The “backed by science” label at the National Menopause Show drew Catharine Adams to the event dedicated to informing women about insomnia, joint pain, brain fog, cardiovascular disease risks and more.
asserted
label → back → insomnia
She did not expect to have to walk past a trade-show floor selling products and supplements — not all of which met that standard — to reach the expert sessions.
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all → expect → sessions
“The show was meant to empower women,” said Adams, who flew from B.C. to attend last weekend’s show at the International Centre in Mississauga.
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who → mean → Mississauga
“I expected help sorting through the misinformation.
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I → expect → misinformation
Instead, I was left sorting through the same kinds of claims women encounter everywhere else.”
uncertain
women → leave → claims
The show floor was packed with more than 90 booths, most selling items, including a “100 per cent accurate” menopause test, a “menopause bundle” of bath salts, a four-week “perimenopause reset,” and an array of detox, nutrition, diet and anti-aging products.
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most → pack → products
The booth with a “V Zone” oxygen delivery system promised, well, a lot.
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booth → promise → lot
The show highlights a critical women’s health issue long stigmatized and dismissed.
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show → highlight → issue
But it also fills a void left by the public health-care system, one the wellness industry and private providers have rushed into, not always with evidence-based offerings.
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industry → fill → offerings
“It really makes me mad,” said Jennifer Thompson, who started the Herstasis Foundation to combat menopause misinformation by providing women with free evidence-based resources.
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who → make → resources
She called her non-profit booth a “purple cow” for standing out amid all the financial interests at the show.
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She → call → show
The show was launched three years ago by event director Angela Macgregor, who couldn’t find help for her own symptoms, and her husband, Bob, a trade-show veteran.
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who → launch → symptoms
What ‘backed by science’ actually means
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means → back → science
The show has an advisory board that curates its mainstage speakers to keep those sessions grounded in evidence, but Macgregor said that board does not vet the products on the trade show floor.
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board → have → floor
She said they try to ensure women can trust what they find there and turned away exhibitors this year whose products were not certified by Health Canada.
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products → say → Canada
The event is “committed to helping women access credible information and care,” said her son, Cole Macgregor, who oversees exhibition sales.
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who → commit → sales
“Our education program features physicians and health advocates, and our exhibit floor gives attendees access to clinics, products and services, each of which serves a different purpose.
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each → feature → purpose
Exhibitors offering health products are required to hold the appropriate Health Canada authorization, and our team reviews exhibitor participation with that standard in mind.
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team → offer → mind
But that standard has limits: cosmetics are not covered, for example, and a Health Canada stamp doesn’t mean a product necessarily lives up to its marketing on the show floor.
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product → have → floor
The “100 per cent accurate” menopause test, for example, is licensed because it detects follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
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it → license → hormone
But the Canadian Menopause Society does not generally recommend hormone testing for menopause and states that FSH testing is “not reliable” because levels fluctuate.
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levels → recommend → menopause
Adams, a lifestyle and health coach who helps women navigate the menopause transition with “evidence, not extremes,” said women are inundated everywhere with questionable marketing.
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women → help → marketing
“They shouldn’t have to pay to attend an event advertised as science-backed and then work out for themselves which health claims they can trust, or worse, just assume all of it is legitimate,” she said.
uncertain
she → have → it
Advertised ticket prices were $45 to $55 and, ahead of the show, organizers said they expected around 3,000 attendees, in line with previous years.
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they → say → years
Private care, public gaps
Not every booth sold products.
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booth → sell → products
Several offered actual medical care — for a price.
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Several → offer → price
Blair, Coral, Coven and Effica are fee-for-service virtual clinics that offer care that even some of the clinic founders have said belongs in the public system.
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some → offer → system
Dr. Michelle Jacobson occupies both sides of the health-care divide that the show highlights: she has a public practice in Toronto, is the corporate chief of obstetrics and gynecology for the William Osler Health System, and co-founded Coven Women’s Health, which charges women for the menopause care many say they can’t get through OHIP.
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they → occupy → OHIP
After her Saturday morning talk on the latest in menopause research and treatment, Jacobson went to the Coven booth — advertising the chance to win a menopause assessment and coaching package “valued at $459.”
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Jacobson → go → 459
She was swarmed by women asking about symptoms, medications, supplements, iron deficiency and depression.
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She → swarm → symptoms
Some were hoping for a second opinion on something they’d been told, others asking where to go for help.
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others → hop → help
“It’s tragic,” Jacobson said about the women seeking her out.
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Jacobson → ’ → her
“I think we pretend that we have a universal health-care system; we don’t.”
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we → think → system
Angela Macgregor said she would like to have a better mix of publicly insured and fee-for-service providers but it’s proven hard to attract those physicians or public menopause clinics, which tend to have long wait-lists already, and so have less interest in appearing at a weekend show.
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which → say → show
“It’s not all about private health care — a lot of women can’t afford that,” she said.
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she → ’ → that
“Women deserve to have access to publicly funded clinics.
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Women → deserve → clinics
That’s very important.
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That → ’ → ?
But in Canada, wait times are quite long and women are suffering.
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women → suffer → Canada
That is one of the reasons why we started this event — it’s access to knowledge, it’s access to care.”
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it → start → care
Earlier this month, the Menopause Foundation of Canada released a policy agenda calling on governments across the country to tackle systemic barriers in the public health-care system that leave too many women dismissed, misdiagnosed or simply unable to find a doctor willing to treat them.
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that → release → them
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
