Male MPs have tried out vests that simulate the feeling of menopausal hot flushes – and they couldn’t take the heat.
Taking part in an event to raise awareness for the sharp increase in demand for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs amid widespread shortages, politicians – including Wes Streeting, Stephen Kinnock and Nick Thomas-Symonds – donned the garments which contained heated pads which are said to mimic the bothersome and often debilitating symptom.
“It’s deeply unpleasant and an enveloping heat,” said the shadow health secretary after trying on the vest.
“How you would crack on with life, I don’t know. I can’t wait to take this off.”
The idea for the contraption was spearheaded by Over the Bloody Moon – a group that offers menopause advice to individuals and companies.
Shadow minister for immigration, Mr Kinnock, called the sensation “a very intense kind of heat and an internal feeling, not like being warmed by the sun, but almost volcanic inside”.
More than one million women in the UK use HRT, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which is prescribed to treat the symptoms of the menopause by boosting oestrogen levels and other hormones.
The drug is used to alleviate the impact of a range of associated conditions such as hot flushes, anxiety, joint pain, disturbed sleep, night sweats and vaginal dryness.
Just moments after slipping into the vest, former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “I’m feeling this on my back now. Imagine making a speech in the House of Commons and suddenly getting a hot flush. If [men] had this, we’d be complaining a lot.”
Carolyn Harris MP, who co-chairs the menopause taskforce, in jest replied: “If you pass out.
“Welcome to my world. I don’t need the vest to be hot and bothered.”
The soaring demand for HRT has been blamed on an uptick in campaigning and media coverage about its benefits.
Labour’s Wes Streeting said: “Women are having to go private. For something that is so common like the menopause, it is outrageous.”
Lesley Salem, founder of Over the Bloody Moon, said: “Hot flushes are one of top three symptoms that impact on the lives of menopausal women – disrupting sleep, increasing levels of anxiety and often affecting women’s performance at work.
“For those who haven’t experienced the feeling, it is easy to underestimate its intensity and fail to appreciate just what an impact it has on daily life.”
