Michigan Commission Focuses on Menopause, Women's Health

Satori Shakoor never told her doctor about the hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, insomnia and heart palpitations. The symptoms of perimenopause — and ultimately menopause — hit in her mid-40s and dragged on for a dozen years.

She asked her mother and other older women about their midlife experiences; most told her they couldn’t remember. Unaware she could seek medical help, Shakoor tried to manage her hot flashes by cutting back on triggers, such as spicy food and wine.

“We have a lot of work to do around ... relieving women of the stigma to talk to each other,” says Shakoor, 70, of Detroit.

Shakoor is a writer and storyteller who hopes to help ease that stigma through a one-woman comedy show in which she jokingly asks, “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”

She’s also working alongside AARP Michigan on the “Menopause: It’s a Movement!” campaign, led by the Michigan Women’s Commission. Since March, women from across the state have attended panels in which menopause experts seek to help them better advocate for their midlife health, says Cheryl Bergman, the commission’s executive director.

Their stories — and potential policy changes — will be included in a March 2026 report detailing possible next steps, Bergman says. Among the possible recommendations: requiring menopause education as part of state medical licensing and ensuring that health insurance companies cover hormone replacement therapy and other treatments.

The Michigan Women’s Commission was created by the Legislature in 1968, and its members are appointed by the governor. The menopause campaign is also taking suggestions on how businesses can better support their employees going through menopause, such as by providing a private “cooling space” to cope with hot flashes, Bergman says.

Employers need to know, she adds, that menopause is a pressing economic issue. A 2023 Mayo Clinic study found that menopause symptoms caused women ages 45 to 60 to miss an estimated $1.8 billion in work time annually. A 2023 AARP survey also found that 39 percent of working women age 35 and older who had experienced at least one menopause symptom said the symptoms negatively affected their work life.

Menopause, Bergman says, is “not something that women just get through.”

CELEBRITIES HIGHLIGHT ISSUE

The commission’s work is part of a national movement sparked by Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry and other celebrities who urge women to talk openly about their symptoms — and for the medical community to treat them more effectively.

More than a dozen states have recently introduced or passed legislation to improve menopause care, make treatments more affordable and better support women at work, according to the nonprofit Let’s Talk Menopause. Michigan lawmakers are considering whether to fund a menopause curriculum for medical providers, although as of press time the Legislature hadn’t voted on the measure.

The women’s commission also is conducting a survey about Michigan women’s menopause experiences, particularly at work. As of late July, nearly 700 respondents had provided information, with a majority saying they knew nothing about perimenopause or menopause and that their doctors hadn’t mentioned either one, Bergman says.

Diana Bitner, a Grand Rapids obstetrician-gynecologist and certified menopause practitioner who has served on commission panels, says she’s not surprised. A 2019 study found that only about 7 percent of U.S. medical residents in family medicine, internal medicine and OB-GYN said they felt prepared to manage patients’ menopause symptoms. A separate study of OB-GYN residency programs in 2023 found only 31 percent had a menopause curriculum.

Seeking expert medical help is important, Bitner says, because menopause can contribute to heart disease, bone loss and other serious conditions.

“I want women to know it’s possible to have the aging that you want — the health that you want,” Bitner says.

AARP Michigan volunteer state president Lorri Rishar Jandron, 59, of Lansing, says she hopes that women will also celebrate the upsides of growing older.

“By the time you hopefully reach menopause,” Jandron says, “you’re sure of yourself, you’re strong, you have wisdom. There are so many wonderful things about aging.”

To learn more about the Michigan Women’s Commission, go to michigan.gov/mwc. ■

Katherine Shaver has been a journalist for more than 30 years, including 26 years at The Washington Post.


Questions on menopause?

• What is my phase of ovarian function? What symptoms and related health effects should I watch for?
• What other factors put me at higher risk for menopause-related health effects, such as heart disease, osteoporosis or depression?
• How might my lifestyle habits affect my menopause symptoms?
• Which of my symptoms could be from menopause? They might include hot flashes and night sweats, memory issues and brain fog, weight gain and belly fat, heavy and irregular periods, mood swings and insomnia.
• What treatments might help?

For more information, and to find a health care professional who has passed a certification process with the nonprofit Menopause Society, go to menopause.org.

More on Menopause

• Menopause Symptoms, Treatments and Facts
• Report: Many Women Don't Know Enough About Menopause
• Women in Menopause Often Go Untreated