”It is also very appropriate to apply this phrase to describe what happens to women during menopause, namely, ‘menopause is not a disease, but menopause is a disease to be prevented’. Menopause itself is not a disease, but its various symptoms can cause a great deal of distress in a woman’s life. Moreover, if not adjusted and reasonably treated in time, it can also lay the foundation for osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, dementia and other diseases that may occur in old age. “Therefore, menopausal women must strengthen their self-awareness and prevent and treat diseases in a timely manner.” Acquire physiological knowledge to eliminate menopause fears.
Awareness: “Menopause” is a common term
”Menopause is not a medical term, it is a common expression in the daily life of the people. As the name implies, ‘menopause’ refers to the change of age and ‘menopause’ refers to the transition from middle age to old age. Typically, there is no very exact age range for menopause.”
The medical counterpart to menopause is the term perimenopause. Menopause begins at the same or similar time as perimenopause, but tends to last longer. “Normally, a woman enters perimenopause if she has two menstrual cycles that change by more than seven days within a year. That is, assuming the original menstrual cycle was 28 days, then if a cycle of less than 21 days or more than 35 days occurs and twice in the course of a year, it is important to be aware.” “From the time this occurs until the last menstrual period comes, it is called the menopausal transition period. And perimenopause includes the menopausal transition and the year after menopause, because menopause is only clinically diagnosed when there is no menstruation for a sustained period of one year, and the average age of menopause for women is 48-50.”
Awareness 2: Aging accelerates after age 37
During the perimenopausal period, ovarian function gradually fails and the ovaries secrete low or fluctuating levels of estrogen, which is responsible for a variety of uncomfortable symptoms in women during menopause.
”From before birth, a woman’s eggs are constantly depleted, and egg depletion has many patterns of its own, but after the age of 37, the decline in ovarian function can be particularly rapid, with a ‘broken stick effect’ until ovarian failure and menopause. The decline in ovarian function is accompanied by a steady decline in estrogen levels, causing women to age. It is important to note that at this time, although the function of the ovarian reserve declines, it is only fertility that is affected and does not yet require estrogen supplementation”
However, the various symptoms of menopause are not entirely caused by the low estrogen levels, but are also closely related to the constant fluctuation of estrogen levels. Because prepubescent girls and grandmothers in their eighties have low but relatively stable estrogen levels, they also have no obvious symptoms. “The most difficult periods in a woman’s life, puberty, postpartum, and menopause, are all associated with fluctuations in estrogen levels.”
Awareness 3: Symptoms and timing are very different
”Generally speaking, the menopausal transition for women is, on average, three to four years. However, the duration of menopause as a whole varies greatly between individuals. Also, the symptoms and degree of symptoms that manifest themselves in each person during menopause vary.”
The manifestation of symptoms and the duration of menopause are related to many factors, such as genetic background, education, occupation, and economic conditions. It has been clinically found that if a mother’s menopausal symptoms are more pronounced and last longer, her daughter will have a similar tendency; women with a high level of education generally have a more pronounced menopausal response than women with a low level of education, which may be related to work pressure, thinking characteristics, and how much physical labor; and the menopause in the accounting and teaching groups also tends to be more pronounced and longer.
”Survey results in Europe and the United States show that, for example, the symptoms of hot flashes and sweating are not obvious to some people, while 25% of people with hot flashes and sweating will last more than five years, and even nearly 10% will last about ten years, a very big difference.”
Active self-adjustment to control uncomfortable symptoms
Symptom 1: Bone and joint pain
”Among Chinese women, the most common symptom of menopause is bone and joint pain. There is also a high prevalence of fatigue, emotional problems, insomnia, hot flashes and sweating, and heart palpitations.” “Menopausal women should be aware of lifestyle modifications to minimize the impact of uncomfortable symptoms on their normal lives.”
Unlike bone and joint pain caused by true organic pathology, bone and joint pain during menopause, neither an exact direct cause can be diagnosed nor are there obvious external symptoms, unlike patients with immune disorders who may have swollen joints and other manifestations. However, sometimes the pain is not mild.
The best treatment for menopausal bone and joint pain is the use of estrogen with calcium supplements, but there are also a number of other ways to promote pain relief. For example, exercise the strength of the muscles around the joints and do stretching exercises regularly; pay attention to avoid strenuous activities to reduce the pressure on the joints; promote local blood circulation through hot compresses and massage, etc.
Symptom two: more psychological problems
Insomnia, irritability, memory loss, and depression are all common problems for women during menopause, and they manifest themselves differently in different people. Like insomnia, some people have difficulty falling asleep, some have excessive dreams, and some wake up early. Moreover, poor sleep can lead to other problems, such as poor mental status, impatience, and loss of sleep. In addition, women are more likely to suffer from depression during menopause than at any other stage of their lives.
”Psychological problems in menopausal women are not only related to the body’s estrogen levels, but are also inextricably linked to social factors. Women at this age are often faced with many issues such as retirement and children’s education, and are psychologically vulnerable.”
