A new study reveals that in addition to hot flashes and mood swings women may experience some memory loss as they go through menopause, according to The Huffington Post.
A study in the journal Menopause gives credence to the complaints of memory problems many women in their 40s and 50s have as they go through menopause. The lead author of the study, Miriam Weber, says the memory problems are at their worst in the period known as post-menopause, according to The Huffington Post.
"Women going through menopausal transition have long complained of cognitive difficulties such as keeping track of information and struggling with mental tasks that would have otherwise been routine," Weber told The Huffington Post. "This study suggests that these problems not only exist but become most evident in women in the first year following their final menstrual period."
It had been thought that other symptoms of menopause such as difficulty sleeping and depression had been the cause of the memory problems many women complained about, this study proves that to not be the case.
"These findings suggest that cognitive declines through menopause are independent processes rather than a consequence of sleep disruption or depression," Weber said. "While absolute hormone levels could not be linked with cognitive function, it is possible that the fluctuations that occur during this time could play a role in the memory problems that many women experience."
Dr. Margery Gass, the executive director of The North American Menopause Society, believes that the results of the study are helpful because they confirm what many women were suspecting, according to Yahoo.
"The good news for women is that there's proof that their perception about their performance is real," Gass said to Yahoo. "Women should become proactive, make notes and lists, and make use of the little tricks that help us perform better."
Weber believes that identifying when memory lapses happen will be key in helping women deal with them.
"By identifying how these memory problems progress and when women are most vulnerable, we now understand the window of opportunity during which interventions- be those therapeutic of lifestyle changes- may be beneficial," Weber said to The Huffington Post. "The most important thing that women need to be reassured of is that these problems, while frustrating, are normal, and in all likelihood, temporary."
A study done in 2009 by the University of California confirmed that most of the mental lapses suffered by women during menopause were temporary, according to the Telegraph.
