Menopause
What is Menopause, and what are the causes?
The definition of menopause is when a menstruation ceases for a woman for a duration of 12 months. Every woman will go through menopause. Natural hormonal therapy is a way to deal with symptoms of menopause that occur. The average age for menopause is 51, but it is dependent on the family history and the individual herself as well. The age range for North American women to being menopause is between as early as 35, and as late as 60. It is when the hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone, decline. As these signal a woman's body to ovulate and menstruate, the declination of these hormones result in irregular ovulation or menstruation, eventually stopping altogether. The whole process of menopause, depending on family history and age, can take up to 15 years of longer. While usually, the body regulates natural menopause, sometimes surgeries, damage or medications can change the way the body functions, resulting in premature menopause.
Menopause comes in three stages: perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. So, what is perimenopause? It is when the first signs being to show, from irregular periods and spotting, to hot flashes, night sweats and irritability. This is due to the fluctuation of hormone levels in a woman's body. Ovulation and menstruation is sporadic, although a woman can still get pregnant at this time. It can last from 2 to 5 years, but it can also go up to 15 years in the stage.
Menopause, the second stage, occurs at around 50-51, when a woman's period is absent for a consecutive 12 months. Estrogen levels begin to decline, and progesterone will eventually stop being produced. Some symptoms are: mood swings, loss of libido, fatigue, sleep disorders, memory lapses, weight gain, headaches, tingling and hot flashes.
Finally, we reach postmenopause, when menopausal symptoms begin to decrease, although a woman is now freed from hot flashes and night sweats, she is at risk for osteoporosis osteoperosis , heart disease and urinary tract infection.
After menopause, women find that their stress is relieved, without menopausal symptoms.
So, why do these things happen to menopausal women?
For one, menopause is a time of fluctuating hormones. For example, women of menopausal age can fall into depression, or have heavy mood swings, have low serotonin combined with imbalanced estrogen levels, which may explain why their emotions fluctuate so much. During perimenopause, the hormone balance beings to go out of balance. Estrogen and progesterone are, at this point, lower than usually levels.
What factors influence the timing of menopause you ask?
For one, the surgical removal of the ovaries will result in immediate menopause, also called surgical menopause. Surgeries like oophorectomy and hysterectomy affect when and which symptoms of menopause you show. Secondly, if one has undergone cancer chemotherapy or radiation therapy, depending on the type and location of the treatment and the cancer itself, an ovulating woman can have the onset of menopause earlier. Finally, not much is known about the third factor, premature ovarian failure, occurring in 1% of all women, but it may be related to autoimmune disease or hereditary factors.
Although not all women experience this, more than half do, meaning that there's nothing to worry about, a lot of women go through the same experience
Night sweats are simply sisters with hot flashes---they may disrupt sleep, but they essentially are nighttime sweating, complete with sudden and intense heat at night, irregular heartbeat, nausea, flushing, chills, and headaches. This is, again, not uncommon, as it is one of the most typical symptoms of menopause- 75% of women going through menopause experience night sweats. However, while menopause is the most common reason for night sweats, other rare medical causes include diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer and thyroid disorder.
Some women are just more prone to mood swings during menopause because of psychological, behavioral and health factors. For example, past mental illness, stress, past drama or relationship issues, as well as coping with change may increase the severity of the mood swings, smoking, a poor diet and inadequate exercise may have the same effect as well. Having diabetes, early menopause, heart disease, cancer or thyroid disease may be reasons for having a more unstable range of emotions.
However, if one finds herself with extreme mood swings that last for a longer time than typical mood swings, or with ones that put others or herself at risk for harm, or cause her to deviate towards harmful tendencies, one might desire to get professional help. Bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety may be the illnesses one is dealing with, not only the companions of menopause.
To treat menopausal mood swings, often lifestyle change is best; sometimes by getting enough sleep and maintaining a healthy diet, one finds that her mood is lighter and she is genuinely greatly affected by it. Alternative medicines like herbs or supplements, or techniques like acupuncture may go a long way. Drugs often are given as a temporary coping mechanism to deal with mood swings, but do not treat them nor do they deal with them entirely.
