Live Life Team
Menopause or the “change of life” refers to the condition when menstruation ends, basically when a woman stops getting her periods. Researchers have found out that the average age of reaching menopause is 52. Menopause can be medically explained as the end of ovulation (production of eggs). This happens due to a reduction in the level female sex hormones called oestrogen, which is responsible for the regulation of menstruation. Peri – menopause refers to the time leading to menopause and Post – menopause refers to the time after reaching menopause.
Menstruation does not stop all of a sudden, however this may happen sometimes. Menopause is confirmed when a woman has missed her periods for at least a year. At the times of reaching menopause, a woman faces emotional and physical symptoms.
Symptoms of Menopause
The first sign of menopause is of irregular periods, either being too frequent or not occurring for months together. The amount of blood loos may also increase. Some of the common symptoms of peri menopause, menopause and post menopause are detailed below:
Heavy sweating and hot flushes: A feeling of heat passes through the upper body, starting from the face, neck and chest, spreading downwards or upwards. Facial skin tends to become patchy, leading to heavy sweat. You may even suffer from palpitations or tachycardia. Night sweats are usually referred to as hot flushes. They remain only for a few minutes, happening mostly in the first year of menopause.
Disturbed Sleep: menopausal woman often have trouble in sleeping, because of nervousness, insomnia or even night sweats. This leads to moodiness and disability to concentrate.
Vaginal symptoms or vaginal atrophy: menopausal woman may sometimes experience scratchiness, uneasiness and dryness in the vagina, leading to difficulties in having sex.
Urinary symptoms: Menopausal woman tend to get lower urinary tract infections repeatedly. This leads to frequently feeling the urge to pass urine.
If no treatment is taken, the symptoms of menopause gradually reduce naturally. It takes a usual of 2 to 5 years from when the symptoms start, extending to any amount of years. It is often advised to treat vaginal symptoms.
The causes of Menopause
At times a woman may reach the stage of menopause even before attaining the age of 40. Such cases are known as a condition of Premature Menopause. In such a case, periods may or may not completely stop, leaving slight chances of conception to occur.
The causes of premature menopause are:
Medical conditions: specific medical conditions like Down’s syndrome, enzyme deficiencies, Turner’s syndrome, hypothyroidism and Addison’s disease may be responsible for a case of premature menopause.
Medical treatments and procedures: Surgically removing the ovaries, chemotherapy, radiotherapy to the pelvic area and surgical removal of the womb are some of the rare causes for premature menopause.
Infections: Specific infections like tuberculosis and mumps act as rare causes of premature menopause. Malaria, Shigella and Varicella are two other infections that can lead to a case of premature menopause.
