Have you gotten your periods stopped since 12 months at the age between 45 to 55? Yes, it is post-menopause. Achieving post-menopause is actually a stage of life when you feel a lot of changes in your life with some positive and negative effects.
Menopause is actually the end of the female reproductive years. After this, some hormonal and physiological changes occur in the female’s body. Menopause affects each female differently.
Some women may find this to be a difficult time, particularly if hormonal shifts cause symptoms like hot flashes and anxiety. Others view the moment when they are free from having to consider their periods and birth control as a time of emancipation.
Post-menopause is a phrase used to describe the period of time following menopause.
When you reach post-menopause, your monthly cycle has been absent for more than a year.
Your reproductive years are over at this point in your life, and you are no longer ovulating (releasing eggs). The menopausal symptoms you’ve before felt could get better or go entirely.
Stages of Menopause
Perimenopause
Perimenopause is the period before menopause. It refers to a period of time when hormone levels begin to drop and menstrual cycles become unpredictable and irregular. You can begin to experience menopausal symptoms including vaginal dryness or hot flashes.
Menopause
When you cease producing the hormones that trigger your monthly period and have gone a full 12 months without having a period, you enter menopause. After this happens, post-menopause sets in.
Post-Menopause
The period following menopause is post-menopause. As soon as this occurs, post-menopause sets in for the rest of your life. Postmenopausal women are more susceptible to heart disease and osteoporosis than other women.
How to Confirm Post-Menopause
When a woman has gone a year without getting her period, she is having post menopause. Another technique to determine your closeness to menopause is to check your level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
The pituitary gland produces the hormone FSH (located at the base of the brain). As your ovaries start to shut down, your FSH levels will increase; you may check these levels with a single blood test.
The only way to confirm that you are postmenopausal is to have gone a year without a period because FSH levels can change throughout perimenopause.
What is the Exact Postmenopausal Age?
At what age you are postmenopausal? There isn’t a certain age at which you enter post-menopause. Regardless of age, post-menopause begins when more than a year has passed since your last period. Menopause often begins in women around the age of 51.
Postmenopausal Symptoms of Low Estrogen
Hot flushes
Irritability
Mood swings
Insomnia
Dry vagina
Difficulty concentrating
Mental confusion
Stress incontinence
Urge incontinence
Osteoporotic symptoms
Depression
Headache
Vasomotor symptoms
Effect of Post-Menopause on your Body
Usually, we think it’s good to get menopause. But the hormone estrogen which decreases during menopause is a humble hormone to maintain women’s health. So decreasing the level of this hormone can have some effects on major systems of your body
1. Post-Menopause and Cardiovascular System
Estrogen hormone maintains the health of the artery wall. It regulates blood pressure. In this way, a person gets protection from many heart diseases. These diseases include heart attack and stroke.
During menopause, the level of estrogen decreases so the chances of heart disease increase. Women after menopause are more susceptible to heart diseases.
Your best options for preventing heart disease are a good diet, quitting smoking, and regular exercise. You can also reduce your risk by managing your cholesterol levels, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
2. Post-Menopause and Skeletal system
The decline in the level of estrogen is directly linked with bone loss. Bones lose their 25% density after menopause. If this loss in bone density continues one can develop osteoporosis and the chances of bone fracture also increase.
The bones which are most affected by the decline of estrogen are the hip bone, wrist bone, and spin. You can check the level of calcium in your bones by a test called bone densitometry to check your bone health.
3. Post-Menopause and Urinary System
The decline in estrogen levels after menopause may result in thinner, drier vaginal tissue. According to ACOG, this can facilitate the growth of bacteria, which may ultimately result in a urinary tract infection (UTI).
While a woman’s risk for UTIs is influenced by personal factors, such as general health, the likelihood of developing UTIs generally rises with age. The risk is around twice as high in women over 65 as it is in women of all ages.
It also revealed that over 10% of postmenopausal women reported having a UTI in the previous year.
Giving birth to a child and ageing can weaken the pelvic muscles around the urethra. Due to this risk of bladder leakage increases.
