“I’ll never forget it. I was coming into my 48th year, and I was sitting in my kitchen writing an email, and I couldn’t write some of the most basic words. I thought I was stressed, I thought it was kind of the hangover from having done this really big job and not taking a proper break. Then I started to have an internal panic that it might be dementia.”
This personal experience of early perimenopause symptoms was shared by Bluecrest chief executive Dominique Kent. She tells Benefits Expert that she didn’t tell anybody about it at the time.
“I kept it to myself because I was a bit scared. Then these hot flushes started, and one day I logged them with my phone because they were happening so frequently. I had 34 hot flushes in the 24 hour window and it was just awful.”
Kent says that this is what prompted her to try to get a GP appointment, but she couldn’t get one face to face, so a friend recommended a private consultant.
“Most people can’t afford to do that, right? It was £700. It wasn’t cheap, but frankly, I was really worried about it. I didn’t know ‘word finding difficulty’ was a menopause symptom.”
Kent saw a specialist and received treatment that helped with the word loss and other symptoms.
But the outcome for a lot of other women is not as positive.
Hidden work impacts
Menopause is not something that impacts women in isolation. It affects their families, their workplaces and their careers.
Data from the British Menopause Society shows that 45 percent of women felt that menopausal symptoms had a negative impact on their work. Almost half (47 percent) of women with menopause symptoms who need to take a day off work say they wouldn’t tell their employer the real reason.
Kents says: “We know menopausal women are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace, and we know that it hits just as women are reaching senior positions. That’s talent British businesses can’t afford to lose.”
Protected under the law
Menopause is protected under the Equality Act of 2010, but many businesses are still grappling with how to support women effectively. Not to forget that periods remain a taboo subject in many workplaces.
Martin Thornton, chief medical officer at Bluecrest, says: “We need to cut through that stigma by talking about menstruation, by talking about menopause, in offices, on factory floors, and in boardrooms. If you’re an organisation that cares about wellbeing, you should care about menopause, and you should be looking for ways to support your workforce.”
This is why Kent is keen to raise employer awareness of the symptoms and how they can support employees going through a life phase that half the population will face.
Active and real policy
She urges HR professionals to introduce a menopause policy if they don’t already have one, saying it should be “something that is active and real, not just something on a piece of paper”.
It is one thing if you have an HR leader that has gone through it and understands it, Kent says, but it’s very different if you don’t. “That’s not to say someone who hasn’t been through it can’t be understanding because you can always educate. But I think it’s about creating the environment where people feel safe to talk about it, and being open enough to talk about it.
“So I lead from the front with it, and my team knows it’s entirely safe, I’ll chat to you about it. But it’s easier for me to do because I’m a woman that’s been on that menopause journey. I’m working in a business where we do health assessments. This is really appropriate conversation, not just for our team, but for our consumers as well, it’s contextual.”
Early signs at work
Kent says that the reality is that what most people will potentially see in business is women struggling, feeling tired because they’re not sleeping properly, tripping over words, possibly in a presentation. Maybe having stage fright when they’ve never had it before.
“They are the sorts of things you might see happening. I think the response sometimes is that ‘they’re not on their game’. A good hearted person will think ‘they’re not on their game, that’s not like them, what’s wrong?’ I would hope everybody would do that, but that doesn’t always happen.”
She says that someone who is educated about menopause and has some insight might think, ‘I know that Dom’s talked quite openly about menopause, so this might be what’s going on.’
Empathy and understanding can make a big difference. Kent recalls an incident where a colleague from a previous job was presenting to about 200 people and she completely lost her train of thought. “Thankfully, I knew why she lost her train of thought. And I just very gracefully went, ‘Fiona, would you like me to give a bit of context on that?’ she said yes, and it looked like a segue that was quite natural. But I know that had I not done that, that would have been utter stage fright, she looked at me panicked and I knew why. So it’s about making sure you’ve got that kind of support.”
Access to testing
Kent’s personal experiences with menopause are also why she is so passionate about her firm’s new launch.
Health assessments provider Bluecrest has launched a new menopause hormone test, with an advanced menopause profile, designed to help women understand if they are menopausal when they start having symptoms and want to know if they need treatment.
Thornton says: “Traditionally a menopause diagnosis is based on symptoms alone. However, we know many women want to know what is happening during this time – so our tests offer further insight. We have included a GP consultation as part of our advanced menopause profile, offering women a chance to discuss their results and symptoms – to establish the right path forward.”
The provider’s menopause hormone test examines levels of the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which has a crucial role in promoting egg growth and triggering the production of oestrogen. An FSH blood test also offers insights into the health of the pituitary gland, which helps regulate reproductive hormones, and can help assess whether a woman may be entering menopause. The advanced menopause profile looks at FSH levels, as well as oestradiol, sex hormone binding globulin, testosterone, and thyroid stimulating hormone.
Data from the University College London shows that 90 percent of postmenopausal women were never taught about the menopause at school, while 60 percent only started looking for information about the menopause once their symptoms had started.
Thornton says: “There’s still a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there, and many women report feeling alone when trying to cope with difficult symptoms. Being able to take a dedicated menopause hormone test could transform someone’s menopause experience.”
Kent is clearly excited about launching the new advanced menopause profile, which she says, along with a GP consultation to discuss symptoms, can tell women where they are on their menopause journey.
“So many women confuse perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms for burnout or other lifestyle pressures and vice versa. Our menopause hormone tests give women the information they need to understand what is going on for them and take action.”
The provider’s advanced menopause profile supports the understanding of specific hormone levels, and can help women in their decisions around HRT, so that they can better manage the impact of menopause on their daily lives.
Kent adds: “This launch is particularly personal to me, given my own experience as a senior woman in the workplace and that of many women around me. Menopausal symptoms can be scary when you don’t know what is going on for you. We want to be able to empower and provide data about something that happens to 50 percent of the population, helping women manage menopause in the best way that they can.”
With NHS waiting lists for menopause specialist guidance rising to several months, the tests are intended to enable women to have informed conversations with a GP about where they are on their menopause journey and understand the treatment options available to them.
