More Bloating, Digestive Menopausal Symptoms in Some Ethnic Groups Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Menopause News Women in Certain Ethnic Groups May Face Higher Risk of Bloating Nausea and Gas Around MenopauseA new study found a link between the amount and severity of GI symptoms and race, ethnicity, and menopausal status. By Beth LevineDecember 10, 2021Fact-CheckedA woman’s racial and ethnic background may play a role in the types of menopausal symptoms she experiences, research suggests.Getty ImagesDuring the menopause transition, women may experience gastrointestinal (GI) issues such as indigestion, nausea, or bloating as well as traditional menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and insomnia. A new study, published December 6 in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), assessed a possible connection between race and ethnicity, the stage a woman is in during menopausal transition, and the severity of gastrointestinal issues. They determined that an association does exist. RELATED: 7 Ways to Get Rid of Bloating After a Big Meal Study Looked at Midlife Women in 4 Racial and Ethnic Groups This secondary analysis looked at data from 1,051 women ages 40 to 60 from two internet-based studies on midlife women’s health issues. The women came from four different ethnic or racial groups: Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic African American, and non-Hispanic Asian. They were also in three different stages: pre-menopause, perimenopause, and post-menopause. The team controlled for covariates such as sociodemographic characteristics (age, education, marital status, family income, and employment), and health-related characteristics (body mass index or BMI, perceived health status, and diagnosed GI diseases). Sherri-Ann Burnett-Bowie, MD, MPH, the director of multicultural affairs at the Massachusetts General Hospital department of medicine in Boston, who was not involved in the study, notes that the investigators appropriately discussed, though did not measure, how cultural influences such as diet or perceptions of pain could contribute to the observed racial or ethnic differences. Additionally, she says, cultural differences in comfort level with reporting symptoms may have contributed to the study’s findings. (Study participants self-reported their symptoms.) More Digestive Problems Reported by Non-Hispanic White Women The researchers concluded that race and ethnicity does have an association with GI issues around menopause. With age, all groups experienced increased digestive symptoms, in varying degrees of severity and number, but as they reached post-menopause, there was a separation. Non-Hispanic Asian women had significantly fewer symptoms overall and lower total severity than the three other racial or ethnic groups. In contrast, non-Hispanic white women experienced higher severity of symptoms, especially when it came to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and loss of appetite. Hispanics were more likely to have higher severity scores for constipation, weight gain, and bloating, whereas non-Hispanic African Americans were more likely to have higher levels of weight loss. RELATED: 4 Natural Ways to Manage Constipation From IBS What Causes Bloating Weight Gain and Other GI Symptoms Around Menopause While the association between menopause status and GI symptoms has been established, the cause is not generally agreed upon. The researchers attribute it to the decrease in estrogen hormone levels and an increase in cortisol hormone levels. But Dr. Burnett-Bowie points out that research published in the journal Women’s Midlife Health in August 2019 found decreased abdominal pain with the menopause transition and increasing age, which is counter to the present study. If Diarrhea Constipation Other Symptoms Persist or Get Worse See a Doctor If you are having more in the way of diarrhea, bloating, nausea, or stomach pain, follow up with your physician. It could be a complication of menopause, but it could also be a sign of other disease. “Everyone should be getting colonoscopies from the age of 50,” urges Burnett-Bowie, who is one of the principal investigators in the SWAN Study (the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation). RELATED: What’s the Difference Between Acid Reflux and GERD? Need for Long-Term Study to Better Understand Progression of GI Issues “I think this is definitely an important study. However, the results, while provocative, are just exploratory in nature,” notes Burnett-Bowie, adding that another limitation of this study is that the women were studied cross-sectionally, not longitudinally. That means that the team studied different women in all three groups instead of following one group as it passed through all three stages. “Further study needs to be done that follows the same women over those three time points and assesses their gastrointestinal symptoms to determine if the symptoms are worsening, staying the same, or improving,” says Burnett-Bowie. "This study highlights significant associations between GI symptoms and menopause status, with post-menopausal women generally reporting a greater number of symptoms and more severe symptoms. It also shows important racial/ethnic differences in GI symptom reporting, similar to what has been shown with menopause symptoms. Additional study is needed to confirm these findings and to determine optimal management strategies for midlife women with new, bothersome GI symptoms," said Stephanie Faubion, MD, the medical director of NAMS, in a press release. NEWSLETTERS Sign up for our Women' s Health Newsletter SubscribeBy subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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