Menopause Attention: To All Women

Menopause

Attention: To all women experiencing menopause, going to experience menopause in the future and knowing closely somebody going through menopause -- get informed!

Defining menopause

Nobody can escape death and taxes. This is a rather common saying revealing the unavoidability of one's fiscal obligations towards the state and the inability to avoid their own death. In the case of women, this equation contains a third variable -- menopause. "Love it or loathe it, the menopause affects all women worldwide" (Currie, 2006).

Menopause is traditionally perceived as the stage in a woman's life when she is no longer fertile and able to give birth to children. In a more professional formulation, menopause represents "the transition period in a woman's life when her ovaries stop producing eggs, her body produces less estrogen and progesterone, and menstruation becomes less frequent, eventually stopping altogether" (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2010).

Two important concepts refer to perimenopause and postmenopause. Each of these is defined by the time frames. Perimenopause as such represents the period before the actual menopause, when the menstruation of the woman becomes irregular, and it can last up to several years. The average duration of perimenopause is of four years, but it can be as low as a few months, or as long as ten years (Web MD, 2011).

Postmenopause generically refers to the period after menopause, but a clear definition of the concept is quite difficult to obtain. A special case of postmenopause women is represented by patients who have had their ovaries removed through surgery and are as such unable to have another period (Mills, 2011).

2. When it appears

Menopause is associated with the middle of the woman's life, yet it appears at different ages for the women. Perimenopause usually occurs within the 40s, but it can even occur as early as the 30s. The duration of the perimenopause also varies from one woman to the other. From a medical standpoint, it is considered that perimenopause is completed when the woman does not have menstruation for twelve consecutive months. From this point on, menopause is installed (Mayo Clinic, 2011).

In terms of menopause, this occurs normally between 45 and 55 years and it can last five years, or even more, depending on each woman (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2010). Postmenopause is installed when the symptoms of menopause are completed and it lasts throughout the rest of the woman's life.

3. Symptoms of menopause

As with any other aspect of menopause, the symptoms experienced by women at menopause vary and generalizations might be difficult to be made. Still, these exist within the literature and present the more common manifestations of menopause. Sana Loue and Martha Sajatovic (2007) for instance argue that these symptoms can be classified into three specific categories:

Vasomotor symptoms

Genitourinary symptoms and Other systemic symptoms.

The vasomotor symptoms are the more common ones and they are present in about 10 per cent of the women experiencing premenopause, to increase to an 80 per cent presence in the menopausal women. These symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, disturbances of sleep as well as palpitations.

The hot flashes are the more common and bothering symptoms; they are described as a sensation of excessive heating which starts from the upper body and spreads to the face. The severity and frequency of the hot flashes differ, but they can last an average of four minutes and can even occur hourly. The most bothersome flashes are those during the night, when the sleep of the woman is disturbed and she becomes irritable, fatigued or even experiences decreased memory. An estimated one tenth of the women describe the hot flashes as interfering with their normal activities and some women find them so disturbing that they seek medical attention.

Hot flashes can be precipitated by factors such as coffee, stress or hot beverages, but differences also exist based on the cultural background of the woman, the lifestyle or the socio-economic conditions. A study conducted by a University of California Davis on 16,000 women generated findings such as the following:

African-American women experience more hot flashes than the Caucasian women

Asian and Hispanic women experience fewer hot flashes compared to other groups

"Japanese women [living] in Japan report very few hot flashes and Mayan women in Mexico do not report any menstrual irregularity. This lower prevalence of hot flashes may be due to increased intake of dietary phytoestrogens and decreased meat consumption" (Loue and Sajatovic, 2007).

As mentioned before, aside from the vasomotor symptoms, the menopausal women also experience genitourinary symptoms and other systemic symptoms. The genitourinary symptoms include vaginal dryness -- the more common --, vaginal irritation, pain with intercourse (dyspareunia), higher urinary frequency or even pain with urination (dysuria). Finally, in terms of the other systemic symptoms which might occur, these include irritability, arousal or the opposite, reduced sexual desire, fatigue or even decreased cognitive abilities (Loue and Sajatovic, 2007).

4. Diet of the woman on menopause

The issue of diet and menopause has been relatively little studied, however it is believed that a lower intake of meat might decrease the starting age of menopause (Rouen, 2009). From the perspective of the woman at menopause however, studies did not indicate the existence of a specific diet, but the specialists militate for a healthy and balanced nutrition, formed from complex carbohydrates, protein and fats (Alexander and Knight, 2005).

