Managing Menopause

Healthy Living
Womens Health

When a middle aged woman seems to be irritable, throws frequent temper tantrums, appears quiet at times, it’s not what she deliberately wishes to be like, but it is the period of her life which give rise to such behavior in her. It is menopause – a gradual, but permanent cessation of menstruation.

Ovulation is the process when the ovaries, female gonad, produce ovum (eggs). The gradual stoppage of this process is menopause. Every woman is prone to experience this period in her life.

On an average, menopause occurs at the age of 51 years. But it is hard to predict an individual woman’s age of entering this period. The age at which a woman starts having menstrual periods is also not related to the age of menopause onset. Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, but menopause may occur as earlier as the 30s or 40s or may not occur until a woman reaches her 60s.

A recent survey revealed that women who smoke are prone to attain menopause early. The symptoms usually last up to five years.

The symptoms of this state are urogenital atrophy like itching, dryness, bleeding, increase urinary frequency, urinary urgency, urinary incontinence; skeletal disorders, namely, osteoporosis, joint pain, muscle pain, back pain, etc. signify menopause. Sexual symptoms of the onset of menopause are vaginal dryness, problems reaching orgasm, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse, due to medical or psychological causes), discharge, yeast infections (a common side effect of antibiotics, steroids, and some chemotherapies). Breast atrophy and skin thinning are some of the skin and soft tissue problems. Menopause can also be detected by psychological instabilities like mood disturbance, irritability, fatigue, memory loss, depression, lack of sleep.

During a woman’s reproductive years, the monthly production and release of eggs from the ovaries is regular. This release provides a continual flow of progesterone and estrogen, hormones necessary to prepare the body for a successful pregnancy.

As a woman ages, her body no longer releases the stimulating signals that induce ovulation of eggs from the ovaries. Eventually, the process of production and release of ovum result becomes irregular and a measurable decrease in the associated hormones. This decrease in hormones affects the body’s ability to maintain calcium levels and an increased loss of minerals from the bones. The net loss of calcium from the skeleton is a combination of changes in calcium excretion and calcium absorption.

Menopause is not a disease that requires a treatment but it is a state, a period of life. Nevertheless, this state, at times, becomes severe. Thus there are a few treatments to overcome it.

Hormone therapy (HT), also referred to as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT), consists of estrogens or a combination of estrogens and progesterone (progestin). Hormone therapy has been used to control the symptoms of menopause related to declining estrogen levels such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness, and HT is still the most effective way to treat these symptoms.

Oral contraceptive pills are another form of hormone therapy often prescribed for women in perimenopause to treat irregular vaginal bleeding.

There are also local (meaning vaginal) hormonal treatments for the symptoms of vaginal estrogen deficiency. Local treatments include the vaginal estrogen ring, vaginal estrogen cream, or vaginal estrogen tablets.

For women who are not supposed to take oral or vaginal estrogens, such as breast cancer survivors, or women who do not wish to take oral or vaginal estrogen, there are a variety of over-the-counter vaginal lubricants.

Menopause, being part of natural physiological process, cannot be avoided, but its awareness can reduce many complications. A balanced diet, avoidance of alcohol, regular meals, exercise, etc. help maintain a healthy physique, and consequently prepare our body to face all physiological changes and challenges.