Menopause (menopausal) in women: how old does it start (symptoms)

The menopausal period begins after 40–45 years, when most women have not only children, but also grandchildren. Apparently, nature has programmed menopause at a dangerous age for pregnancy, when the probability of miscarriage reaches 34%, and an age mother has a whole "bunch" of chronic pathologies. So don't look at menopause as a punishment. Yes, this period is accompanied by a deterioration in well-being, but this can be solved. The main thing is not to hesitate and contact a gynecologist at the very beginning. And we will tell you how to recognize the first "bells" of a physiological state.

What is menopause

Climax is a period of age-related changes, characterized by the cessation of the reproductive system and an increase in the level of LH, FSH. The concept itself comes from the Greek word κλῖμαξ (staircase) and English klimax (step).

In almost all women, menopause lasts 10-15 years. And only some of them have a difficult period stretching for 30 years or more.

Sooner or later, the period of menopause occurs in every woman. The physiological process is accompanied by characteristic symptoms and only a few can survive menopause without medical help. Feeling unwell is more a pattern than a deviation from the norm, because the extinction of ovarian functionality leads to hormonal imbalance, and the body is trying to adapt to new conditions. Hence, malfunctions of the central nervous system, brittle bones and other unpleasant consequences.

Throughout her life, the hormonal background of a woman is redrawn at least three times: during puberty, during pregnancy and during menopause.

With normal levels of LH, FSH, estrogen and progesterone, ovulation occurs and, if desired, a woman can become pregnant. But not during menopause, when the reproductive system ceases to function.

The main prerequisites for the development of menopause:

1. The level of gonadotropic hormones (which are not produced by the ovaries) increases.
2. The content of estrogens is sharply reduced (the functionality of the ovaries is weakening every day and they are not able to provide the female body with the most important sex hormone).
3. Follicle-stimulating hormones are unable to restore the ovarian function.
4. The number of eggs decreases (the body receives 1 million eggs while still in the womb and uses only half of it in its entire life. The rest of the eggs ((ovarian reserve of the ovaries)) gradually die off.

Usually, a woman's body ages for the above reasons. But it happens that menopause occurs under the influence of external negative factors, namely:

1. After surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries (artificial menopause).
2. After a course of rays for the treatment of malignant neoplasms (radiation menopause).
3. Endocrine system pathologies, exhaustion, diseases of the nervous system (early menopause in women under 40).
4. Ovarian wasting syndrome (menopause occurs in girls under 30). It is extremely rare.

How not to miss the onset of menopause

Therapists do not have time to see 40-year-old patients complaining of pressure surges, abdominal pain or morning stiffness (and an attempt to redirect to a female doctor is perceived as an unwillingness to provide help). This is not surprising, because menopause provokes a state of agility, and most menopausal symptoms accompanying the period can be attributed to the development of the disease or exacerbation of chronic pathology. We will save you from other people's mistakes and highlight the manifestations that unmistakably indicate the beginning of hormonal changes.

The main harbinger of the first stage of menopause is menstrual irregularities.

Not all women have periods like clockwork. So menstruation that is premature or delayed by several days does not always indicate the onset of menopause. Better pay attention to the intensity and duration of bleeding (cause for concern: discharge become more abundant or, on the contrary, barely noticeable, and critical days last longer or less familiar).

Soreness of the mammary glands, the presence of seals in them may indicate as the extinction of the reproductive function, as well as the presence of hyperestragy (increased ovarian activity and a high concentration of estrogen in organism). This is a pathological condition that requires the help of a specialist.

According to statistics, most women with menopause complain of the following symptoms:

• sudden dizziness, throbbing headache, increased blood pressure;
• irritability, anxiety, unstable psycho-emotional state;
• sleeplessness at night and sleepiness during the day, frequent awakenings at night;
• rapid heart rate, nausea, swelling and joint pain;
• decreased sexual interest in members of the opposite sex;
• constipation, bloating, involuntary urination;
• a decrease in the amount of vaginal secretions, which makes intercourse a rather painful procedure.

The most common symptom of menopause is hot flashes that rise to the face, covering the neck and upper chest. Seizures often occur in the afternoon or at night. At a gynecologist's appointment, women suffering from hot flashes complain of sudden redness of the skin, increased sweating and surges in blood pressure.

According to statistics, more than 51% of women tolerate menopause hard, 33% feel moderate manifestations of the syndrome, and only 16% of patients do not complain about the deterioration of their condition.

