Gwyneth Paltrow Wants to Rebrand Menopause
Leave it to goop to make menopause something to aspire toward.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s next wellness goal: to rebrand menopause. The goop CEO recently revealed she’s in perimenopause in a video for her lifestyle brand’s website.
“I think menopause gets a really bad rap and needs a bit of a rebranding,” Paltrow said in a video published on her lifestyle brand’s website. “I don’t think we have in our society a great example of an aspirational menopausal woman.”
Paltrow also recalled the time her mother, Blythe Danner, went through menopause. “It was like such a big deal and there was grief around it for her and all of these emotions.”
According to Dr. Shahin Ghadir, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., perimenopause occurs about 10 years prior to actual menopause, and generally affects women from ages 41-51. “It is a time period where women begin to have irregular menstrual cycles and menstrual symptoms,” he tells Organic Authority.
Menopause occurs when “someone has not had a menstrual cycle for one year and also when their follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level is over 40,” Dr. Ghadir says. “What this means is that the female egg supply is diminished and the patient will no longer have menstrual cycles.”
The Oscar winner shared her own experience with perimenopause in the video, “I think when you get into perimenopause, you notice a lot of changes. I can feel the hormonal changes happening: The sweating. The moods. You’re just like all of a sudden furious for no reason.”
The symptoms experienced by Paltrow are common for those who are in both perimenopause and menopause, says Dr. Ghadir.
During both periods patients may have hot flashes and night sweats, vaginal dryness, irregular menstrual cycles, sleep disturbances and, occasionally, patients will have emotional changes.
“All can happen during both but more significant in menopause are hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and irregular menstrual cycles,” he says.
While the average age of menopause occurs in women at 51, women often begin experiencing perimenopause symptoms much earlier. “Premature ovarian failure is by definition the start of the menopause under the age of 41,” Dr. Ghadir says. “Even though menopause at age 41 or 42 may be considered early, it is still within the normal range of menopause.
To help women better approach menopause, Paltrow’s Goop is launching Madame Ovary, a series of supplements featuring herbs, adaptogens, phytonutrients, and vitamins, to help support thyroid health and to smooth the menopausal transition.
Before you try them out, it’s important to seek out your medical doctor if you’re experiencing symptoms of menopause and perimenopause so that you can undergo certain tests, including measuring your FSH levels through a blood test to confirm menopause.
Even if you’re in your 30s, you could always get a jump on your hormones like Paltrow who said, “While I wasn’t overly focused on my hormones in my thirties, I do a panel every six months now to ensure that everything is aligned.”
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