For menopausal women, people around them should show more love and understanding. If the performance of various psychological symptoms is relatively mild, they should mainly self-regulate, increase their own cultivation, see more sunny things, and consciously regulate their emotions, rather than relying on the fact that they are in menopause to just get angry. If the symptoms are more severe, you should seek medical attention in time.
Symptom 3: Easy hot flashes and sweating
The typical symptom of hot flashes and sweating is a sudden blast of heat from the forehead to the face, followed by profuse sweating. It is often more pronounced at night and is called night sweats. Some women are also particularly prone to feeling hot, even when everyone else is feeling cold, and she keeps fanning herself.
”At its root, this symptom is caused by low estrogen levels, which lead to changes in neurotransmitters that make the threshold of the body temperature center smaller, causing the body to have difficulty with temperature changes.”
For this condition, there are ways to help alleviate the symptoms. First, fat people and people who do not like to exercise are more likely to have hot flashes and sweating, so it is important to exercise reasonably and maintain weight; second, you should try to avoid the environment you live in is too hot and unventilated, and choose clothes that are easy to put on and take off; third, people who have experienced episodes will perceive hot flashes and sweating before, when you can make yourself as calm as possible by breathing deeply, which can effectively reduce the symptoms; fourth, avoid eating spicy food.
Reasonably carry out treatment to avoid the root of the disease
Question 1: Which diseases are easy to sprout?
”We often tell menopausal women who come to us that these uncomfortable symptoms you are feeling now are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the risk to your overall health. As physicians, we are more concerned about the harm that lies beneath the horizon that goes unnoticed but is being produced all the time. The roots of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s and other diseases can be laid at this point.”
For example, low estrogen levels can lead to a rapid rise in cardiovascular disease in women. The relationship between cardiovascular diseases and estrogen is very complex. Applying estrogen to menopausal women at the right time will make all their cardiovascular indicators move in a good direction, with blood lipids, blood pressure and other indices tending to be healthy. However, it must be used at the right time, otherwise it will be detrimental.
In addition, the first one or two years of menopause is the stage of accelerated bone loss in women, and it is difficult to replace the bone loss afterwards. “There have been patients who have been seen who have lost about 9 percent of their bone mass within a year and a half after menopause, which is nearly one-tenth of all bone mass, which is a very shocking number.” “With osteoporosis, prevention is far better than treatment, and it’s important to visit your doctor as soon as your period first starts to change.”
Question 2: What works best?
”If the symptoms of menopause are more severe and it is difficult to ensure a normal life through self-regulation, then you should seek prompt medical attention. The treatment of any disease requires finding the cause, and the culprit for the various symptoms of menopause is low or fluctuating estrogen levels, so the most effective and comprehensive way to address the various symptoms of menopause is estrogen supplementation.”
However, estrogen therapy must be properly administered under the guidance of a physician. Moreover, the purpose of treatment should be clear: first, to relieve the various symptoms of menopause, and second, to prevent the degenerative diseases that may occur later in old age caused by low estrogen. It is not advisable to use estrogen supplementation as a means of maintaining youth.
Moreover, there are many precautions when using estrogen therapy: first, for women with a uterus, they must use progestin in conjunction with it to ensure that the endometrium does not become cancerous; second, when supplementing estrogen, the medication regimen should be adjusted according to age, whether they want to continue menstruating, and other specific circumstances.
”Many women in menopause experience discomfort all over the body, and often patients say that they feel they should see all the departments in the hospital. Applying estrogen therapy to such patients will quickly pay off.” “Moreover, the Chinese are concerned with timing, location and harmony, and so is estrogen therapy, which must be administered early in menopause, within ten years of menopause or before the age of sixty, at which stage the benefits of treatment far outweigh the risks.”
Question 3: Should everyone be treated?
”Although estrogen therapy is highly effective, not everyone needs estrogen therapy and, furthermore, there are certain contraindications to estrogen therapy.” “In addition to estrogen supplementation, other treatments such as Chinese medicine and botanicals can also be used to alleviate women’s menopausal symptoms.”
First of all, these groups of people should be promptly consulted: first, those with significant menopause-related symptoms; second, those with high-risk factors for osteoporosis, otherwise it will be difficult to replenish back once the rapid loss of bone mass occurs, and the earlier the treatment, the better the effect; third, those with recurrent urinary system infections, vaginitis and other gynecological diseases, as this will not only cause infections but also bring impact on married life Fourth, the menopausal transition, if the performance of gonorrhea, bleeding is particularly large, also need medical intervention, this part of the population of about 10-20%; five, before the age of forty menopause, called premature ovarian failure, this part of the population by the low estrogen brought more harm, must be treated in a timely manner, and so on.
In addition, there are some people who are not suitable for estrogen therapy.
1. People with unexplained uterine bleeding or vaginal bleeding;
2. People who cannot exclude pregnancy;
3.Patients with estrogen-dependent tumors, such as breast cancer;
4.Patients with other gynecological tumors, such as endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, etc;
5.Patients who have had blood clots within six months;
6. Patients with severe liver and kidney dysfunction, etc., and some other patients with special diseases are also not applicable.
Therefore, before treatment, specific judgments must be made based on the results of uterine and breast screening and routine health examination reports.