Menopause – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
September 5th, 2008 by beauty1Menopause is a naturally-occurring part of life for a woman, and it occurs when the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone, two essential hormones that make-up a woman’s reproductive ability, thus ending her menstrual cycle. It usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 58 (the average age is 51). Though rare, menopause can also occur as early as the 30s or as late as the 60s.
Menopause is not a disease or an illness. Menopause is simply the name given to the last menstrual period. Menopause before the age of 40 is termed ‘early menopause’. Early menopause affects 15% before the age of 45 affects 15% of the population. Menopause is the natural and normal body process of a woman, which may result in the changing or halting of her monthly menstrual cycles. Menopausal women can experience emotional ups and downs, including anxiety, depression, cravings, and forgetfulness.
Causes of Menopause
Menopause causes many biochemical changes in your body and often menopause and hair loss occur simultaneously. Rather menopause causes hair loss in women. Although women rarely turn bald due to menopause and hair loss, it occurs mainly as thinning of hair. Before menopause, high estrogen levels negate the effects of low testosterone levels. However, during menopause, higher testosterone levels combine with enzyme 5 alpha reeducates to form DHT, the main cause for thinning of hair in women.
The average age of menopause in U.S. is 51. The huge majority of women enter it between 44 and 56. However, approximately one percent of women experience it before age 40. Per menopause is the transition that starts when your menstrual periods begin to become irregular. It ends 365 days after they stop totally. Per menopause typically lasts from 2 to 8 years. Technically speaking, menopause is just one day. It is the last day of your final period. However, menopause is confirmed after you have missed 12 consecutive periods.
Symptoms of Menopause
Menopause symptoms are as different as women themselves. Some women do not have any symptoms during menopause or only have a few symptoms. Other women develop disturbing and even severe symptoms. In the western world about 12 percent of woman does not experience symptoms of menopause and about 14 percent experience intense physical or emotional problems. The average age of US women in whom menopause occurs is 51 years.
Treatment of Menopause
A treatment for menopause that has been used for some time is hormone replacement therapy or HRT. This is just replacing estrogen and progesterone hormones with small doses of estrogen or a combination of estrogen and progesterone. This treatment is used to relieve the symptoms of menopause especially hot flashes and vaginal dryness. There is some controversy about this treatment as it has been linked to breast cancer, stroke and heat attacks. Doctors are now using it in minimal doses and exercising caution. Estrogen can be given orally, vaginally or combined.
Menopause can happen in one of two ways –naturally or medically. When it occurs naturally, the ovaries gradually slow their production of eggs that were necessary for reproduction. When egg production eventually ceases altogether, the production of estrogen also ceases. While natural menopause happens gradually, medically-induced menopause occurs after a radical surgery that requires the removal of the ovaries. In either instance, the elimination of estrogen causes a host of symptoms.
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