“To call her a bag of bones would be a cruel understatement.
For how can you call a tooth-pick a bag!
Where there was once a flesh is now dry bone!
What was once the voice of a bell now rasps like a battered gong!
Laughter that once caressed like the kiss of the wind is now a yarn with the hiss of a sigh!
Eyes that once sparkled with joy and merriment now flicker between myopia and total sight oblivion.
She literary rattles as she walks, purrs like a lazy wind as she talks, and actually thanks God at the end of each day for this “happy life of hers despite her menopause”
.(OBI EGBUNA – DIARY OF A HOMELESS PRODIGAL – “MEETING MOTHER AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS”)
That was Obi Egbuna describing Mother Africa after menopause. Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when the cyclic function of the ovaries and menstrual periods cease. Menopause actually occurs at end of a woman’s last menstrual period. However, that fact is established only later, when a woman has had no period for at least, 12 months. The average age at which menopause occurs is about 50 years but menopause may occur normally in women as young as 40.
Menstruation ceases, though this can, of course happen for other reasons. Regular menstrual cycles may continue up to menopause, but usually the last periods tend to vary in duration and amount and flow. Progressively fewer cycles involve the release of an egg.
With age the ovaries become progressively less responsive to stimulation by luteinising hormone and follicle stimulating hormone, which are secreted by the pituitary gland.
Premature menopause is menopause occurring before age 40. Possible causes include genetic predisposition and autoimmune disorders in which antibodies are produced that can damage a number of glands, including the ovaries. Smoking may also cause premature menopause.
Artificial menopause results from a medical intervention that reduces or stops hormone secretion by the ovaries. These interventions include surgery to remove the ovaries or reduce their blood supply and chemotherapy or radiation therapy to the pelvis-including the ovaries to treat cancer. Surgery to remove the uterus-hysterectomy, ends menstrual periods but it does not affect hormone levels, as long as the ovaries are intact and therefore does not cause menopause.
During the time before menopause technically called “The Climacteric” but more recently called Perimenopause, Symptoms may be non-existent, mild, moderate or severe.
Hot flushes affect 75 percent of women. During a hot flush the skin especially on the head and neck becomes red and warm (flushed), and perspiration may be profuse.
Most women have hot flushes for more than a year, and 25 to 50 percent have them for more than 5 years. A hot flush lasts from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and may be followed by chills.
Fatigue, irritability, insomma and nervousness may be caused by the decrease in oestrogen levels. Night sweats may disturb sleep, making fatigue and irritability worse. A woman occasionally may feel dizzy, have the tingling sensations (pins and needles) and be unusually aware of her heartbeat, which may seen to be pounding.
Loss of bladder control, inflammation of the bladder or vagina and pain during intercourse because of vaginal dryness may also occur. Sometimes muscles and joints ache.
Osteoporosis- severe thinning of the bones is a major health hazard of menopause. Slender fair skinned women are at highest risk. Women who smoke cigarette, drink excessive amounts of alcohol take corticosteroids, have a low intake of calcium, or have a sedentary lifestyle are also at risk.
During, the first 5 – years after menopause, 3 to 5 percent of after bone is lost each year. After that 1 to 2 percent of bone is lost each year. Fractures may result from minor injuries and in elderly women, even without an injury. The most commonly fractured bones are the vertebrae – leading to stooping and backache, hips and wrist bones, may also be fractured
Cardiovascular disease, progresses more rapidly after menopause, when oestrogen levels decrease. A woman whose ovaries have been removed, resulting in premature menopause and who doesn’t take oestrogen replacement therapy, is twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease as a premenopausal woman of the same age.
Post menopausal women who take oestrogen have a much lower rate of cardiovascular disease than those who don’t take it.
Symptoms of menopause especially premature or artificial, are treated by restoring oestrogen to premenopausal levels. The primary goals of oestrogen therapy are to relieve symptoms such as hot flushes, vaginal dryness, and urinary problems. To help prevent osteoporosis, to help prevent atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, it is also not medically advisable to engage in oestrogen replacement therapy except in premature menopause.
This is because post menopausal women who take oestrogen without progesterone have an increased risk of endometrial cancer – that is cancer of the lining of the uterus.
So it must be noted that nothing can prevent the physiologic or natural menopause, that is, ovarian function cannot be prolonged indefinitely and nothing can be done to postpone its onset or slow its progress.
As I stated earlier, the main non hormonal treatments that every woman who has attained menopause should try include:
• Changing diet
• Avoiding triggers to hot flushes
• Exercising
• Joining support groups
• Prescription medications
In diet limiting the amount of caffeine you consume every day and cutting back on spicy foods can make your hot flushes less severe.
Certain things in your daily life could be triggers, for hot flushes. To help relieve your symptoms, try and identify these triggers and work around them. This could include keeping your bedroom cool at night, wearing layers of clothing or quitting smoking. Weight loss can also help with hot flushes.
Working out can be difficult if you are dealing with hot flushes, but exercising can help relieve several other symptoms of menopause. Exercise can help you sleep through the night and is recommended if you have insomnia.
Calm, tranquil types of exercise, like yoga can also help with your mood and relieve any fears or anxiety you may be feeling.
Talking to other people who are also going through menopause can be a great relief for many. Joining a support group cannot only give you an outlet for the many emotions running through your head but also help you answer questions you may not even know you have.
The possibility of pregnancy disappears once you are post – menopausal. However you can get pregnant during menopause transition (perimenopause). If you don’t want to become pregnant you should continue to use some birth control until you are sure you have gone through menopause.
Always be medically guided.
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