Menopause. A Womans Change of Life.

Menopause is probably the point in life for most women that brings about not problems for them physically but emotionally as well. This best description for this period of a woman’s life is the experiences that she will have before or after she stops menstruating signaling the end of her reproductive period.

Causes

Women are born with a limited number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries which also produce the two hormones estrogen and progesterone, which regulate both menstruation and ovulation. Menopause occurs in women when the ovaries no longer are capable of producing an egg every month and menstruation stops.

With menopause, when it occurs after the age of 40 in women this is considered natural in women and is accepted as a normal part of aging. But with some women they may experience this situation earlier in life either as a result of a surgical intervention such as a hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries which may be caused by chemotherapy. Menopause that occurs in women prior to the age of 40, regardless of the cause is called premature menopause.

How Does Natural Menopause Occur?

Natural menopause in women is the permanent ending of menstruation that is not brought on by any type of medical treatment but naturally as part of a women’s life. Women who undergo and experience natural menopause, the process is definitely gradual and is described in the following three stages:

Perimenopause: With Perimenopause this stage begins several years prior to menopause and during this time a woman’s e ovaries gradually starts to produce less estrogen. Perimenopause lasts up until the next stage which is menopause at which point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. During the last one to two years of perimenopause, the decrease in estrogen accelerates and at this stage, many women will then start to experience the symptoms of menopause.
Menopause: Menopause is the point at which a woman has her last menstrual period and at this stage the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and producing most of their estrogen. Menopause is diagnosed and described as the period when a woman has gone without having a period for 12 consecutive months.
Postmenopause: Postmenopause is described as the period of life that a woman experiences after finishing menopause. During this stage of a woman’s life, menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, ease for most women though health risks related to the loss of estrogen increase as woman age.

Check out the following two Videos from You Tube discussing Menopause and Treatment Options with Dr. May Blanchard from the University of Maryland Medical Center:

Part One:

Part Two:

Causes of Premature Menopause

Premature menopause may be caused by the result of genetics, by autoimmune disorders, or by medical procedures as well as the following conditions that may cause early menopause.

Premature ovarian failure. Normally with women, the ovaries are responsible for producing the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. When the changes in the levels of these two hormones occur within the ovaries for unknown reasons prematurely the result the stop in production of eggs by the ovaries. When this change occurs in women prior to the age of 40, it is considered to be premature ovarian failure and unlike premature menopause having premature ovarian failure is not always permanent.
Induced menopause. With induced menopause this scenario occurs in women when the ovaries have to be removed surgically due to medical reasons that include uterine cancer or endometriosis. As well induced menopause may also result from damage to the ovaries that may be caused by either radiation or chemotherapy.

Symptoms of Menopause

When women go through the change in life called menopause they will experience hot flashes, which is the sudden feeling of warmth that spreads over the upper body that is as well often accompanied by both blushing and some sweating. The severity of hot flashes may vary in women from mild in most women to severe cases experienced by others.

The following are other symptoms that women will experience during menopause(not all women will experience all these symptoms):

Irregular or skipped periods
Insomnia
Mood swings
Fatigue
Depression
Irritability
Racing heart
Headaches
Joint and muscle aches and pains
Changes in libido (sex drive)
Vaginal dryness
Bladder control problems

How women should know when they are in menopause

When a woman begins to notice the signs of menopause, they will either suspect the approach of menopause on their own, or their doctor will put two and two together when they report of their symptoms to their doctor. There are two very simple tests that can accurately determine what's going on and what stage of menopause that a woman is in. A woman’s follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels will dramatically rise as their ovaries begin to shut down and these levels are easily checked through having a blood test.

As well a woman’s vaginal walls will begin to thin and the cells lining their vagina will not contain as much estrogen as previously. By seeing a d doctor, they will simply take a Pap-like smear from their vaginal walls which is both simple and painless; and then they will analyze the smear to check for vaginal atrophy which is the thinning and drying out of a woman’s vagina. It well advised for a woman to keep track of their periods and to chart them as they become irregular. A change in a woman’s menstrual pattern will be an added clue to their doctor about whether they are pre- or perimenopausal.

Menopause and Long Term Health Problems

The loss of estrogen associated with menopause has been linked to a number of health problems in women that will become more common as women age. Women who have finished going through menopause are more likely to suffer from the following:

Osteoporosis (brittle-bone disease).
Heart disease.
Poor bladder and bowel function.
Poor brain function (increased risk of Alzheimer's disease).
Poor skin elasticity (increased wrinkling).
Poor muscle power and tone.
Some deterioration in vision, such as from cataracts (clouding of the lens of the eye) and macular degeneration (breakdown of the tiny spot in the center of the retina that is the center of vision).

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