New research is shedding light on how physical abuse can impact the severity of menopause symptoms. A Turkish study published this month in Menopause has reported that 71% of postmenopausal women reported physical abuse from their partners and 62% of postmenopausal women reported verbal abuse. Additional forms of self-reported abuse and their frequency included psychological (29%), economic (4.3%) and sexual (1.4%).
“Violence is thought to exacerbate menopausal symptoms by causing hypoestrogenism and changes in the sympathetic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or serotonergic pathways,” author Elif Ayfer Baltacı Yıldız, M.D., and her colleagues write in the study. “In addition, there is an assumption that psychological problems caused by violence make women more sensitive to menopausal…