How Much You Know About Menopause?
Woman are born with a finite number of eggs which are stored in ovaries. During a women’s fertile years, her ability to produce an egg each month is associated with the release of reproductive hormones, oestrogen. The reproductive hormones stimulates the female characteristics and reproductive cycle of women. When the ovaries lose their reproductive function and no longer release an egg every month, menopause occur.
Menopause
Menopause, occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 has three natural stage. Perimenopause typically begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually oestrogen.
At this stage, many women experienced menopause symptoms. However, women are still having menstrual cycle and able to get pregnant during this stage.
Menopause is the stage when woman no longer has menstrual period. It is diagnosed when a women has gone without period for 12 consecutive month.
Postmenopause is the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes can ease for most women. There is also increased risk for certain health conditions due to loss of estrogen such as oesteoporsis and heart disease.
Sign and Symptoms
All the common symptoms of the menopause are associated with a decrease in the body’s production of oestrogen.
Hot Flashes
A sudden feeling of heat that spead over the upper body. A hot flash generally last between 30 seconds and 10 minutes, according to the National Institute on Aging.
Vaginal Dryness and Pain with Intercourse
The decreased production of reproductive hormones can affect the thin layer of moisture that coats the vaginal walls. Thus, vaginal dryness can make intercourse painful and may cause lightly bleed or urinary urgency.
Insomnia
Most women experience sleeping problem during perimenopause and menopause.
Depression and Mood Swings
Changes in hormone production always affect the mental stability of women during menopause. Women report feeling of irritability, depression and mood swings during this period.
Skin, Hair, and Other Tissues Changes
Loss of fatty tisses and collagen will make your skin dried and thinner and resulted in loss of elasticity and lubrication of the skin near vagina and urinary tract. It may cause hair loss and dry hair.
Health Risk Associated with Menopause
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become very weak and can break easily. As oestrogen plays an important roles in preserving bone mass, women starting with menopause are at risk for developing osteoporosis. In fact, women lose an average of 25 percent of their bone mass from the time of menopause to age 60. Thus this may lead to a bone break or fracture later in life.
Cardiovascular Disease
Common cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis (a narrowing and hardening of the arteries), angina (not enough blood is getting to the heart, heart attack and stroke. Women has increased risk of getting these diseases after menopause due to hormone changes in the body.
Positive Time of Life
While menopause is a normal transition and a biological certainty, every women’s experience is unique. Although it may cause some noticeable and uncomfortable changes, these can be effectively managed.
Therefore, this is a crucial time when your body deserves some tender loving care. Most certainly, menopause can be a positive time of life.
