Menopause is a very complicated but natural phase in a woman’s life.
It is not a disease. The term covers the many changes that take place
in a woman’s body as she reaches the end of the reproductive cycle and
her body stops producing the hormone estrogen.
It is
important to understand the menopausal process in order to determine if
early menopause treatment is a realistic and safe option for most
women. Treating this important stage in a normal life cycle as a
medical condition that needs pharmaceutical intervention is a highly
controversial topic of discussion and study in the United States at
this time.
Estrogen is produced in three major forms –
estradiol, estrone, and estriol – and the ovaries are the organs that
produce the vast majority of a woman’s supply of estrogen. Together,
these three forms of estrogen have an effect on over 300 different
types of tissue throughout a woman’s entire body. There are several
phases in a woman’s life when estrogen levels are dramatically altered
and they each produce systemic change.
Because menopause is
such a complex and all-encompassing phase of life, it does not happen
abruptly, quickly, or invisibly. There are both visible and invisible
changes that take place in several stages over a number of years.
The
only exception to the slow menopausal process is when a woman is faced
with surgical removal of the ovaries before menopause begins naturally.
Ovary removal is only considered in the event of injury or untreatable
disease and is never performed as an elective surgery or a procedure of
convenience or vanity.
The earliest signs of menopause are
changes in a woman’s menstrual cycle that occur in her early 40s. Over
a period of years, the cycle will stop altogether and periods will
cease. It is at this point that estrogen levels drop dramatically and
symptoms are felt that are not related to the menstrual cycle.
Interestingly enough, women from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds experience different clusters of symptoms.
It
is also at this stage of the process that most women seek treatment for
relief of symptoms. Women undergoing surgical removal of the ovaries
usually need medical intervention to minimize the trauma caused by the
abrupt drop in estrogen levels caused by the surgery. Treatment options
in either case are similar.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
is the most dramatic option for treating menopausal symptoms. Other
women choose herbal remedies and nutritional supplements. These
remedies all provide incomplete, temporary relief and all benefits are
discontinued as soon as the medication is stopped.
Lifestyle
changes that involve eating a healthier diet and getting more exercise
are thought to produce results as beneficial as HRT and other
pharmaceutical therapies. The beneficial results of a healthier
lifestyle are more permanent than those achieved through supplemental
methods and can be safety and healthily continued throughout the
remaining 30 or 40 years of a woman’s expected life span.
Most
of the unpleasant symptoms of menopause will go away after a few years
when the body has had time to adjust to it the reduced levels of
estrogen. Many women look forward to this time of life as a new
beginning and anticipate its arrival.
Med-Help is for informational purposes and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis or treatment recommendations.