Understanding Menopause

Menopause ... A time for important decisions

Like most women, you may have questions about menopause. Will it affect how you feel, the way it looks? How will your health in the future?

Also, as most women probably are unsure about treatment options so you must have heard about side effects and risks.

Understanding Menopause

If menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation, the menopause is the period of gradual changes that are observed during the second half of the life of a woman. Climacteric is the period where ovaries gradually stop producing the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, and menstrual periods become irregular first start and then stop. While this may sound like a simple physical change, loss of estrogen actually produces a series of changes in the body that affect more than those produced by the loss of periods.

Menopause does not happen overnight
During the years of menopause, your body undergoes a series of gradual transitions. These transitions can be divided into 3 periods: perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause.

1. Premenopause: It starts about 2 to 5 years before menopause, usually between 45 and 50 years when the ovaries begin producing less estrogen.
Menstrual periods may become irregular, or the intensity of the flow can change or periods may be less or longer.
About 85% of women experience hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and / or mood changes.

2. Menopause: Usually between 50 and 55, the body continues to reduce estrogen production until finally the periods stop. The timing of your last period is menopause.
If a woman has her period for 1 year is considered to be in menopause.

3. Postmenopause: During the early menopause (usually from the 1st to 5th year after menopause) and late (more than 5 years after menopause), your body begins to experience the changes associated with loss of estrogen, such as decreased bone mass and higher levels of cholesterol.

How estrogen affects the body :
1. Hot flashes:
A sudden and intense heat that occurs in most women in the chest area and neck. When they occur at night (nighttime hot flashes) may interfere with sleep increased fatigue and irritability.

2. Cholesterol:
The loss of estrogen may increase cholesterol levels.
3. Bone loss:
Osteoporosis affects a large number of women and is largely responsible for the large number of fractures that occur especially in the hip, spine and wrist.

4. Dryness of the vagina:
The thickness of the vagina becomes thinner and dry, otherwise it becomes more vulnerable to vaginal infections.
5. Changes in the psyche:
You may have sleep disorders, irritability and anxiety, feelings of depression, mood swings.
6. Estrogen loss: short-term symptoms ... problems in the long term
With estrogen loss symptoms occurs a series of short-term and potential long-term problems.

The short-term symptoms associated with estrogen loss usually appear immediately: they can vary in intensity and duration for each woman, but most can experience severe hot flashes, night sweats (which may interfere with tiredness and irritability), dry vagina (which can cause decreased vaginal lubrication, itching, and cause pain during sex) and mood changes.
However, other changes are also taking place in this period, in fact, they may be much greater health risk.

This is the case for example of osteoporosis and cardiovascular risk.

These symptoms usually disappear with the various therapeutic resources (hormone replacement therapy-HRT-use of a lubricant-like Kemial-hygienic and dietary changes). The important thing to note is that the erotic and sexual life does not end with menopause (which can be early-close to 42 years) but is a time to enjoy the full. Do not forget that with increasing life expectancy may take a woman nearly half his life after the cessation of her periods and obviously deserve to live this stage to maintain optimal sexual health, enjoying sex, love and passion.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is an effective way for the doctor to counteract the effects caused by the loss of estrogen in their patients. You can combine two hormones that your body stops producing during menopause: estrogen and progesterone, alleviating symptoms associated with menopause and with continued use may offer protective benefits in the long term prevention of osteoporosis or cardiovascular risk.
An alternative to estrogen therapy is the use of tibolone with androgenic and slightly androgenic