What can cause depression during menopause can be the hormone deficiencies, the symptoms of menopause (fatigue, weight gain, etc.), responsibilities in every day life---all of these may become to0 much to handle. The imbalance of hormones prevents your body from handling stress appropriately, and dealing with situations positively. The symptoms of depression can be: irritability, loss of interest in life, changes in appetite, fatigue and changes in sleeping pattern, feelings of worthlessness, inability to concentrate, and thoughts of death/suicide. It is important to treat depression as a disorder with triggers that it is, and not a weakness.
Imbalanced hormones can actually contribute to depression, whether it be estrogen, progesterone or cortisol.
Any cause for a sudden group in estrogen, in a woman, can spark the onset of depression. Those with a pat of mood disorders have larger risk of experiencing depression during menopause as well.
The west way to combat this is to change one's lifestyle. Recommended foods are ones containing zinc (oyster, red meat, liver); magnesium (leafy greens, almonds); protein (lean meat, fish, dairy) and soy (edamame, tofu, miso, soymilk).
In the past, it has been believed that insomnia was brought on mainly because of night sweats --- sweating profusely, irregular heartbeat, sudden or intense heat in the body. However, it has been found that insomnia has other factors too, some of them being decreased estrogen levels or hormonal changes. While night sweats do wake menopausal women up frequently, there are lots of other factors contributing to it, as well. Declining hormone levels impact the sleep cycle, as do health issues like thyroid problems and breathing difficulties, which cause discomfort. Sleep apnea, in which the individual, without even realizing it, experiences abnormal pauses or abnormally low breathing during sleep, also can affect the quality of sleep on as. Life stressors (like martial issues, family issues, financial problems, job stress, etc.) can keep one awake, along with the depression and anxiety that may come with it. Diet and substance use can really affect the way someone sleeps, as do medication sand prescription drugs.
So, what can one do about insomnia? What can a woman do to try and keep up with the sleep schedule, what can one do to sleep well?
For one, cut out the stimulants. Cut out the intake or caffeine, quit smoking, abstain from alcohol, check medications. Check what you put into your body and the side effects that may come from ingesting it.
Secondly, treat your menopausal symptoms. Use antidepressants, or black cohosh, flaxseed oil, or hormone therapy to help you treat your symptoms before they're the ones keeping you up.
Thirdly, as hot flashes/night sweats are easily triggered, don't do things that can easily cause a night sweat in your sleep and ruin, yet again, a perfectly good night. Keep your bedroom cool enough to be comfortable, but not hot enough to trigger another hot sweat. Moderate your body temperature, and practice good sleep hygiene. Sleeping pills for chronic insomnia (for as long as the phase lasts and the hormones balance out, anyway) is generally not a very good idea. They are meant for a determined, short period of sleeplessness, in which one has a time in which it is too stressful to sleep, and in which they usually can sleep every well. Many sleeping pills are addictive. When one stop taking them and their hormones wind down, they may find that the withdrawal from the pills is worse than the insomnia prompted by menopause.
Fatigue: Yet another symptom of menopause, fatigues is when one is perpetually exhausted and feels a lack of energy and cannot put energy into whatever they are doing. It puts pressure and may disrupt relations with other people (because the woman cannot put the effort in, to continue an engaging conversation), the work life (where one is constantly tired and can't put out the effort to do the same work they may have done a few years ago), and daily life (conversing with strangers). Make sure to get enough sleep, do exercise regularly (try yoga), and avoid overworking, take vacations/breaks, limit substances, eat healthily and drink water---all essentials for a healthy body.
-Get rest: insomnia and the inability to fall asleep may be a reason that one cannot remember certain events/ideas. Sleeping will keep energy levels high so that the brain can think and retain any information that comes its way. Sleeping eight hours a day (which, of course, will be hard, as there are night sweats to worry about, and possibly fatigue/insomnia) would be best.
-Eat right: Eating junk food all day just won't cut it. Without the right nutrients, the brain can't take not of information properly! Often, menopause treatment involves lifestyle change. This means trading in the McDonalds for fresh fruit and veggies; the Harvey's for a balance of protein and carbohydrates, and alcohol for juice, because alcohol impairs the memory. Mental acuteness is prompted by, as been tested by researchers, certain foods, like: soy products, blueberries, fish and legumes.
