A team from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine is advancing sickle cell care by highlighting the lack of attention to menopause symptoms in sickle cell patients. Led by sickle cell physician-researcher Marwah Farooqui, alongside gynecologist Gelila Goba and Lewis Hsu, director of University of Ilinois Health’s pediatric sickle cell center, they aim to explore the implementation of menopause screening during routine clinic visits.
By adapting an existing menopause screening tool, the team seeks to revolutionize the future of sickle cell care to meet the evolving needs of their aging patient population. Dr. Farooqui commented on the gap in menopause knowledge and care among women with sickle cell disease.
“I think a lot of the hesitancy actually comes from not just sickle cell being a rare disease, and providers not being comfortable with sickle cell disease, but also because menopause itself is not on our radar. Nationally, we’re making headlines on menopause as well as women’s health. I think that’s actually going to help us overcome some of these barriers, you know, both looking at sickle cell as a lifespan disease which has been the rhetoric in the past decade, and then also starting to shift our focus to women’s health issues as they age,” said Dr. Farooqui...
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