Lynnette Sievert | Menopause Across Cultures

Age at menopause and symptom frequencies at midlife vary within and across populations as documented by in-depth ethnographies and semi-structured questionnaires. This talk will examine the universal experiences associated with hormonal changes as well as cross-population differences, specifically in Mexico, Bangladesh, and the U.S. For example, hot flashes are associated with ambient temperature, and with religious practices. Using ambulatory hot flash monitors, we showed population-level differences in sensing, labeling, and/or reporting symptoms, rather than differences in underlying physiology. 

About the Speaker

Lynnette Sievert, Professor of Anthropology at UMass Amherst, studies variation in age at menopause at midlife. She has studied menopause in the U.S., Slovenia, Paraguay, Mexico, Bangladesh, the UK, and Mongolia. Sievert also writes about the evolution of menopause and post-reproductive life. Sievert is an elected Fellow of the AAAS, has served on the Board of Trustees of the North American Menopause Society, and was the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Human Biology.