The literal meaning of menopause is the last menstrual bleeding. Perimenopause, or the transition to menopause, is a natural process and develops slowly. Menopause affects you physically and mentally to varying degrees. Each woman's menopause symptoms are unique and do not start at the same time or affect everyone in the same way. The changes that occur during menopause should not be dismissed as completely normal. Menopause is an important period in a woman's life and a doctor should be visited. Because many diseases are more common in the menopausal age group.
Menopause occurs as a result of the gradual depletion of follicles (ovaries) in the ovaries. As we approach menopause, our bodies begin to produce smaller amounts of female hormones (estrogen and progesterone), and this often lasts for several years. In some months, ovulation may not occur and hormone levels begin to vary greatly. Sometimes hormonal changes are more gentle. Due to changing hormone levels, complaints become variable and unpredictable.
Menopause is related to many factors: aging, sexual life, mood, cancer risk, diet and exercise. Menopause gives you the opportunity to re-evaluate your overall health and lifestyle choices. To spend the menopausal years healthily and happily, we recommend you follow these 10 steps:
1. Recognize Menopause Symptoms: Most women enter menopause in their late 40s and complete it around age 50, but some women may still be in the transition until age 55. A very small number of women enter menopause under the age of 40; This situation is called premature menopause (early menopause).
Menstrual Changes: The most obvious indicator of menopause is the cessation of monthly bleeding (menstruation). However, even 10 years before menopause, menstrual bleeding may change due to irregularities in hormone levels. Over time, they may turn into lighter or heavier bleeding, and they may move further and further away from each other. It may skip 1-2 menstrual periods, then start again. The amount and duration of menstrual bleeding may decrease. At the end of the transition period, you may feel menopause symptoms when menstrual bleeding becomes irregular or ends. This often happens when women are “going through changes” or “going through menopause” It coincides with the "i" period.
Hot Flashes: One of the ways our body uses to keep its temperature constant is to change the amount of blood flow to the skin. Estrogen affects this event. Due to fluctuating estrogen levels during menopause, your body may have difficulty keeping your temperature constant. With menopause, the vasomotor system balance is disrupted. As a result, hot flashes may occur. During these seizures, you may not only feel hot but may also sweat. When this phenomenon occurs during sleep at night, they are called "night sweats". Three out of four menopausal women have this complaint. Without treatment, hot flashes continue for 5 years or more in up to half of these women. In some women, it can start around the age of 40 or continue until the age of 70. This situation varies depending on the difference in people's vasomotor systems, the rate of decline in blood hormonal levels, weight, exercise adequacy, and social activity.
Mood and Memory: Menopause causes mood changes, irritability, excitement, and sometimes changes in memory and concentration. it could be. In some women, especially those who think of menopause as a loss of femininity, self-confidence decreases and depression occurs.
Exterior: Low estrogen levels may cause the external appearance to gradually change. Wrinkles may increase in some women. This is because the hormone estrogen helps maintain the collagen that normally supports the skin. As a result of compression fractures in the spinal cord caused by osteoporosis, an average height of 5 cm may be shortened.
Bladder (Urinary Bladder) Control: Low estrogen levels cause the tissue lining the bladder and urinary tract to become thinner and, as a result, a decrease in bladder control or at an unexpected moment; For example, it causes you to leak small amounts of urine when you laugh or sneeze. You may need to urinate more frequently, especially at night, and you may be more prone to urinary tract infections
Other Symptoms: Changing estrogen levels in some menopausal women can cause sleep disturbances, joint pain, bone and muscle pain, fatigue, vaginal dryness, and interest in sexual function. creates scarcity.
Menopause Caused by Medication or Surgery: Your ovaries naturally grow before you reach menopause. Removing the ovarian function or stopping ovarian functions with chemotherapy or other medications will quickly put you into menopause, no matter how old you are.
If you have had a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus), you will no longer have menstrual bleeding, but if your ovaries are left, they usually function until the ovaries run out. If you have had this operation and think you have menopausal symptoms, you should consult your physician.
2. Plan Now for Your Long-Term Health: Women can now live beyond the age of 80. So this means that we will spend 1/3 of our lives in the post-menopausal period! If you haven't made the necessary lifestyle changes for your health, make them now: it's not too late to change! Due to a long life expectancy, women will experience varying degrees of age-related health problems. Although it is a natural event, the decrease in estrogen levels can accelerate the development of some diseases during menopause.
