A recent study from the Mayo Clinic found that caregiving can lead to bothersome menopausal symptoms — like hot flashes and night sweats — among some women.
Informal caregivers are those who provide unpaid care for a friend or family member, like a parent or spouse. This study found that the more caregiving they were doing, the more likely they were to report uncomfortable menopausal symptoms.
Dr. Jewel Kling is the chair of Women's Health Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic.
"It's like that a-ha moment when they're like, ‘gosh, why do I feel these symptoms so significantly?’ And it may be that burden that they're carrying," Kling said.
Kling says the mean age of the women in the study was 54.6.
"And so it was really that group of women, which is probably that sandwich generation of women that we're talking about, those women that still may have some kids at home, but are caring for their aging adult parents," Kling said.
Kling is hopeful the study will encourage providers to talk more to their patients about what's going on at home.
"I think what this study does is first calls out that there's a relationship between the two, and for so long, I don't think we've really identified that to women, you know, that caregiving can negatively influence their experience going through menopause," Kling said.
