What is menopause?
Menopause is simply the permanent ending of a woman's menstrual
period.
This signals the end of a woman's ability to conceive children,
thus marking the end of her reproductive years.
Menopause can be natural or induced.
Natural menopause usually occurs in women between the ages of 42 to
58 years, with the average age being 51 years. However, it can
occur to women as young as in their 30s and a few as old as in
their 60s.
What causes induced menopause?
Several types of surgeries can induce menopause, including:
Surgical removal of both ovaries, with or without hysterectomy,
Hysterectomy, Destruction of the ovarian function by chemotherapy
or pelvic radiationtherapy.
Induced menopause may cause more severe, frequent, and longer
lasting symptoms of menopause.
What is perimenopause?
Perimenopause is defined as the phase before and immediately after
a woman's last period. Perimenopause can last for approximately 4
years, during which a woman can have prolonged or irregular
periods.
During this phase, the ovaries will reduce their production of
female sex hormones.
In Chinese Medicine menopause is sometimes called a "second
spring."
It is an event that is to be embraced, and not feared. In stark
contrast to that is the Western Medical approach, which is almost
to treat menopause as a disease.
What are the symptoms of menopause?
During menopause, a woman's hormone levels rise and fall
irregularly, affecting a woman's metabolism, growth, and
reproductive systems.
These changes manifest themselves in the following symptoms of
menopause:
Hot flushes are the result of changes in a woman's estrogen hormone
levels.
As the levels of estrogen drop in a woman's body, her glands
secrete higher amounts of other hormones. These other hormones
cause the woman's body temperature to fluctuate.
Vaginal Dryness and Other Changes in the Vagina:
The walls of the vagina becomes thinner, drier, and more vulnerable
to infections.
Changes in a woman's urinary tract may lead to incontinence or
leakage of urine.
For some women, an exercise to strengthen the pelvic muscle may
also help
Psychological Changes: because of their
fluctuating hormone levels, some women experience depression, fear
and anxiety, mood swings, irritability, nervousness, and insomnia
or sleeplessness.
Some women experience lower sex drive or libido during
menopause.
This may be caused directly by the changes in the woman's hormone
levels
Increase in Sex Drive or Libido
On the other hand, some women actually experience increased sex
drive or libido.
These women should be careful to make sure that they cannot get
pregnant before giving up their birth control precautions.
Below are some suggested treatments for these
symptoms.
Hot flushes and sweats: First, try lifestyle
changes, by sleeping in a cool room, wear cotton next to your skin
and have lukewarm baths or showers. Cut back on hot drinks,
especially tea and coffee. These, along with alcohol and spicy
foods can trigger hot flushes. Increase the amount of soya in your
diet with tofu and soya milk. Additional intake of pulses and
legumes can also be helpful.
Supplements such as black cohosh, sage, agnus castus and dang gui
may also be helpful.
Difficulty in sleeping:
The treatment of hot flushes should improve sleep quality.
Vaginal dryness: Avoid soap in the genital area as it is an
irritant. An emolient such as aqueous cream can be used round the
labial area and it is very soothing.
Reduce risks of osteoporosis:even if you are not at risk, make sure
you get adequate calcium and vitamin D. A diet high in calcium
combined with regular exercise will help,.
Complementary therapy : they do not have harmful effects. Among the
most effective in reducing or managing menopausal symptoms
are;
Acupuncture: for rapid symptoms
relief
Homeopathy: someprescribed remedies can be
very effective
Herbal medicine: hormone regulating plants
are probably the most effective long term treatment