Opinions more specific than that have however been forwarded and these are commonly present on websites specialized in health and women's issues. Some of the recommendations forwarded through these sources include:

Recommendations to increase the intake of soy, water, teas with antioxidants and calcium

Recommendations to decrease consumption of caffeine, aspartame (artificial sweetener), highly glycemic foods and alcohol

Recommendations for a scheduled eating program, rich in protein, fruits and vegetables (Magee).

Two particular dietary concerns of women on menopause include the usage of foods to address the symptoms and the dietary considerations to weight loss during menopause. In terms of dietary considerations to control the symptoms, some suggestions exist, yet most of them have yet to be scientifically proven. In this order of ideas, Elaine Magee states that soy might be good to reduce hot flashes; fresh fruit and vegetables might add new estrogen within the body; beans might decrease the appetite; dairy and calcium rich aliments support the bone structure and are essential for aging women; and flaxseeds might reduce the cholesterol and the risks of developing tumors.

In the case of weight loss, this is a common problem for women at menopause who experience a lower rate of metabolism and a digestion process which slows down. In this context, women come to gain more weight and find it more difficult to lose it. Louise O'Connell has approached the issue and created a set of dietary recommendations for menopausal women striving to lose weight. These include:

Snacking on fruit such as red grapes, blueberries, nuts or apples

Launches such as avocado salad with bacon, fish, salads or pasta salads

Dinners based on ingredients such as chicken, tofu, vegetables, roast beef, potatoes or noodles.

5. Attitudes towards menopause

The attitudes towards menopause vary from one culture to another, but also from one woman to another. On the one hand, there are the women who embrace menopause and perceive it as a new stage in their life in which they are free. Most of the stress from their life is overcome and they are now able to enjoy life's little pleasures. They do not have to worry about pregnancy, the monthly bleedings have stopped -- as have the cramps --, they do not have to bear and raise children and, in post menopause, they are free from hot flashes and night sweats. With this newfound sense of freedom, women come to experience new things.

"Some women experience what they call post menopause zest in the post stage. The stormy, tumultuous time is behind them and a sense of calm washes over them. Free of PMS, cramps, bleeding, child bearing, child raising, fear of pregnancy, hot flashes and nights sweats the older woman often feels a unique freedom and an energy that is new to them. They do wacky things like join Red Hat Societies or wear purple. Some join organizations and take up causes to help improve the world. Some claim to finally have time to be themselves" (Menopause Insight).

Some women however also experience negative perceptions regarding menopause, and these are often associated with aging; others are neutral. Still, more attitudes towards menopause are positive, or revealing a trend from neutral to positive. The attitudes of women towards menopause can be linked to features outside the process itself, and pertaining to elements such as the social and economic background of the women (Sommer and co-editors, 1999).

6. Concerns associated with menopause

Some women experience anxiety and uncertainty with menopause, and they might interpret the symptoms as health problems. In order o ensure that the woman is indeed experiencing menopause, specific tests can be run. These tests are based on the collection of blood and urine samples, through which the laboratories identify the levels of hormones present. Some of the more common tests include Estradiol, FSH and LH. Women can also request the assistance of obstetricians, who can identify changes in the vaginal lining as a result of decreasing levels of estrogen (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2010).

The highest concern with women is represented by the possibility of the menopause symptoms to be in fact indicative of a more severe health problem. This concern is best addressed in discussions with the personal doctor, and through the necessary medical investigations.

Another concern is represented by the diseases which can develop in connection with the menopause. At a general level, menopause does not generate any associated illnesses and the health condition is more so determined by the history and life style of the woman, rather than by the menopause. Nonetheless, there two specific illnesses which can develop in the postmenopause period:

Coronary artery disease, and Osteoporosis.

The coronary artery disease is linked to lower levels of estrogen. Before menopause, the female body produces more estrogen, which prevents bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries. As the body ages and lower levels of estrogen are produced, the women become exposed to coronary artery diseases.

"As you age, your risk for developing coronary artery disease (CAD) -- a condition in which the veins and arteries that take blood to the heart become narrowed or blocked by plaque -- increases steadily. Heart attack and stroke are caused by atherosclerotic disease, in most cases" (Healthy Women, 2011).

As in the case of coronary artery diseases, the osteoporosis at early stages in a woman's life is prevented by higher levels of estrogen productions. The female hormone strengthens the bone structure and works together with calcium and other hormones to support the building of bones. Still, as lower levels of estrogen are created, the process of build up bones decelerates and the bone system becomes weaker.

"Your body constantly builds and remodels bone through a process called resorption and deposition. Up until around age 30, the body makes more new bone than it breaks down. But once estrogen levels start to decline, this process slows down. By menopause, your body breaks down more bone than it rebuilds" (Healthy Women, 2011).