-Reduce Stress: Stress causes the release of the hormone, cortisol, which blocks memories from being stored. Deep breathing, yoga, swimming, or walking may help.
Another symptom of vaginal dryness is painful intercourse or itching. The vaginal walls may tear easily, which might be why spotting or bleeding may occur.
Also, incontinence, the ability to control the bowels, often occurs with vaginal dryness. The vaginal walls may become week, meaning that urine can possibly escape from there. Treatments are: having sex as much as possible, lubricants, and estrogen therapy. Why intercourse? This is because sexual intercourse will help stimulate the mucous glands.
Testosterone also shrinks hair follicles.
Another possible cause for hair loss would be emotional stress, when the adrenal glands get over worked. It has been discovered that when periods of stress stop, sometimes, so do the hair loss.
Ways to help the hair follicles again are by three choices: alternative treatment, lifestyle changes and drugs/surgery.
For alternative treatments, herbal remedies are the most common, although acupuncture and scalp massages may also help stimulate the hair follicles and help the hair grow. There are two types of herbs that can be used for hair loss: phytoestrogenic and non-estrogenic. Phytoestrogenic contains estrogen produced by plants, they help balance a woman's estrogen level by making the estrogen for them, but after a while, they said woman may not be able of producing estrogen, herself. This may make it worse, because the hormone levels in the individual will drop themselves.
Non-estrogenic herbs don't contain estrogen, they help nurture and nourish the pituitary and endocrine glands, which allows them to produce natural hormones more efficiently. The result of this, is the balance of BOTH estrogen and testosterone in the body. Foods that promote hair growth are ones that contain protein (liver, fish, eggs, yogurt), iron (cereal, vegetables, dates, raisins), B vitamins (meat, poultry), essential fatty acids (walnuts, soy), vitamin E (avocado, olive oil, seeds) and sulfur (meat, legumes, nuts, onions).
Drugs and surgery introduce greater risk and higher costs. Drug therapies may include the hormone replacement therapy. This is a quick and effective way to fight against hormonal imbalance, but along with great power, comes great responsibility. There are many side effects, maybe even some still unknown, and may increase the risk of cancer in the women.
In order to treat osteoporosis, one must concentrate on the PREVENTION of bone fractures. Osteoporosis cannot be cured, but the risks of future bone injuries can be decreased. By giving up smoking an alcohol, exercising regularly and including calcium and vitamin D intake (including supplements) into a balanced diet, one can make the appropriate lifestyle changes. Medication may be prescribed.
Surgery options include hair transplant, scalp lifts, or laser therapy are some expensive, time consuming options, and they offer side effects. If hair loss is such that these cosmetic alternatives are considered, make sure to check with a health-care professional before taking such a major, drastic step.
Menopause comes in three stages: perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. So, what is perimenopause? It is when the first signs being to show, from irregular periods and spotting, to hot flashes, night sweats and irritability. This is due to the fluctuation of hormone levels in a woman's body. Ovulation and menstruation is sporadic, although a woman can still get pregnant at this time. It can last from 2 to 5 years, but it can also go up to 15 years in the stage.
Menopause, the second stage, occurs at around 50-51, when a woman's period is absent for a consecutive 12 months. Estrogen levels begin to decline, and progesterone will eventually stop being produced. Some symptoms are: mood swings, loss of libido, fatigue, sleep disorders, memory lapses, weight gain, headaches, tingling and hot flashes.
Finally, we reach postmenopause, when menopausal symptoms begin to decrease, although a woman is now freed from hot flashes and night sweats, she is at risk for osteoporosis osteoperosis , heart disease and urinary tract infection.
The Process
The process of menopause is very much dreaded by women across North America, being preconceived of, as a reminder of old age. However, menopause also means no more periods, no more pre-menstrual symptoms, and no more worrying about getting pregnant. It means you don't need to plan your self life according to your cycle. Many women report that they grow closer to their spouse after menopause.After menopause, women find that their stress is relieved, without menopausal symptoms.
So, why do these things happen to menopausal women?
