Menopause

Aging is a fact of life. It is a normal process of having brittle bones, sagging skin and degenerating body functions. In aging women, they may experience a popularly known condition called menopause. This is characterized by changes that occur in a woman’s life before and after her menstruation ends signaling her infertility years.

Generally, an adult female has finite number of eggs, which are found in her ovaries. The ovaries secrete hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. Such hormones are responsible in regulating menstruation and ovulation. As women get older, menopause results as the ovaries can no longer release an egg each month and the normal menstruation cycle stops.

Menopause after a woman reaches 40 is natural and is considered a normal occurrence due to aging. However, in some women, this condition may come early than expected caused by a surgical intervention like hysterectomy or ovarian damage due to chemotherapy. As this happens to women before 40, regardless of the cause, is known as premature menopause.

Menopause is the permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle. For women experiencing natural menopause, this process is gradually felt and may be described in three stages.

The first stage is during perimenopause. This begins several years before the onset of menopause. This is when the ovaries gradually decrease in estrogen production. This event continues until menopausal stage, where the ovaries stop releasing eggs. Before menopause, women can experience decline in estrogen level in the last one to two years of perimenopause. Menopause symptoms are experienced like hot flashes (sudden feeling of warmth in the body accompanied by sweating), irregular menstruation, sleep problems, mood swings, fatigue, irritability, headache, joint and muscle pains, decreased libido, vaginal dryness and bladder control disorders.

Second is during menopause, which is the time when a woman experiences her last menstrual period after 12 months of continued cessation. This is when the ovaries stopped releasing eggs and the end of the estrogen production.

The third stage is the postmenopause or the years after menopause. During this time, women commonly feel hot flashes. At the same time, health-related risks may also be apparent due to increased loss of estrogen in women.

In some cases, premature menopause may occur as a result of genetics, autoimmune problems or surgery. These conditions may lead to early menopause.

Usually, the ovaries have both estrogen and progesterone. If there will be changes in the hormonal levels of these two hormones caused by unknown reasons, premature ovarian failure occurs as reproductive organs can no longer release eggs. However, premature ovarian failure is not permanent. Patients who undergo this condition can still get pregnant.

There is also the so-called induced menopause, where ovaries are surgically taken away caused by conditions like uterine cancer or endometriosis. This kind of menopause is a result of damaging the ovaries due to radiation or chemotherapy.

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Understanding Menopause Recommended Resources:

University of Michigan Depression Center

Penn State Milton S.Hershey Medical Center