TOP 8 misconceptions about menopause

Sometimes the changes that occur with the body during menopause are interpreted incorrectly. On this basis, many misconceptions have arisen, which we will try to debunk.

# 1 Early sexual activity - early menopause

Age of sexual debut does not in any way affect the timing of menopause. The time of the onset of menopause is determined by genetics, the state of health of a woman.

Interesting! Scientists claim that nicotine addicted women go through menopause 2 years earlier than their non-smoking girlfriends.

№2 Climax comes instantly

Menopause is a gradual cessation of the work of the ovaries, which are responsible for the production of female sex hormones. So a smooth hormonal change takes several years and a woman has time to fully "enjoy" all that it implies.

# 3 Menopause is a purely female problem

With age, a decrease in the production of sex hormones occurs in both sexes. So the term "male menopause" exists. Moreover, the decrease in testosterone begins already at the age of 30 and every year it falls by a couple of percent.

Note that men are more fortunate and they do not face the manifestations of the exhausting climacteric syndrome.

# 4 With the onset of menopause, pregnancy is impossible

A common mistake that leads to thousands of unwanted pregnancies every year. Do not give up contraception until at least a year has passed since the last critical days.

# 5 Forgetful Fools?

It is foolish to believe that forgetfulness in old age is provoked exclusively by estrogen deficiency. With age, the blood supply to the brain slows down, and this leads to a weakening of thought processes, etc.

# 6 Farewell to teeth

Teeth are destroyed not due to the extinction of reproductive functions, but due to the natural aging of the body. Lack of estrogen leads to many problems, but does not affect the teeth.

# 7 Menopause Kills Sexual Needs

Yes, about half of women lose interest in sex, but the other half continue to be sexually active. It's just that the former experience pain on contact, while the latter use lubricants to lubricate the vagina and the quality of their sex life does not decrease.

# 8 Hormone therapy causes cancer

It does not cause, but accelerates the development of the present tumor processes. Therefore, before taking HRT, study the contraindications and possible side effects of the drugs.

Good news! British doctors have found a way to delay the onset of menopause by 20 years. For this, the ovarian tissue of a healthy woman is transplanted into an area with a good blood supply: the armpit, etc. Scientists argue that this will not only delay the aging of the body, but also prevent the development of dangerous age-related diseases. The cost of the procedure is from 8 to 13 thousand US dollars.

Climacteric syndrome

Unlike the first, often mild signs of hormonal changes, the vivid symptoms of menopausal syndrome cannot be missed. Experts divide manifestations into three main groups:

Neurovegetative

In 98% of women, the period of menopause is accompanied by hot flashes, excessive activity of the sweat glands, fever and tachycardia. Without timely correction of the hormonal background, the condition is aggravated by growing headaches, hypertensive crises, vasomotor rhinitis. Many patients complain of numbness of the extremities, cramps, dry skin, swelling, and sleep disturbances. In advanced cases, panic attacks and asthma attacks occur.
Painful sensations provoked by the hypersensitivity of the central nervous system arise in different parts of the body.

Psychoneurotic

Psychoneurotic manifestations of the menopausal period occur in about 13% of patients of "dangerous" age. Women complain of weakened brain activity, chronic fatigue and mood swings. This negatively affects performance, both physical and intellectual.

The main prerequisite for the development of psychoneurotic symptoms is the perception of menopause as a personal tragedy. About 10% of patients refer to a difficult period as the final arrival of old age and fall into severe depression. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a woman out of this state.

Somatic

Somatic symptoms are a consequence of general age-related changes, the body's response to a decrease in estrogen levels. The walls of the vagina become thinner, the supporting muscles of the pelvis lose their tone, and this can lead to prolapse of the vagina, uterus. But don't think that only the reproductive system depends on the amount of estrogen. Collagen deficiency caused by the "hormonal swing" affects nails, hair, skin, mammary glands. The skin becomes thinner, less elastic and becomes covered with a network of age-related wrinkles.

Interesting! In some women, a decrease in estrogen levels leads to a decrease in the timbre of the voice.

When menopause usually occurs

Many are interested: at what age does menopause usually begin in women? To give a detailed answer, consider the period of extinction of the reproductive system in stages:

Premenopause

Usually, the onset of premenopause occurs at 45 years of age (in some, the first signs appear at 38-40 or even 50 years of age). The ovaries are still working, but the menstrual cycle is already disrupted: menstruation goes, anyhow, and whenever they please. A woman is faced with headaches, apathy, decreased sex drive and hot flashes.

