature increases. They will more often sweat and so difficult to sleep.
In these times, a woman needs more attention, both from family and work environment. Hormonal changes that occur will be very influential on his emotions. However, there are still many women who consider menopause as something taboo, so choose to keep the condition secret.
Nick Panay, a doctor who writes Climacteric, a journal about menopause, says 60 to 70 percent of women who experience menopausal symptoms can not tell their partner.
"They suffered in silence. They do not know who to go to, and often private doctors do not know how to help, "Panay said as quoted by the Daily Mail.
One of the main factors women keep their menopausal phase secret is because of the stigma they are reluctant to face. Menopause associated with the aging process of women, and the reduction of a number of physical abilities, as well as the physical changes that are usually accompanied also become another reason.
Whereas according to Jill Forster, CEO of Forster Communication, a public relations company, the stigma surrounding the elderly woman can be bad for their careers, as well as threaten the country's economy.
According to him, what bold women like Jolie-who dare to 'embrace' the menopause he experienced-is an act that should be appreciated and imitated. "It is time we treat it (menopause) with more serious and attention that is worthy given. And we can start by breaking the silence and ending the stigma, "Forster wrote for The Independent.
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