Embargoed for Monday, September 14, 1998

Contact:
Jennifer Peck
Andrea tenBroek
The Rasky/Baerlein Group
(617)443-9933 exts. 329 & 355

September 14, 1998 (Washington, DC)-- Sixty percent of women between 45 and 75 years of age are unaware of significant health risks related to menopause such as heart disease, breast cancer and ovarian cancer, according to a study released today by the National Center on Women and Aging at Brandeis University.  Furthermore, the study shows that a critical reason for this gap in knowledge is that doctors are not discussing menopause with their patients.

Only 54 percent of women said that their doctors had discussed menopause with them.  Yet, 95 percent of women indicated that they would be comfortable discussing the physical symptoms of menopause, and 93 percent said they would be comfortable discussing emotional symptoms related to menopause.  Even fewer doctors had discussed menopause with older women, suggesting that the onset of symptoms is triggering the discussions taking place rather than the long-term health risks.

"If a woman reported symptoms, she was much more likely to have discussed menopause with her health care provider," explained Phyllis Mutschler, Ph.D., Executive Director of the National Center on Women and Aging.  "Our concern, however, is that once the discomforts associated with menopause disappear, a woman will be lulled into complacency, and, unless her doctor raises these issues, she will not take the steps necessary to protect herself from the long term risks to her health."

Nearly eight out of 10 women said they have complete or a good deal of control over their health through their daily activities.  However, while women know that exercise, good eating habits and regular cancer screenings can diminish some of the risks associated with aging, they do not realize that the end of estrogen production puts them at risk for some serious conditions regardless of their daily habits.

For example, 56 percent do not know that menopause affects the risk of heart disease; 61 percent do not realize that it affects the risk of ovarian cancer; 56 percent of women do not know it affects breast cancer.  Therefore, these women are often unwilling to consider such treatments as hormone replacement therapy or alternative therapies which often further minimize health risks.

"It seems that many women have 'bought' the messages in newspaper articles and television and radio ads that exhort them to take charge of their lives so that they can enjoy good health now and in the future," said Mutschler.  "Ironically, however, the very success of these campaigns may have produced a cohort of women who now believe that their virtuous behavior makes them invincible.  We are worried that, as a consequence, they are ignoring the very real risks they face due to declining levels of estrogen, and are failing to properly consider strategies that will protect their future well being."

The sole exception to this is osteoporosis.  Perhaps, the report suggests, because of the media campaigns designed to educate women about the disease and the availability of new treatments, 64 percent of women know that menopause is linked to bone loss.

While over half the women surveyed did not know that menopause has important effects on their health, they still expressed concern about having certain health conditions affect them.  Seventy-three percent worry about heart disease; 69 percent worry about breast cancer; 63 percent worry about osteoporosis; and 47 percent worry about ovarian cancer.  Ironically, younger women were more likely to state these concerns, despite the fact that their risk is less than that of older women.

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The results of this scientific telephone survey, conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation, were derived from interviews with 402 women nationally.  The results were presented today at the National Center on Women and Agingís annual advisory board meeting in Washington, DC.