For one, menopause is a time of fluctuating hormones. For example, women of menopausal age can fall into depression, or have heavy mood swings, have low serotonin combined with imbalanced estrogen levels, which may explain why their emotions fluctuate so much. During perimenopause, the hormone balance beings to go out of balance. Estrogen and progesterone are, at this point, lower than usually levels.
How does Estrogen Affect the MIND?
Areas where estrogen is present are in many sites of the brain, including the hippocampus, one of the regions involved in memory. When activated by estrogen, these regions activate processes that are benefit to the brain. Estrogen raises levels of certain brain chemicals (neurotransmitters). These include neurotransmitters called acetylcholine (memory), serotonin (mood), noradrenalin (mood) and dopamine (motor/movement coordination). Therefore, estrogen actually helps nerve cells to "communicate" with one another.What factors influence the timing of menopause you ask?
For one, the surgical removal of the ovaries will result in immediate menopause, also called surgical menopause. Surgeries like oophorectomy and hysterectomy affect when and which symptoms of menopause you show. Secondly, if one has undergone cancer chemotherapy or radiation therapy, depending on the type and location of the treatment and the cancer itself, an ovulating woman can have the onset of menopause earlier. Finally, not much is known about the third factor, premature ovarian failure, occurring in 1% of all women, but it may be related to autoimmune disease or hereditary factors.
Signs of menopause and related hormonal issues
Estrogen
During Menopause, estrogen levels may go down, causing ovulation to cease. Less estrogen produced by the ovaries, means that a woman's body must search for other sources of estrogen. One of these sources is fat cells. To increase estrogen production, your body works to convert more calories into more fat cells.Progesterone
During menopause, progesterone levels may decrease. While this does not lead directly to weight gain, it does cause water retention and bloating, which disappears within a couple months.Testosterone
During menopause, testosterone levels drop. Since testosterone helps your body convert calories to lean muscle mass, the decrease of this hormone means the loss of muscle, which in turn leads to a lower metabolism.Hot Flashes/Night Sweats
Hot flashes are sudden, intense, hot feeling throughout the body, often flushing the face and upper body. They often come hand in hand with nausea, sweating, anxiety, headaches, dizziness and weakness. It may seem suffocating, and may finish off with a sudden chill and leave one cold. It's caused by the hormonal imbalance, and its heat or frequency may depend on factors like the environment, the medicine taken, or the nutrition absorbed. Hot flashes are just the body's reaction to a declination of estrogen. This is because the hypothalamus, a party of the brain that controls body temperature, sex hormones and sleep, is tricked into believing that the body is too hot, to which it responds by reacting to get rid of the nonexistent, excess heat. The reaction is what women usually experience as hot flashes.Although not all women experience this, more than half do, meaning that there's nothing to worry about, a lot of women go through the same experience
Night sweats are simply sisters with hot flashes---they may disrupt sleep, but they essentially are nighttime sweating, complete with sudden and intense heat at night, irregular heartbeat, nausea, flushing, chills, and headaches. This is, again, not uncommon, as it is one of the most typical symptoms of menopause- 75% of women going through menopause experience night sweats. However, while menopause is the most common reason for night sweats, other rare medical causes include diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer and thyroid disorder.
Mood Swings
Not only does menopause afflict a woman with physical symptoms, it also affects emotional stability. More than half of women going through menopause go through mood swings--when their moods fluctuate and they experience drastic changes in personality or emotions, or perhaps a way they feel towards certain things. This is because the hormones that usually regulate mood and emotion are thrown off balance. Mood wings are typically characterized by unexplainable emotions; depression; sadness; lack of motivational inappropriate emotional reacting to a trigger of cause; extreme moods, from mania to sever depression stress impatience; irritability; aggression; nervousness; etc. Hormones like estrogen help produce serotonin, which is a mood-regulating neurotransmitter. As estrogen is going down, the production of serotonin mimics the levels of estrogen, resulting in a constant imbalance of feelings. Other characteristics of menopause can also cause or influence the onset of mood swings.Some women are just more prone to mood swings during menopause because of psychological, behavioral and health factors. For example, past mental illness, stress, past drama or relationship issues, as well as coping with change may increase the severity of the mood swings, smoking, a poor diet and inadequate exercise may have the same effect as well. Having diabetes, early menopause, heart disease, cancer or thyroid disease may be reasons for having a more unstable range of emotions.
