Regular workouts reduce menopause symptoms

Houston: Middle-aged women who exercise regularly report a higher quality of life and reduced symptoms of menopause, according to a new study.

According to a population-based study published in the January 2015 issue of Maturitas, Women with the recommended level of physical activity had a higher self-perceived health level, better relative health, and better global quality of life in relation to other women their age.

The survey was conducted on 2606 women from Finland's population registry, representing a 52 per cent response rate. All born in 1963, making them 49 years old at the time of the study.

Of those, 28 per cent were still menstruating regularly, 31 per cent were perimenopausal, and 23 per cent had not menstruated in the past 12 months.

The menopausal status of the other 18 per cent could not be determined because they were taking hormone replacement therapy.

5 hours per week of moderate activity (eg, fast-paced walking) or 1.25 hours of vigorous activity (such as jogging or running), and if they also did any strength or balance training at least twice a week.

Just more than half of the participants (51 per cent) met the definition of being physically active.

The less-active women were more likely to score highly for anxiety or depressed mood.

Vasomotor symptoms, or hot flashes, were more common in less-active women before adjusting for body mass index and education, but after these calculations, they were not statistically significant.

Overall, the more active women had greater self-perceived health and global quality of life compared with other women their age.

Crisis is not due to others its is due to our inability to anticipate.

Women who engage in less than the recommended amount of exercise may still see some benefits, causing the observed effect of exercise to be smaller than it really is.

Women experiencing more severe symptoms, whether physical or mental, may be less likely to engage in exercise.