Let us talk about menopause

I am 50 years old and already experiencing scanty blood during menses, unnecessary heat even when the weather is cool and sometimes dryness of my private part. Kindly enlighten us more about this condition.

Ms Heken Q.

Menopause is described as “the change of life” or simply “the change”. It means the permanent cessation of the monthly menstrual period.

Symptoms

Although the average woman will go through menopause at the age of 51, the normal range at which menopause may occur extends from 42 to 58.

• If a woman younger than 40 undergoes menopause naturally, she is said to be experiencing premature menopause.
• Women who undergo premature menopause should be carefully evaluated by a clinician to make sure that there is no disease underlying the changes.
• For five to 10 years before menstrual periods actually cease, the body begins to undergo various neuro-endocrine and ovarian changes. This period is called the perimenopausal transition.
• For reasons still little understood, it is marked by changes in the menstrual cycle: shorter periods, irregular periods, heavy menstrual flow, or a combination of all three, differing from month to month.
• Because many perimenopausal women are still ovulating (releasing eggs from the ovary) despite irregular periods, contraception is necessary until menses have stopped for at least one year.
• During the perimenopausal period there is a gradual decline in the production of estrogen hormones by the ovaries. This decline accelerates as menopause approaches. As a result, changes occur in the many bodily tissues that are responsive to estrogen, including the vagina, vulva, uterus, bladder, urethra, breasts, bones, heart, blood vessels, brain, skin, hair and mucous membranes.
• Perhaps the most common of the symptoms associated with estrogen loss, affecting approximately 75 per cent of women having a natural menopause and 90 per cent of those having a surgical menopause are “hot flashes”. Technically, a hot flash is the subjective feeling of warmth that a woman feels before there is any measurable change in her temperature. This is followed by the hot flush, a physiologically measurable change marked by visible redness and sometimes sweating in the chest, neck and face.
• Hot flushes are more common at night than in the daytime. These night sweats are often severe enough to interfere with sleep, and they seem to account for a good deal of insomnia among menopausal women.
• It is likely that many of the negative attributes once chalked up to menopause itself, mood swings, irritability, depression, fatigue, can be traced to the sleep disturbances caused by night sweats.

Treatment

• It is a good idea to see a clinician after periods have stopped for six to 12 months. At this point, the clinician will probably discuss the association between menopause and the risk of developing certain chronic diseases such as osteoporosis.
• Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) helps women in coping with the condition. However, those with personal history of breast or uterine cancer, active liver disease, or active thrombophlebitis (vein disorder) are not adviced to use the therapy.
• Also, menopause is an excellent time to reassess exercise, good nutrition, and health care patterns with an eye to preventing chronic diseases and also women should continue to explore their sexuality, engaging and enjoying sexual intercourse with the help of using lubricants.