We want to answer some important questions first.
Information provided can be found on Web-MD
What Is Menopause?
Menopause is a condition that all women experience as they age. The term “menopause” can describe any of the changes a female goes through either just before or after she stops menstruating, therefore marking the end of her reproductive period.
What Causes Menopause?
A woman is born with infinite number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries are also responsible for the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which control menstruation and ovulation. Menopause happens when the ovaries no longer release an egg every month and that is when the menstruation stops.
Menopause is considered a normal part of aging when it happens after the age of 40. Some women can go through menopause early, either as a result of surgery, such as hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries, such as from chemotherapy or other abnormal medical conditions. Menopause that happens before 40, regardless of the cause, is called premature menopause. BHRT can help balance natural hormones and assist in weight loss.
Losing Weight May Ease Hot Flashes, Study Finds
ACCORDING TO NEW YORK CITY PROFESSOR:
Hot flashes can be debilitating for more than 50 percent of menopausal women, said Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. About one-third of menopausal women experience more than 10 hot flashes a day, and she added that hot flashes are more common in obese-women.
“Fat appears to function as an insulator, and interferes with heat dissipation,” explained Shirazian, who was not involved in the study.
How Does Natural Menopause Happen?
Natural Menopause is not brought on by any type of medical or surgical treatment. The process is gradual and has three stages:
Perimenopause
This typically begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually make less estrogen. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last 1 to 2 years of Perimenopause, the drop in estrogen quickens. At this stage, many women have menopause symptoms.
Menopause. This is the point when it’s been a year since a woman last had her last menstrual period. At this stage, the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and making most of their estrogen.
Post Menopause. These are the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes ease for most women. But health risks related to the loss of estrogen rise as the woman ages.
What Conditions Cause Premature Menopause?
Premature menopause can be the result of genetics, autoimmune disorders, or medical procedures. Other conditions that may cause early menopause include:
Premature ovarian failure. Normally, the ovaries make both estrogen and progesterone. Changes in the levels of these two hormones happen when the ovaries, for unknown reasons, prematurely stop releasing eggs. When this happens before the age of 40, it’s called premature ovarian failure. Unlike premature menopause, premature ovarian failure is not always permanent.
Induced menopause. “Induced” menopause happens when the ovaries are surgically removed for medical reasons, such as uterine cancer or endometriosis. Induced menopause can also result from damage to the ovaries caused by radiation or chemotherapy.
Symptoms
Most women approaching menopause will have hot flashes, a sudden feeling of warmth that spreads over the upper body, often with blushing and some sweating. The severity of hot flashes varies from mild in most women to severe in others.
Other common symptoms around the time of menopause include:
These are just the most common complaints, not to mention “Chronic Fatigue.”
Dr. Slater ( A Double Board Certified OBGYN Physician) and his team believe that in order to live a “quality life” during any of these menopausal phases, we must re-balance by getting in-depth lab work completed, that will be analyzed by him and remedied via Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy.
