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Peri-menopause
Natural midlife changes have begun when your periods become irregular. Peri-menopause refers to the time leading up to menopause when the cycle length and menstrual flow can vary significantly. You may skip a period or your flow may become heavier or lighter. A common symptom is the commencement of hot flushes, which many women describe as a sudden rush of heat that spreads over the upper part of the body and face making the skin flush and causing a sudden burst of perspiration. The onset of hot flushes can often cause embarrassment for women as they can occur at anytime without warning. Night sweats and mood swings are also common during this time and you may find that your sleep patterns change.
What is menopause?
Every woman will experience menopause and every women will experience menopause in her own unique way. For some women, menopause will be a gradual phase that is hardly noticed. For others it can be marked with severe symptoms that make going about your daily life close to unbearable.
Menopause literally means the last monthly period of a woman's life. However, it is confirmed when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. The gradual decrease in the ovaries production of oestrogen during this time is simply the body's natural evolution from the fertile child-bearing years to a whole new stage of life.
For most women, menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 to 55 years and for the Australian woman the average age is 51 years.
Oestrogen levels play an important role in a woman's life. They rise at puberty with the onset of childbearing years and then increase and decrease rhythmically with your menstrual cycle. They peak during pregnancy and then decline as you reach menopause and your menstrual cycle ceases.
This decline in oestrogen levels during menopause gives rise to common symptoms such as:
- Hot flushes
- Night sweats
- Mood swings and irritability
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Other symptoms associated with menopause include:
- Reduced libido
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Urinary frequency
- Dry vagina
- Inability to concentrate
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If you are currently going through menopause, chances are you are accustomed to more than one of these symptoms. Perhaps it's the intense hot flush when you want it the least, or it's the on again, off again tug of war with the blankets at night as you experience night sweats. The fact is thousands of women begin menopause everyday, so you are not alone.
Many women are also unaware that decreasing oestrogen levels can have a less obvious but more harmful effect on your body, such as an increased risk of osteoporosis (bone loss) and high cholesterol.
When oestrogen levels drop, the risk of osteoporosis increases. This can mean bones become more brittle and more prone to fracture. Cholesterol health may also decline in some women after menopause.
Both osteoporosis and high cholesterol levels are major long term health issues for women after menopause.
What is premature menopause?
Premature menopause is defined as the onset of menopause before the age of 45. It affects one in every hundred women under 40, one in 1,000 under 30 and one in 10,000 under 20.
It can occur for several reasons, however, most women never find out what has caused their ovaries to fail. Common known causes include: affects of cancer treatment, Turner’s Syndrome and autoimmune processes.
As well as dealing with menopausal symptoms these women also have to cope with losing their fertility.
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