Osteoporosis (Bone Melting-Silent Thief): Most of us gain our maximum bone mass in our 20s. Around the age of 35, bone density begins to decrease, causing our bones to become thinner as we get older. This event accelerates after menopause because levels of estrogen, the hormone that normally slows bone loss, decrease. Normally, bone is a dynamic structure that is in a state of construction and destruction. As bone destruction increases with age and menopause, its construction slows down. Women lose 2-5% of their bone density each year in the 5-10 years after menopause. In other words, a woman may lose up to 30% of her total bone mass during this period, which causes osteoporosis in the ages after menopause. Unfortunately, the person does not notice any signs of this loss until a bone fracture occurs. For this reason, the incident is called the "silent thief". Weak bones break easily, and this situation affects a large number of people, creating a major health problem. Fractures often occur in the hips, wrists and spine, causing disability, pain, disfigurement and even death. Menopause is an excellent opportunity to evaluate bone health and your personal risk factors for osteoporosis so you can keep your bones healthy. The necessary approach for osteoporosis is also determined.
Risk Factors for Osteoporosis
Things You Can Change
- Not being physically active
- Eating a diet poor in calcium
- Excessive dieting or eating disorders
- Excessive alcohol intake (regularly drinking more than 2 drinks a day)
- Excessive caffeine intake (regularly drinking more than 3 drinks a day) coffee, tea or cola)
- Smoking
- Decrease in estrogen after menopause
What you cannot change:
- Minor Being of high-boned nature
- Being of Caucasian or Asian origin
- A family history of osteoporosis
- Being a woman
- Advanced age
- Some long-term use of drugs
Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Diseases and Stroke): The most common but least detected cause of death in women after menopause is cardiovascular diseases.
Before menopause. Heart diseases are much less common in women than in men. This is due to the protective effect of estrogen on our heart and blood vessels. However, after menopause, women's risk of heart disease increases due to low estrogen levels. Towards the age of 65-75, the risks of cardiovascular diseases for men and women become equal. In addition to being the leading cause of death, heart disease is the second leading medical condition that limits activity and impedes independence. There are many factors that contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Do your best to identify the factors you may have and reduce your risk.
Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases
Things You Can Change:
- Smoking
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Being overweight
- Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
- Not being physically active
- Low HDL (low good cholesterol)
- High LDL (high bad cholesterol)
- High triglycerides
Things you cannot change:
- Advanced age
- Family history of cardiovascular diseases
Breast Cancer: All women face an increased risk of breast cancer as they get older. If a woman lives to be 85 She will have a 1/9 chance of getting breast cancer. Most cases of breast cancer occur after age 60, and deaths from this disease are decreasing in western countries. Other than age, the most important risk factors for breast cancer are family history and postponing the first pregnancy until later in life or never being pregnant. Other risk factors include alcohol intake (regularly drinking more than 2 glasses a day), weight, and lack of exercise. Although there has been much debate about the possibility of an increased risk of breast cancer in women taking hormones, studies have shown that hormone use for 5 years or less does not pose an additional risk. There may be a small increase in risk in long-term hormone users. Although many women are afraid of breast cancer, today the death rate from lung cancer around the age of 50 has exceeded the death rate from breast cancer.
3. Eat Right: Ideally our daily diet should contain the recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals. If it does not contain it, you can get it from vitamins and other supplements. Reducing fat (especially saturated fat) and sugar intake and increasing the amount of fiber in the diet will help you maintain your ideal weight. Since obesity is a risk factor for breast, endometrium and cardiovascular diseases, it is very important to resist the tendency to gain weight as we age. Because the basal metabolic rate decreases with age.
To maximize bone strength, we need to take 1000 mg of calcium between the ages of 19-49 and 1000-1500 mg around the age of 50. If you live in countries with closed climates or away from the sun for some reason, you can take 400-800 IU of vitamin D to increase calcium absorption. During the summer months (April to October) we get enough sunlight to produce enough vitamin D through the skin. The main foods containing vitamin D are fish, eggs and milk.
Some women state that they get relief from hot flashes, vaginal dryness and other menopausal symptoms when they increase their intake of phytoestrogens (herbal estrogens). These compounds, which have some estrogen-like properties, are found in soybean products (soy milk, tofu), all wheat plants, and some fruits and vegetables. Effects on osteoporosis, heart disease and breast cancer
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