Healthy aging - stages of menopause

It is the reproductive reproductive phase transition does not refer to the natural part of aging and is a stage in the life of every woman. However, there is a great individual variation and every woman experience menopause differently. A woman can pass smoothly by these hormonal changes, while another may suffer with many debilitating symptoms until you receive appropriate treatment.

Stages of menopause

Perimenopause is a period of transition from a normal to completely absent the ovarian function. During this time ovarian function becomes erratic with fluctuations in estrogen levels that translates into some physical symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, mood swings and irregular periods. Perimenopause usually begins when a woman is in her 40s and lasts from four to eleven years.

During perimenopause ovaries begin to decrease their ovulatory function. The majority of women note not the occurrence of menopause until the last years of perimenopause when estrogen production decreases more rapidly and drastically.

Menopause begins when the ovaries stop throwing eggs and a woman does not have periods. Menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 with a median age of 51 in United States. A general indication of menopause is the cessation of periods of twelve consecutive months.

Postmenopausal time is divided into two stages:

‧ Early postmenopause is within the first five years from the last menstrual period. In this hormone stage starts therapy if symptoms, osteoporosis and bone loss becomes serious.

‧ Postmenopause late is five years and beyond.

It is more likely to experience the symptoms of menopause

‧ Women with personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer

‧ Women with blood clots

‧ Women with hormonal abnormalities personal or family history

‧ Women with thyroid problems and autoimmune diseases

‧ Women who have premature menopause

‧ Women with surgical removal of the ovaries after chemo or radiotherapy

Factors that affect menopause

It is not understood well why the age of the onset of menopause varies in form of woman to woman. Many environmental and lifestyle factors such as the use of oral contraceptives, and smoking are related to the beginning of the natural menopause.

Genetics determines the number of eggs in the ovaries of women and the age when she enters the menopause. We found a strong association between genetics and the onset of menopause, based on the study of menopausal age of mothers, daughters and among brothers. If women in his family entered the menopause around 50 years, it is 30 to 85%, which will also experience menopause around this time.

Smoking and women with chronic diseases, autoimmune diseases, surgical removal of the ovaries or damage to the ovaries in chemotherapy or radiation therapy are more likely to experience early menopause. On average smokers reach menopause two years earlier than nonsmokers.

Early menopause

Premature menopause are characterized by the absence of normal function of ovaries and produces less than 1% of women age 40 and 0.1% before age 30.

Clinical diagnosis of premature menopause is based on the absence of at least 4 months in conjunction with more than 40 IU/L FSH levels before 40 years. However, about half of patients show intermittent estrogen production and you can ovulate making possible pregnancy after diagnosis.

About menopause, many women experience symptoms such as palpitations, intolerance of heat and hot flashes that are believed to be caused by fluctuations in estrogen. These symptoms of hypothyroidism, hashitoxicosis or ageing are often wrong.

The incidence of premature ovarian failure of autoimmune origin is higher in women with Hashimoto and severe disease. Premature ovarian failure or Oophoritis is a painless autoimmune inflammation of ovaries, resulting in premature menopause before the 1940s with a loss of fertility and ovarian hormonal functions.

Marina Gutner holds a doctorate in natural sciences and is a medical writer about the disease and the conditions of health partners of Hashimoto. For more information about the connection between menopause and autoimmune diseases and hypothyroidism in women subscription free articles on his blog thyroidinwomen.com

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