Health And Fitness News 

Menopause

Menopause is often lightly referred to as the "change of life".  It is a normal part of the aging process for women, signaled by irregular menstrual cycles and ending in the cessation of menstruation altogether.  This transition into a new phase of life can be confusing.  What is menopause?  When does menopause start?  What symptoms will I experience?

For most women, menopause begins between the ages of 45 and 55, though some women may reach menopause as early as 30 or not until 60.  There is no way to predict when an individual woman will reach menopause, though there does seem to be a correlation between the menopausal ages of a mother and daughter.

The start of menopause is marked by irregular menstrual cycle lengths, which can mean longer, or shorter menstrual cycles, and lighter or heavier periods.  Due to the natural hormone fluctuations in a woman’s body at this time, other signs or symptoms may present themselves in varying degrees.

As menopause progresses, a woman’s body gradually decreases production of the female hormone estrogen.  This hormone regulates menstruation and pregnancy, as well as the development of female physical characteristics such as body shape and body hair.  Estrogen also acts to protect bone; therefore women going through or who have gone through menopause are at increased risk for osteoporosis.

The severity of menopausal symptoms experienced varies greatly from woman to woman.  Some women may experience significant menopause symptoms, both physical and physiological, while others may experience few or none.  A common and much-bemoaned symptom of menopause is the dreaded hot flashes.  A feeling of warmth that spreads over the body, often most pronounced in the head and chest, hot flashes usually last several minutes.  Often times, hot flashes are accompanied by night sweats, an episode of drenching sweat that occurs in the night time.  Obviously, the quality of sleep can be affected.

Other common symptoms can become more noticeable as menopause progresses. When estrogen levels fall, the tissue lining the vagina begins to thin and lose elasticity.  This occurrence manifests itself in symptoms such as itching, dryness, and irritation.  The lining of the urethra is affected in similar ways to that of the lining of the vagina, which can lead to increased risk of urinary tract infections, or feeling the need to “go” far more frequently than usual.  Menopausal women may also notice weight gain or redistribution of body fat.  Since the body continues to produce a small amount of testosterone, women may also notice hair growth in places like the upper lip, chin, and abdomen.

Aside from the physical changes menopause can bring, emotional symptoms are common too.  Memory problems, fatigue, irritability, and rapid changes in mood are often reported by women in the early stages of menopause or pre-menopause (peri-menopause).  However, it can be difficult to say how much of any of these problems is caused by menopause itself and how big a part outside factors could play, such as outside stress or other life changes.