However, if one finds herself with extreme mood swings that last for a longer time than typical mood swings, or with ones that put others or herself at risk for harm, or cause her to deviate towards harmful tendencies, one might desire to get professional help. Bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety may be the illnesses one is dealing with, not only the companions of menopause.
To treat menopausal mood swings, often lifestyle change is best; sometimes by getting enough sleep and maintaining a healthy diet, one finds that her mood is lighter and she is genuinely greatly affected by it. Alternative medicines like herbs or supplements, or techniques like acupuncture may go a long way. Drugs often are given as a temporary coping mechanism to deal with mood swings, but do not treat them nor do they deal with them entirely.
Depression
Depression is a common yet completely serious symptom of menopause. It may lead to severe mental disorders. Women are more likely to fall into depression, especially upon going through menopausal changes---women aged 45-55 are four times more likely to have depression than younger women. This is because menopausal women have hormonal imbalance.What can cause depression during menopause can be the hormone deficiencies, the symptoms of menopause (fatigue, weight gain, etc.), responsibilities in every day life---all of these may become to0 much to handle. The imbalance of hormones prevents your body from handling stress appropriately, and dealing with situations positively. The symptoms of depression can be: irritability, loss of interest in life, changes in appetite, fatigue and changes in sleeping pattern, feelings of worthlessness, inability to concentrate, and thoughts of death/suicide. It is important to treat depression as a disorder with triggers that it is, and not a weakness.
Imbalanced hormones can actually contribute to depression, whether it be estrogen, progesterone or cortisol.
Estrogen
Estrogen usually boosts the amount of the neurotransmitters serotonin and GABA, otherwise known as gamma-Aminobutyric acid. The less estrogen a woman has, the more prone they are to have feelings of sadness, because they are not getting the endorphins that they should be getting. Progesterone balances oxygen, and "calms" the individual as a natural antidepressant. It renews sex drive, and stimulates the kidney to promote urine. However, once the levels rise or lower beyond the normal standards, it can be a contributor to insomnia and bad moods. Cortisol, the stress hormone, once unbalanced, can cause depression. Too high of a level of cortisol, and the individual is dealing with agitation, belly fat and insomnia. Too low, and one is relatively unable to deal with stressful situations, punctuated by fatigue and mood swings/instability.Any cause for a sudden group in estrogen, in a woman, can spark the onset of depression. Those with a pat of mood disorders have larger risk of experiencing depression during menopause as well.
Low Libido
Women often don't understand why and how they seem to have lost the desire to be physically intimate with their partners. However, the loss of libido is common during menopause, and affects from 20 to 40 percent of women. With the loss of libido comes the lack of sexual desire, difficulty becoming aroused, frustration, vaginal dryness and pain (in which itching or irritation may occur), thinning of vaginal walls and painful intercourse. Since a woman's body loses estrogen and progesterone as menopause approaches, the resulting symptoms may contribute to a lack of desire, like hot flashes, or fatigue, or vaginal dryness. The lowered levels of androgens like testosterone actually cause women to experience a loss of libido as well.The west way to combat this is to change one's lifestyle. Recommended foods are ones containing zinc (oyster, red meat, liver); magnesium (leafy greens, almonds); protein (lean meat, fish, dairy) and soy (edamame, tofu, miso, soymilk).
Insomnia
Insomnia is a term for disturbed sleep or sleeping difficulty. Not getting a good night's sleep can actually affect so many things. It can continuously drain one's body of energy, and leave one feeling frustrated, easily irritated, and even possibly, depressed. One can feel like they cannot concentrate or have blurred visions, or even hallucinate.In the past, it has been believed that insomnia was brought on mainly because of night sweats --- sweating profusely, irregular heartbeat, sudden or intense heat in the body. However, it has been found that insomnia has other factors too, some of them being decreased estrogen levels or hormonal changes. While night sweats do wake menopausal women up frequently, there are lots of other factors contributing to it, as well. Declining hormone levels impact the sleep cycle, as do health issues like thyroid problems and breathing difficulties, which cause discomfort. Sleep apnea, in which the individual, without even realizing it, experiences abnormal pauses or abnormally low breathing during sleep, also can affect the quality of sleep on as. Life stressors (like martial issues, family issues, financial problems, job stress, etc.) can keep one awake, along with the depression and anxiety that may come with it. Diet and substance use can really affect the way someone sleeps, as do medication sand prescription drugs.
