What is a Climacteric Woman?

Proof That All That Glitters is Not Gold

Yesterday at work, I was quickly scanning the medical chart of a 25-year-old woman when I came across the physician’s report of her last visit with the patient. It said: “This prematurely climacteric female presented via video appointment…”

Oh No! Not Again!

Wha…What? I have never heard the word “climacteric,” but seeing how the person who wrote it was a gynecologist, (and, well, let’s be honest, the word resembled “climax”) I immediately assumed that this person suffered from a rare medical condition called Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD). PGAD is a condition where the sufferer has multiple orgasms a day. Now, while on the surface that may seem like a great disorder to have, it’s actually a form of torture. Not only does the person not have any control over when the orgasms happen (can anyone say “awkward staff meeting”?), but some people with the disorder have been known to have 180 orgasms in a single day. Not so fun after all, eh?

The Real Definition

But what threw me off about the word was actually the word that came before it: prematurely. PGAD isn’t associated with an age group, so I knew I was wrong about its definition. And so, being a word lover, like I am sure all of you Medium readers are as well, my fingers fluttered across the keyboard as I quickly looked it up in a medical dictionary (Miller-Keane, n.d.), and this is what I found: “The complex changes at the end of female the reproductive period; it may also accompany normal diminution of sexual activity in the male.” Menopause. It means menopause in both males and females. Of course.

Sensitivity Matters

Why didn’t the physician just say “menopausal” woman instead of a fancy, glittery word like “climacteric”? There could be a lot of reasons, but I suspect it had to do with sensitivity. Healthcare workers know that their patients often request copies of their medical charts. The doctor may know that this woman is extremely sensitive to her condition and decided that, if the patient ever read her medical chart, it would be painful for her to read the word “menopausal” so she wrote “climacteric” instead. Now that’s a doctor I want treating me and my loved ones.

Climacteric. (n.d.) Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. (2003). https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/climacteric

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