Get to grips with physiological knowledge and eliminate the fear of menopause
Awareness 1: “Menopause” is a colloquial term
”Menopause is not a medical term, but a colloquial term used by the people in their daily lives. As the name implies, ‘menopause’ refers to the transition from middle age to old age, and ‘menopause’ refers specifically to the period of time when people are transitioning from middle age to old age. Usually, there is no very exact age range for menopause.” Chen Rong said.
In medical terms, the opposite term to menopause is perimenopause. Menopause begins at the same or similar time as perimenopause, but tends to last longer. “Normally, if a woman has two menstrual cycles that change by more than seven days within a year, it means that she is entering perimenopause. That is, assuming the original menstrual cycle was 28 days, then if there is a cycle of less than 21 days or more than 35 days, and it occurs twice in a year, it is important to pay attention.” Chen Rong said, “From the time this happens until the last menstrual period comes, it is called the menopausal transition period. And the perimenopausal period includes the menopausal transition and the year after menopause because menopause is clinically diagnosed only if it lasts for one year without a period, and the average age of menopause for women is 48-50 years.”
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 although the function of the ovarian reserve declines at this time, it only affects fertility and does not yet require estrogen supplementation,” said Chen Rong.
However, the various symptoms of menopause are not entirely caused by low estrogen levels, but are also closely related to the constant fluctuation of estrogen levels. Because prepubescent girls and grandmothers in their 80s have low but 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 high levels of education generally have a more pronounced menopausal response than women with low levels 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 for more than five years, and even nearly 10% will last for about ten years, a very big difference.” ?
Active self-adjustment to control discomfort 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 incidence of fatigue, emotional problems, insomnia, hot flashes and sweating, and heart palpitations.” Chen Rong said, “Menopausal women should pay attention to regulating their lives to minimize the impact of uncomfortable symptoms on their normal lives.”
Unlike bone and joint pain caused by true organic lesions, menopausal bone and joint pain, neither an exact direct cause can be diagnosed nor are there obvious external symptoms, unlike patients with immune diseases who can show signs such as swollen joints. However, sometimes the pain is not mild.
According to Chen Rong, 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 2: More psychological problems
Insomnia, irritability, memory loss, and depression are all common problems in 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 often face many problems such as retirement and children’s education, and are psychologically vulnerable.” Chen Rong said.
For menopausal women, people around them should give more love and understanding. If the performance of various psychological symptoms is relatively mild, they should focus on self-regulation, increase their own cultivation, watch more sunny things, and consciously regulate their emotions, rather than just getting angry because they are in menopause. 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.” Chen Rong said.
For this condition, there are ways to help alleviate the symptoms. Chen Rong introduced: first, fat people, people who do not like to exercise, more likely to hot flashes and sweating, so reasonable exercise, maintain weight is important; second, should try to avoid the environment in which too hot, not ventilated, and choose easy to put on and take off clothes; third, people who have experienced episodes, before the hot flashes and sweating will be perceived, then you can make yourself as calm as possible by deep breathing, can effectively reduce the symptoms; fourth, avoid eating spicy food.
Treat reasonably to avoid the root of the disease
Question 1: Which diseases are prone to sprouting?
”We often tell menopausal women who come to us that the uncomfortable symptoms you feel 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 occurring all the time. The roots of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s and other diseases can be laid at this point.” Chen Rong said.
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 was a patient who had lost about 9 percent of her bone mass within a year and a half after menopause, which is nearly one-tenth of her total bone mass, which is a very shocking figure.” Chen Rong said, “With osteoporosis, prevention is far better than treatment, and it is important to visit your doctor as soon as your menstruation first starts to change.”
Question 2: What methods are most effective?
”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 their bodies, 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.” Chen Rong said, “Moreover, the Chinese people are concerned with timing, location and harmony, and so is estrogen therapy, which must be administered at an early stage of menopause, that is, within ten years after 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 be used, which are also effective in relieving 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, once the rapid loss of bone mass occurs, it will be difficult to replenish it back, and the earlier the treatment, the better the results; third, those with recurrent urinary tract infections, vaginitis and other gynecological diseases, as this will not only cause infections but also have an impact on married life Fourth, the menopausal transition, if manifested as gonorrhea, bleeding is particularly heavy, also need medical intervention, this part of the population of about 10-20%; Fifth, the menopause before the age of forty, called premature ovarian failure, this part of the population by 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. First, people with unexplained uterine bleeding or vaginal bleeding; second, people who cannot exclude pregnancy; third, patients with estrogen-dependent tumors, such as breast cancer; fourth, patients with other gynecological tumors, such as endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer; fifth, people who have had blood clots within six months; sixth, patients with severe liver and kidney dysfunction, etc. Some other patients with special diseases are also not suitable. Therefore, before treatment, we must make specific judgments based on the results of uterine and breast screening and routine health examination reports. If you still have questions about the above explanation, you can communicate with me by applying for telephone consultation service, and you will be given specific guidance through telephone communication.