4. Vaginal Atrophy Due to Post-Menopause
Your vagina becomes dry as a result of the thinning and deterioration of the tissues due to estrogen levels. Vaginal dryness can persist in postmenopausal women for years after their last menstruation.
Vaginal lubricants might help in reducing any discomfort caused by sex. Reduced estrogen levels can also affect the bladder and urinary system, causing some people to experience urine leakage.
Your healthcare professional should assess persistent dryness and painful intercourse to rule out other conditions. Vaginal lubrication, topical lotions, and laser therapy are all effective ways to treat dryness in the vagina.
5. Post-Menopause and Weight Gain
Most people gain a little weight around menopause, but those who weren’t overweight before menopause can typically control this with lifestyle changes, according to a 2017 article.
The Office for Women’s Health Trusted Source reports that following menopause, many people put on an average of 5 pounds.
According to a study published in September 2020 in the journal Menopause, menopause itself has an association with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues that include high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels and raise your risk for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Reasons for Weight Gain Include
Increased hunger due to changes in the hormones that control hunger
Changes in metabolism, due to hormonal factors
Eating less healthfully
Being less active
Other factors relating to midlife
Post-Menopause and Sexual drive
Following menopause, a woman’s body and the sexual urge may change due to the reduction of estrogen and testosterone.
Women who are menopausal or postmenopausal may realize that they are less amenable to getting touched or stroked and that they are less quickly aroused. Less interest in sex may result from that.
Psychiatric Disorders that Occur in Post-Menopause
Schizophrenia
Most often, schizophrenia begins to show symptoms in young adulthood, and beyond early adulthood, both males and females have a decline in the number of new cases.
Women between the ages of 45 and 50 have a second peak in the prevalence of schizophrenia; men do not experience this second peak.
Many researchers have observed the worsening of the course of schizophrenia during the menopause transition. These findings might point to a modulatory role of estrogen in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Bipolar Disorder
In women who already have bipolar illness, menopause has a link to an aggravation of mood symptoms. According to research, menopausal women with bipolar illness experience more depressive symptoms than typically healthy women.
In comparison to premenopausal years, this demographic appears to experience depressive episodes more frequently.
An increase in rapid cycling during the menopausal transition may have been predicted by earlier investigations, however, this finding has not been confirmed.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is a very common disorder that occurs during menopause. Panic disorders can first time develop during menopause and if the woman has pre-existing panic disorders they can worsen during menopause.
Panic attacks were most common in women going through the menopausal transition, according to a cross-sectional survey of 3369 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79.
Negative life experiences, functional disability, and medical comorbidity are all linked to panic attacks.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
During menopause, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may develop for the first time, or a change in symptoms may occur.
OCD fluctuations have an association with both the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, which raises the possibility that the disorder may be influenced by hormone levels.
Related Articles
Postmenopausal Syndrome Treatment
Hormone therapy: By restoring hormone balance, can alleviate numerous problems. For people who are at risk for blood clots, strokes, breast cancer, dementia, or gallbladder disease, it might not be the best option.
The patient can get medical advice on their alternatives.
Antidepressants
Low doses of paroxetine are helpful to reduce hot flashes.
Sexual Wellbeing
Lubricants can help trusted Sources address vaginal dryness issues. A doctor may advise vaginal hormones as a ring, cream, or tablet to apply directly to the vagina if lubricants and all-natural cures are unsuccessful.
Osteoporosis Prevention
A physician may advise regular bone density testing to keep checking bone strength. The doctor may give vitamin D supplements and offer advice on diet and exercise if the test results indicate that the bones are becoming weaker. This will help lower the risk of osteoporosis.
Mood Swings, Anxiety, and Stress
It can get better by hormone therapy, or a doctor may recommend medication. One can control depression and stress with counselling and relaxation. Some people benefit from aromatherapy.
Sleep Issues
At this time, many factors may cause sleep issues. It can help to get adequate exercise, moderate your alcohol and coffee intake, and follow a healthy sleep schedule, according to Trusted Source.
If you want to know the details of research writing and how to do them professionally must visit the Research methodology playlist for paid courses with top professionals around the globe visit Scientific Pakistan or send your queries to info@scientificPakistan.com.
Kommentare