Menopause Health Science Popularization Competition

Don't preach, don't use terminology, and jump out of the black and white logic of "menopause = bad temper = need to supplement estrogen". You are professional enough to fight, but also able to handle the embarrassment and concerns of ordinary people hidden in daily necessities.

Last year, as a representative of the maternal and child health care system, I was asked to be a judge for the province’s first menopausal health science popularization competition. I originally thought it would be another scene of reading data from a bunch of PPT templates. However, Xiao Zhou, the community nurse who was the first to appear, did not show the PPT and instead played a video she took at the community market. Randomly shot in 15 seconds: Aunt Zhang, wearing a floral shirt, is carrying half a bag of eggplants and chatting with her old sisters. "I regretted it after we had an argument with my old man yesterday. I don't know what happened. The anger suddenly came out, and I was so sweaty from cooking recently that my apron was wet. Do you think I have really reached the 'crazy stage'?" ”

At that time, all the judges in the audience sat upright. There is nothing false in her subsequent content. She does not list the definition or pathogenesis of menopause. She just talks about the questions that everyone is most concerned about: "How to quickly relieve hot flashes? ”“Should I take sleeping pills for insomnia? ”“Will taking hormones cause weight gain and cancer? ”What's interesting is that she specifically arranged the different plans of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine side by side, without saying which one is better, only saying which one to choose according to the situation: "If you don't have contraindications such as breast nodules and endometrial lesions, you have just been through menopause for a few years, and you are afraid of trouble and want to quickly improve your symptoms, you can find a gynecological endocrinologist to evaluate whether you need to use hormone supplements. ； If you have contraindications or are just afraid of hormones, then try drinking a customized medicated diet and taking Ba Duan Jin for 20 minutes a day. Adjusting it slowly can also be effective. There is no right or wrong, only whether it is suitable or not. ”

She finally won the first prize without any suspense. When she left the stage, I looked through her work manual and found dozens of handwritten records of her follow-up visits in the community: A 49-year-old sister said that after taking hormones for half a year, her previous hot flashes and night sweats were gone, and she no longer quarreled with her adolescent son.； There is also a 52-year-old aunt who has grade 3 breast nodules. After using the moxibustion program and adjusting her sleep schedule, she no longer wakes up in the middle of the night sweating. It is all real people and real stories, and there is no perfect case made up at all.

In fact, there were many players who stepped into the trap in this competition. An endocrinologist from a tertiary hospital listed a bunch of foreign literature data and said how much the risk of osteoporosis and the risk of cardiovascular disease would increase in the next ten years if menopause is not intervened. The faces of several middle-aged women watching the game turned pale, and the final score was not high. It's not that what he said was wrong, it was too absolute. He only talked about the benefits of Western medicine hormone supplementation, and did not mention contraindications or alternatives at all. It was too easy to create anxiety. You must know that nearly 30% of women have very mild menopausal symptoms, and they go through it smoothly without even noticing it. It is like facing a formidable enemy as soon as it is used.

There is also a girl who works in cultural and creative industries. She did not give a speech or do a PPT. She handed over a set of palm-sized pocket cards with "hot flash first aid tips" printed on the front: 1. Blow on both sides of the neck quickly 2. Don't wear high-collared clothes 3. Carry a small sweat-absorbent towel with you, with the reservation QR codes for the gynecological and endocrinology clinics of three local hospitals printed on the back, and a small card specially for the family members, which says, "The quarrel she quarreled with you was not about you, it was the hormones that caused her temper. Handing a glass of ice water is more useful than reasoning." At that time, several male teachers at the judges' table were rushing to get it, saying that they would take it back to show to their spouses. This work finally won the Best Creative Award.

To be honest, I have been in gynecology clinics for almost ten years and have seen too many women trapped by menopause: a 50-year-old female entrepreneur who just received a consultation last week suddenly had hot flashes and blushed during a meeting. She had been holding on for half a year and did not dare to tell her subordinates. After eliminating contraindications, she used low-dose hormone supplements. She came for a follow-up visit this week and said that her whole body was relaxed.； There is also a 48-year-old high school teacher who has a history of endometrial hyperplasia and is afraid to take hormones. He went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department for three months of moxibustion and traditional Chinese medicine. Now his sleep is much more stable and he no longer loses his temper inexplicably in class. As Xiao Zhou said in the competition, there is never a "uniform menopause solution". What suits you is the best.

In fact, you will find in the end that this kind of science popularization competition is never about whose knowledge reserve is richer, but who has really seen those women trapped by menopause - they may be mothers who suddenly break down and shed tears at the parent-teacher meeting, they may be aunts who suddenly take off their coats in the middle of a square dance, they may be middle-level workers who stay up late doing reports and suddenly have hot flashes. If you put their embarrassments, worries, and little secrets that they are embarrassed to tell first, your science popularization has already won, and whether you win or not is secondary.