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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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MENOPAUSE

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:32): I move:

That this house:

(a) acknowledges the often significant and deleterious impact of menopause on women; and

(b) urges the state government and medical practitioners to help women become more aware of the latest research and treatment options.

As members know, I am quite passionate about the issue of men's health and women's health. Members might wonder why I raise this issue. As do other members, I have female constituents and I obviously have a lot of close relatives and—surprise, surprise!—my wife is a woman as well. That is not always the case, but in my case it is.

The situation with menopause is that there has been a lot of misunderstanding and misrepresentation in regard to this whole issue, particularly in relation to hormone replacement therapy, usually using the acronym HRT.

About 10 years ago, a report came out that scared the daylights out of women who were either on HRT, which has been around since the 1940s, or scared those who were contemplating it. Since that time, there has been quite a widespread fear and concern about women being on that HRT program.

Sadly, that original 'study', which was released in 2002—and I put 'study' in inverted commas because, ironically and sadly, that report was largely fallacious in the sense that it was studying post-menopausal women and had little relevance to the matter at hand—unnecessarily scared women from even considering HRT. Some of the concerns related to higher risk of breast cancer and things like that.

Since then, fortunately (and this was supported by the International Menopause Society), a more comprehensive and more scientifically-based study was released a year or so ago, and it showed that that earlier report was essentially questionable at least and that, if women who were contemplating HRT went on to that program in their 50s, they were more likely to have a better outcome and a better quality of life than that experienced by those who went on to a HRT program later in life. In other words, the message was, if you are in your 50s it is better to be on an HRT program than to wait a longer period of time.

There is still a lot of ignorance about this issue and, I think, probably a lack of understanding of what some women experience as a result of menopause. It does debilitate many women, not simply in terms of hot flushes and things like that, but it has a significant impact because of the fundamental effect on hormones. It has a big impact on their outlook on life, mood swings, muscle pain, sleep disturbances and often sexual dysfunction. It is not something that should be dismissed by ignorant men who show a lack of understanding of the impact on women

It is a big issue for women and it needs to be treated seriously, but importantly, women obviously need to get correct professional advice. I know that many of the specialists in this area get very annoyed because they believe that at the GP level some of the advice being given is not up to date with the latest research, is not accurate and perpetuates some of the myths of yesteryear.

Those women who experience, for example, early menopause and do not get involved with an oestrogen therapy have a much higher risk of things like osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, earlier death, symptoms similar to Parkinson's, dementia, anxiety, depression, sexual function concerns. We are talking about something that is significant, and I am not in a position to give medical advice; I am not qualified.

What I want to see happen is a greater awareness of the options available and for women to be made aware of those, to seek professional advice and not to be automatically deterred by a study of ten or so years ago, which whilst it was obviously meant with the best intention was fallacious in that it was not studying women who were the logical target group. That initial report was in 2002, as I indicated earlier. It was called the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report and it raised alarms about the safe use of HRT.

Additional work recently, as I have indicated, has shown that the risks from HRT are relatively small, but people clearly should get professional advice and see someone who is an expert in the field. I am not here to lecture people about this issue. I just think it is something that a lot of women suffer largely in silence and it does have a major impact on them—they have told me so and I have seen evidence of it—but the old 'grin and bear it' should not be the automatic response when we know now from modern research and options available that something can be done.

As I say in the motion, I would urge the state government and medical practitioners to be aware that there may be options available to these women so that they do not have to endure debilitating symptoms and put up with something that can take some of the positive aspects out of their lives. I commend this motion to the house. I do not imagine anyone is going to oppose it. I think it is important that in parliament we talk about a wide range of issues affecting people, health issues and other issues.

The first step in a lot of these issues is awareness. I know when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer that a lot of the members in here immediately went off and had a check. Contrary to what poor Tim Mathieson was crucified for, you do not have to have a digital rectal examination. You can have a blood test which, over time, will be an indicator, but the only sure-fire test is a biopsy which, if it is done properly, is painless. The first step in any of these situations—menopause or whatever—is that people have to be aware of the issue and aware of possible treatments.

I am continually saddened when I go around and give talks about my experience with prostate cancer and so on. I came across some guy in the Barossa at a talk I gave who had just turned 50 and it looks as though the prostate cancer has been caught too late in his case. He will almost certainly have to have radiotherapy and probably hormone treatment. In a way, it ties in with menopause because the hormone treatment, if you have prostate cancer, will, in effect, turn you into a woman.

Mrs Geraghty: No, it doesn't turn you into a woman. You need to get your terminology correct because you are creating a myth.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: You know what I mean. I am using a poetic phrase. You become more like a woman than you were before.

Mrs Geraghty: That's still not correct.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: That is correct. Allan Pease—

The SPEAKER: Member for Fisher, this is as dangerous as tweeting.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: Allan Pease, who was a guest speaker at the prostate cancer conference in Canberra towards the end of last year, had hormone treatment. He said that he could tell he had had hormone treatment and that testosterone had been suppressed because he was no longer interested in looking at women going up escalators with short skirts.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: I am just reporting what he said at a public gathering. He said he became, in effect, a woman. He had hot flushes and so on. I am just making the point that, if you, sadly—

Mr Pengilly: Taking private members' business to a new level.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: —sadly, through ignorance, if you do not get onto these things early—

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Finniss to order so that that comment will go into Hansard.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: The point I am making is that, if you do not get onto these things early enough, you are not aware about what the issue involves and you are not aware of the treatment options, and you can end up like the poor soul in the Barossa Valley who, at the age of 50, is facing a very bleak future. We know that prostate cancer is not the same as menopause, but I am just saying that awareness is the first point of call.

I think we need to canvass these issues in parliament and use newsletters and so on to make constituents aware of what the real research is saying, so I commend this motion. I think it is important. It is about awareness and women having options and being aware that something can be done to improve their quality of life, and I think that is a worthwhile objective.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (11:43): In rising to respond to the motion on behalf of the government, I move to support the first part but, obviously, not the last bit. The average age of women going through menopause in Australia is 53 years; however, for a variety of reasons, some women experience menopause much earlier.

South Australia has an increasingly ageing population, and women going through menopause make up a significant proportion. There is a proportion of women in our society who have difficult symptoms during menopause, and a significant amount of information is available to women in our community, ranging from general practitioner advice through to dedicated menopause clinics—for example, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Within the primary healthcare sector, advice and support are offered to all women through a range of services. The government employs doctors and nurses who specialise in women's health and are credentialled to deliver assistance in this important area. Such services are provided through the Dale Street Women's Health Centre in Port Adelaide, where an outreach service, through the GP Plus centres at Elizabeth and Gilles Plains, is also provided. Research is ongoing throughout the world into the mechanisms and effects of menopause and the government encourages all health practitioners to assist women seeking the latest advice.

I would like to add a couple of personal remarks, seeing as we are having such latitude on this topic this morning. One, is to explain to people how important hormonal balance is, particularly when you think about what hormones can do to people and their health. Everybody needs to know and listen to their own body. It is very important that we understand what we have in our own body and how our own health is impacted by what we do. It is impossible for doctors to understand us in five or 15 minutes of an appointment, so people should make a real effort to understand their own health. Everyone is unique and we do urge everyone who is experiencing trouble with menopause to seek advice.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Goldsworthy.

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