So, what can one do about insomnia? What can a woman do to try and keep up with the sleep schedule, what can one do to sleep well?
For one, cut out the stimulants. Cut out the intake or caffeine, quit smoking, abstain from alcohol, check medications. Check what you put into your body and the side effects that may come from ingesting it.
Secondly, treat your menopausal symptoms. Use antidepressants, or black cohosh, flaxseed oil, or hormone therapy to help you treat your symptoms before they're the ones keeping you up.
Thirdly, as hot flashes/night sweats are easily triggered, don't do things that can easily cause a night sweat in your sleep and ruin, yet again, a perfectly good night. Keep your bedroom cool enough to be comfortable, but not hot enough to trigger another hot sweat. Moderate your body temperature, and practice good sleep hygiene. Sleeping pills for chronic insomnia (for as long as the phase lasts and the hormones balance out, anyway) is generally not a very good idea. They are meant for a determined, short period of sleeplessness, in which one has a time in which it is too stressful to sleep, and in which they usually can sleep every well. Many sleeping pills are addictive. When one stop taking them and their hormones wind down, they may find that the withdrawal from the pills is worse than the insomnia prompted by menopause.
Fatigue: Yet another symptom of menopause, fatigues is when one is perpetually exhausted and feels a lack of energy and cannot put energy into whatever they are doing. It puts pressure and may disrupt relations with other people (because the woman cannot put the effort in, to continue an engaging conversation), the work life (where one is constantly tired and can't put out the effort to do the same work they may have done a few years ago), and daily life (conversing with strangers). Make sure to get enough sleep, do exercise regularly (try yoga), and avoid overworking, take vacations/breaks, limit substances, eat healthily and drink water---all essentials for a healthy body.
Memory Loss
Whether it is trouble finding words or forgetting what happened or what one said a couple minutes ago, memory loss comes with the deficit of estrogen, and is a lesser-known part of menopause. Not only does estrogen influence memory, but it also impacts one's language skills, mood, attention, and other functions. However, it is not the sole and major cause of memory loss, so studies were taken, and scientists found that the symptoms of menopause may contribute to forgetfulness. As menopause is such a time of stress, and weight loss, hot flashes and mood swings all contribute to much tension, memory loss may be linked to that. Memory loss includes forgetting what one just did, or past events, with no way to connect different happenings and link them or associate them to one another (also called missing links). It can be forgetting how to spell a word, or maybe being firm in the fact that a certain spelling is right, even when it is, in fact, wrong. It may be losing the ability to punctuate or calculate properly. More time may be taken to add up numbers. Remembering something the speed at which it is remembered, and the accuracy or how it happened, may deteriorate somewhat. It may be, even more specifically, forgetting what happened during a movie, but remembering how they reacted emotionally to it.Ways to keep the brain in tune are:
-To activate the brain: Keep up with the cognitive skills with crosswords, brainteasers, Sudoku, or any mind-engaging games. Evening or weekend classes unrelated to work, but related to something that one has always wished to do, and enjoy doing, will not add o the stress, but take away from it and also keep the brain healthy at the same times. Travel is a great way to stimulate the brain as well.-Get rest: insomnia and the inability to fall asleep may be a reason that one cannot remember certain events/ideas. Sleeping will keep energy levels high so that the brain can think and retain any information that comes its way. Sleeping eight hours a day (which, of course, will be hard, as there are night sweats to worry about, and possibly fatigue/insomnia) would be best.
-Eat right: Eating junk food all day just won't cut it. Without the right nutrients, the brain can't take not of information properly! Often, menopause treatment involves lifestyle change. This means trading in the McDonalds for fresh fruit and veggies; the Harvey's for a balance of protein and carbohydrates, and alcohol for juice, because alcohol impairs the memory. Mental acuteness is prompted by, as been tested by researchers, certain foods, like: soy products, blueberries, fish and legumes.
