Menopause describes the stage of woman’s life when her menstrual periods
stop permanently and she can no longer get pregnant.
Menopause is not a disease or disorder and it is normal part of aging process
for women.
It is diagnosed after 12 months without menstrual period,vaginal
bleeding or spotting.
Menopause can happen any time after 45 years of age and average age for
menopause is 51 years.
What are the 3 stages of menopause?
Stage 2 Menopause Menopause is the point when we no longer have menstrual periods. Now ovaries do not produce eggs, and our body does not produce estrogen. Menopause happens when we do not see periods for 12 consecutive months.
Stage 3 Post menopause is the time periods after menopause for rest of our life . Many symptoms of menopauseeaseout, but some people continue to feel mild symptom for severalyears. At this stage of life ,we are prone to have osteoporosis and heart disease due to decreased estrogen levels in our body.
WHAT IS PREMATURE MENOPAUSE?
Menopause, when occurs before the age of 45 years is called early menopause.
Menopause that occurs before age of 40 years is called premature menopause.
Symptoms of Menopause
When we are in transition phase to menopause ,we begin experiencing some
or all of the following symptoms:-
- Irregular periods - Hot flashes - Night sweats - Loss of libido and dryness of vagina - Insomnia - Mood swings, depression - Breast tenderness - Weight gain - Hair Loss and Hair Become brittle
Why does Menopause happen?
1. Natural decline of hormones is seen when we reach to mid 40s. Our ovaries start producing less of hormones which bring in periods.
These are estrogen and progesterone hormones and so becoming pregnant
after 40s is also difficult .
Now the symptoms range from shorter to longer menstrual cycles. Bleeding
could become heavy or only spotting for many days .
This can happen till we actually reach menopause when we don’t see
periods for consecutive 12 months.
2. Surgery that removes
ovaries can give instant menopause an suddenly there are no hormones in our
body .The symptoms can be severe because surgery cause hormones to drop at once
rather than slowly over several years .
3. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause menopause symptoms
.
The symptoms become ok after these therapies are stopped.
4. Primary ovarian insufficiency
About 1-2% of women get symptoms of menopause before 40 years of age. This is due to gene change or an autoimmune disease.This is also called premature menopause .
Why are we bothered about menopause?
After menopause, risk of certain medical conditions increases.
Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases :– With decreasing estrogen levels, risk of cardiovascular disease increases.
Increased risk of fractures :- Weakness of bones called osteoporosis is seen when estrogen level is low . We lose bone density quickly and this increases the risk of osteoporosis .
Urinary incontinence –
loss of bladder control with changes in tissues
of vagina and urethra. we leak urine while coughing laughing etc. this is called urinary incontinence .
Urinary tract infections- We often get urinary tract infections.
Sexual problem- Decrease in estrogen levels causes Vagina to become dry and lose its stretch ability. we do not get much lubrication so sexual contact becomes pain full also we observe low sex desire called low libido.
Weight gain- We gain weight as calorie burning called metabolism becomesslow . We see more weight coming on abdomen and this is really worrisome.
Diagnosis
Symptoms and age are sufficient to diagnose menopause.
Sometimes some blood tests like - FSH - LH - AMH
Ultrasound pelvis are helpful.
Management of Menopause
1. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – tablets, skin patches,
gels and implants that relieve menopausal symptoms by replacing oestrogen.
2. Vaginal oestrogen creams, lubricants or moisturisers for
vaginal dryness.
3. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – a type of talking
therapy that can help with low mood and anxiety
4 Eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising regularly –
maintaining a healthy weight and staying fit and strong