Forgetfulness Accompanies Menopause
Trouble with focus and memory lapses are not just in a woman's head
By Carrie Arnold
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Menopause brings many changes: hot flashes, changes in libido, and, according to some women, difficulties with memory and concentration. A new study in the journal Menopause shows that the mental fog reported by many menopausal women is very real. Researchers gave a battery of cognitive tests to 75 menopausal women and asked them how menopause had affected their thinking. Nearly half of them reported “serious” forgetfulness in the study, and the women who described the most problems with concentration and memory also scored worse on the cognitive tests. The investigators hope the finding that mental effects are not just being imagined by menopausal women, as some physicians have believed, will spur research on treatments.
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