Menopause - An Overview of a Natural Process in a Woman’s Life

What is menopause?

• Each and every women experience a normal condition known as menopause as they grow old. At one time, the menstrual cycle stops permanently, that is menstruation ceases and as a result the woman is no longer fertile also, that is she can’t become pregnant anymore. This entire natural biological process in a woman’s life is known as menopause.

Time

• Menopause takes place after 12 months of a woman’s last menstrual period. It can happen between 40-50 years of age.

Symptoms

Although menopause starts after a woman did not have menstrual period for 1 year, but symptoms of menopause are seen to appear generally before that 1 year time gets over.

• Changes in menstrual pattern - The first symptom is having irregular menstrual periods. Some have periods every 2 or 3 weeks whereas some does not have any for a month. Some woman also experience light and heavy menstrual periods during this time.
• Drying of the vagina - The low level of estrogen decreases the supply of blood to the vagina, which in turn affects vaginal lubrication thus making it dry. Along with vaginal dryness, they also experience an itching sensation and pain.
• Hot flashes and night sweats - Many women experience a feeling of warmth or heat suddenly spreading over the upper part of their body. This is known as hot flash and it is accompanied by sweating. Face, neck or chests are at first affected by hot flashes and as a result reddening of the skin takes place along with sweating. An increased or irregular heart rate is seen in many women. Hot flashes that occur in bed are referred to as night sweats. As a result of night sweats, many woman faces problem in sleeping. Sleeping problem can also be due to insomnia.

Other symptoms of menopause are psychological changes such as depression or anxiety or concentration problem, urinary tract infections, thinning or loss of hair and loss of the size of the breast.

Some women also experience menopause problems such as digestive problems and bladder control problems. Changes in the hormonal levels are mainly responsible for these menopause problems. The low level of estrogen causes weakening of pelvic muscles which control the bladder movement. This result in urinary incontinence and pain while urinating. Digestive problems cause constipation, gain in weight and pain in the abdomen which are the very common menopause problems.

After that 1 year, even if a woman bleeds or experiences some spotting, then she is considered to be post-menopausal. Post-menopause is the time in a woman’s life which comes after menopause. They face many post menopause disorders during this time due to low estrogen level and due to aging. Some of these post menopause disorders can be prevented and some can be delayed, thus helping women to lead a healthy life after menopause.

Two very common post menopause disorders are osteoporosis and heart disease.

• Osteoporosis- A low density of bone mineral increases the risk of fractures caused by osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is also responsible for thinning of bones in women who are 65 years old or younger. Having food rich in vitamin D and calcium is very important for women during this post-menopausal phase.

Heart disease - Heart diseases include coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure etc. Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in women and to prevent it, every woman should do a regular check of their blood pressure and cholesterol. Stroke and sleep are inter-related. The risk of stroke can be changed by the amount of your sleep and too little or too much sleep can also increase the risk of stroke during this post menopausal phase.