Signs of Menopause
For a better understanding of the changes that occur with menopause, you must first understandthe female sex hormones and their role in the body.
The female reproductive period begins with the menarche (first menstruation), at this stage, the ovaries begin to produce estrogen and progesterone are female sex hormones. The role of progesterone is basically the final preparation of the uterus for pregnancy and breast for breastfeeding.
The decrease in the amount of estrogen the body produces alterations that result in physical and mental disorders.
Of these, we can highlight: hot flashes, headaches or migraines, mood changes (irritability, depression), decreased memory, insomnia, circulatory problems and bone (eg osteoporosis due to decreased osteoblast activity and decreased deposition calcium and phosphate in the bone), urinary problems (such as: difficulty urinating, urinary incontinence and increased susceptibility to infections), mucosal fragility and progressive atrophy of the genitals.
Importantly, the intensity with which these conditions will occur, is determined not only by hormonal decline, but also by poor nutrition, lack of exercise, toxic habits (snuff, alcohol) and the image that women have of itself.
Signs of Menopause: a quick overview
Signs of menopause are felt by 85% of women, who are approaching their menopause. Generally menopausal signs create three kinds of impacts in menopause affected women; these impacts are felt via certain physical changes, commencing of certain recurring health irritations', and infliction of certain diseases like osteoporosis, etc. Some of these signs of menopause are found occurring in pre-menopause period, which may start at the early 40 age of a woman and may persist up to mid 50s of her age, when the onset of menopause is finally asserted.
General category of menopausal symptoms
It has been observed that 90% of women suffer from some typical signs of menopause, although intensity of the symptoms is abruptly variable. These common symptoms are hot flashes, night sweats, irregular menstrual cycle, vaginal dryness, and loss of libido.
Hot flushes are the reaction of decreasing level of female hormone estrogen, which is a common issue associated with menopause. Therefore the problem of hot flush is a common menopausal sign, where the lady suffers from sudden bout of hot flow across the whole body, which is irritating and often create an unusual redness of face. Similarly, hot flushes at nighttime initiate profuse sweating, which is called night sweats.
Due to sudden fall of estrogen level, menstrual cycle gets irregular. A menopausal woman nay face problem of lapse of scheduled periods or may suffer from frequent bout of menstrual bleeding.
Although loss of libido cannot be considered as one of the signs of menopause, it is often observed that due to hormonal imbalance, a menopausal lady suffers from frequent bout of mood swings and depression, thus suffer from frigidity, which is counted as loss of libido problem. With proper medication and exercise it can be easily recovered.
Vaginal dryness is also a passive impact of decreased level of estrogen. The problem may lead to itchy vagina, vulnerable to vaginal infection, painful intercourse, etc, which may seem quite frustrating.
Signs of menopause: physical changes
Onset of menopause often imitates certain physical problems like abrupt mood swings, unconditional fatigue, loss of hair, acute sleep disorder, dizziness, tendency to gain extra weight on waistline, urinary incontinence, unusual bout of allergy, change of body odor, frequent problem of palpitation, unusual breast pain and tenderness, occurrence of cluster headache and migraine, hypertension, burning tongue, change in breath odor, itchy skin, and recurring gum problems, etc. Regular exercise, practice of meditation, intake of prescribed medication, and healthy life style is helpful in recovering these signs of menopause to a large extent.Although not obvious but it has been observed that onset of menopause initiates the problem of osteoporosis as during menopause bones of body gets too thin and break prone, which means a lady at her menopause becomes more vulnerable to fracture and permanent damage. Regular intake of calcium-based foods and calcium supplements can help in coping with the problem.
The signs of menopause are purely readable but sometimes the commencement of menopause may happen without any specific sign and symptoms. When recurrence of menstrual cycle stops for one year, it is considered as permanent setting of menopause.