Menopause

This stage of menopause begins in women of age "slightly over 50". The body has already fully experienced the estrogen deficiency, critical days come every three to four months or do not come at all. Patients are faced with manifestations of osteoporosis, spikes in blood pressure, etc.

Perimenopause

The period of the menstrual transition occurs 12 months after the last menstruation.

Postmenopause

Comes after menopause and lasts until the end of life. The postmenopausal period is the most harmless, because almost all women at this stage have unpleasant symptoms.

There are four forms of menopausal changes by age. The indicators may fluctuate slightly, but, nevertheless, the average age for timely menopause in women is 45-50 years. Premature menopause occurs from 30 to 40 years old, early - from 41 to 45 years, late - after 50.

Interesting! In the climacteric period, more than 10% of women lose their ability to work.

Complications and consequences of menopause

If menopause is accompanied by a deterioration in well-being, you cannot do without the help of a doctor. Otherwise, the symptoms will increase and, in the end, lead to the following problems:

1. Unplanned pregnancy (premenopause-menopause period).
2. Infection of the bladder and uterus, the development of vaginitis, colpitis.
3. The rapid development of mastopathy, a malignant process in the mammary gland.
4. Formation of benign or malignant neoplasms in the pelvic organs: ovaries, uterus, cervix, etc.
5. Facial hair growth.
6. Thinning and fragility of bones.
7. Arterial hypertension, cardiac ischemia, atherosclerosis and other diseases of the cardiovascular system.
8. Heart attacks, strokes.
9. Prolonged depression.
10. Nervous system pathologies, memory impairment.
11. Exacerbation of chronic ailments.

Women with previously diagnosed mastopathy, hypertension, polycystic ovary disease and other chronic pathologies are especially prone to the development of complications.

The risk group includes patients with the following conditions:

• genetic predisposition;
• pathology of the thyroid gland;
• bad habits (smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction);
• suffered heavy operations;
• obesity;
• nervous exhaustion;
• systematic physical, intellectual or psycho-emotional overstrain;
• malfunction of the endocrine system, hormonal imbalance;
• multiple abortions (spontaneous or surgical);
• dysplasia of the cervix;
• disorder of metabolic processes;
• use of corticosteroids;
• Crohn's disease;
• the presence of malignant neoplasms in the mammary gland, genital organ, ovaries;
• poor diet or addiction to junk food.

Interesting! In about half of the patients with menopause, body weight increases. And first of all, the waist and hips are "overgrown with fat".

How to delay the onset of menopause

Menopause is not a disease and a pill for its cancellation or cure has not yet been invented. The only thing that can be done is to ease the severity of symptoms or delay the process for several years. To achieve good results, start "preventive work" at the age of 35, that is, even before the first signs of menopause appear. The procedure is as follows:

Correct diet

With a decrease in estrogen levels in the body, fat begins to accumulate. So that by the age of 45 your figure does not turn into a "barrel" without signs of a waist, exclude unhealthy foods from your diet. When drawing up a menu, focus on the following products:

• low-fat poultry and meat;
• seafood;
• fiber-rich fruits and vegetables;
• eggs;
• soy products;
• whole grain products;
• vegetable fats;
• milk products.

And do not forget about the drinking regime: at least 2 liters of mineral water without gas or clean water per day.
Hot dogs, shawarma, fried pies and pastries are prohibited. Keep track of the contents of your plate and the balance of the BJU.

Physical activity

Sedentary is bad, but grueling exercise in the gym won't do you any good either. Therefore, we choose the middle ground. This can be long walks in the park, yoga, swimming or light fitness. Even a 20-minute morning warm-up is enough to maintain muscle tone. The main thing is regularity.

Hormone replacement therapy

This point applies if the first signs of menopause have come to the surface and make life difficult. The essence of therapy is to replenish estrogen deficiency with the help of synthetic or plant hormones. The doctor prescribes hormonal drugs. Self-medication can have the opposite effect.

Interesting! In some countries, women who have lost their ability to work due to menopause are paid an allowance.

Rejection of bad habits

All efforts will go down the drain if a woman smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and indulges in strong drinks. Moreover, addictions accelerate the onset of menopause by several months and even years.

Aging of the female body is a natural physiological process. Some take menopause for granted, others postpone it by any means. And notice, the latter are doing well. Women who timely turned to a gynecologist and strictly followed his recommendations rarely face complications and look younger than those who neglected medical help.