A Simple Guide to Menopause

A Simple Guide to Menopause(Part 1)
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What is Menopause?
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Menopause is the cessation of menstruation occuring in women between the ages of 45 and 55 years.
It is important to stress that it is NOT an illness but a natural event.
The age that menopause occur may vary with different women.


What Causes Menopause?
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Natural Menopause
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From puberty a woman starts releasing eggs from their ovaries.
Both the ovaries and eggs produces female hormones.
These hormones thickens lining of the womb in preparation for a pregnancy.
If the pregnancy does not occur, the lining of the womb is shed off as blood and cells(menses).
As the woman grows older, less eggs are produced resulting in reduced production of the female hormones.
This causes the menstrual periods to be less or more than usual.
When no more eggs are produced, the amount of the hormones produced are not enough to cause the lining of the womb to thicken.
As a result menstruation will stop.

Menopause is said to be established when the woman does not have any menstruation for one year.

Premature Menopause
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Premature menopause occurs when the menses stop in a woman before the age of 40 yrs.
The causes of premature menopause are
1.surgery to remove the womb or ovaries in the case of cancer,
2. chemotherapy and
3. radiotherapy.

Without the protective effect of oestrogen, these young women will have a higher chance of having osteoporosis and heart disease later in life .

Women who smokes usually have menopause 2 years earlier than non-smokers.

What are the symptoms and signs in Menopause?
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Most women do not have any symptoms except for the loss of their monthly periods.

In others, the change in female hormones may cause the following symptoms:

1.Irregular menstrual patterns - usually the menses can become lighter or further apart.
One or two periods may be missed.

2.Hot flushes -sudden feeling of heat starting from the chest to the face.
There may be associated sweating, fast heart beats, fainting and insomnia.
The exact cause is not known and may be due to vasomotor disturbances related to the fluctuating hormone levels.
It usually improve after 1-2 years.

3.Vaginal tract changes - With menopause, the walls of the vagina become thinner, dryer because of less secretions, and more prone to infection.
Because ot these changes, sexual intercourse may be uncomfortable or painful.

3.Incontinence - With age and onset of menopause, the muscles around the bladder opening may weaken, leading to leakage of urine with straining or coughing (incontinence).
Muscles of pelvic floor loses tone with possible prolapse of uterus.

4.Breasts tissues may become atrophied with decrease in size of the nipples.
The breast may become more pendulous.

5.Skin may be less smooth and wrinkles may appear.
Hair may also become thinner and dryer.

6.Mood and memory: irritability, anxiety, depression, insomnia (difficulty in sleeping), poor concentration and poor memory may be due to the lowered female hormones or pyschological due to change in the body, skin and appearance.

What are complications of Menopause?
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1.Osteoporosis:
The bones may become brittle, fragile and fracture easily after menopause because oestrogen is important in maintaining bone mass.
Hormone replacement may be able to reduce the bone loss and prevent osteoporosis.

2.Cancer:
Menopause itself does not cause an increased risk of women cancer.
It is rather the age group that they are in which may increase the risk of cancer.

3.Heart disease and stroke
After menopause, women are more likely to get hypertension or high blood cholesterol which increases the risk of a heart attack and stroke.

4.Metabolic disease
Again after menopause, some women tend to burn less energy and gain weight.
Decrease in metabolism leads to accumulation of sugars which can increase the risk of Diabetes