-Reduce Stress: Stress causes the release of the hormone, cortisol, which blocks memories from being stored. Deep breathing, yoga, swimming, or walking may help.
Vaginal Dryness
Vaginal dryness is also called vaginal atrophy, and mostly affects women between the ages of 40-65. Estrogen is in charge of helping mucus membranes make the vagina moist. Estrogen helps maintain the vaginal health and elasticity, and the lubricant secreted is slightly acidic, helping protect the vagina from bacteria. Since estrogen levels decrease during menopause, the mucous membranes produce less mucous, resulting in a weaker and sensitive, dry and thin vaginal wall. Acid levels begin to decline, meaning more infections.Another symptom of vaginal dryness is painful intercourse or itching. The vaginal walls may tear easily, which might be why spotting or bleeding may occur.
Also, incontinence, the ability to control the bowels, often occurs with vaginal dryness. The vaginal walls may become week, meaning that urine can possibly escape from there. Treatments are: having sex as much as possible, lubricants, and estrogen therapy. Why intercourse? This is because sexual intercourse will help stimulate the mucous glands.
Hair Loss
Hair loss is another very common, yet least emphasized part of menopause. During menopause, hormones are imbalanced. Estrogen helps hair grow faster, and stay on the heat for a longer duration, but falling levels of estrogen often results in estrogenic alopecia. Androgens, male hormones, increase during menopause, when estrogen decreases. The hair loss that results is called androgenic alopecia. An androgen called dihydrotestosterone forces hair follicles to "rest" sooner than it's normal to, which means that new hairs grow thinner with every cycle of hair growth.Testosterone also shrinks hair follicles.
Another possible cause for hair loss would be emotional stress, when the adrenal glands get over worked. It has been discovered that when periods of stress stop, sometimes, so do the hair loss.
Ways to help the hair follicles again are by three choices: alternative treatment, lifestyle changes and drugs/surgery.
For alternative treatments, herbal remedies are the most common, although acupuncture and scalp massages may also help stimulate the hair follicles and help the hair grow. There are two types of herbs that can be used for hair loss: phytoestrogenic and non-estrogenic. Phytoestrogenic contains estrogen produced by plants, they help balance a woman's estrogen level by making the estrogen for them, but after a while, they said woman may not be able of producing estrogen, herself. This may make it worse, because the hormone levels in the individual will drop themselves.
Non-estrogenic herbs don't contain estrogen, they help nurture and nourish the pituitary and endocrine glands, which allows them to produce natural hormones more efficiently. The result of this, is the balance of BOTH estrogen and testosterone in the body. Foods that promote hair growth are ones that contain protein (liver, fish, eggs, yogurt), iron (cereal, vegetables, dates, raisins), B vitamins (meat, poultry), essential fatty acids (walnuts, soy), vitamin E (avocado, olive oil, seeds) and sulfur (meat, legumes, nuts, onions).
Drugs and surgery introduce greater risk and higher costs. Drug therapies may include the hormone replacement therapy. This is a quick and effective way to fight against hormonal imbalance, but along with great power, comes great responsibility. There are many side effects, maybe even some still unknown, and may increase the risk of cancer in the women.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is when the bone deteriorates in terms of density, and can cause fractures. Hormonal imbalances and aging work together and accelerates the decrease of bone mineral density during menopause.In order to treat osteoporosis, one must concentrate on the PREVENTION of bone fractures. Osteoporosis cannot be cured, but the risks of future bone injuries can be decreased. By giving up smoking an alcohol, exercising regularly and including calcium and vitamin D intake (including supplements) into a balanced diet, one can make the appropriate lifestyle changes. Medication may be prescribed.
Cardiovascular Disease
Menopause increases a woman's risk of heart disease. For women who have reached postmenopause, the risk of coronary heart disease is 2-3 times greater than those of who have not yet reached menopause, but are at the same age. Perhaps this is because of lower estrogen levels, but post menopausal woman are also discouraged from taking hormone therapy to prevent higher risks of heart attack and stroke.Surgery options include hair transplant, scalp lifts, or laser therapy are some expensive, time consuming options, and they offer side effects. If hair loss is such that these cosmetic alternatives are considered, make sure to check with a health-care professional before taking such a major, drastic step.
