How To Deal With Menopause Symptoms The Easy Way

There is quite a lot of confusion about some of the terms used to describe the time around menopause. The word ‘menopause’ is popularly used to describe the whole time span in which women experience symptoms from changing hormone levels. In fact, the word simply describes the last menstrual period, just as ‘menarche’ describes the first.

Premenopausue is used by few to point to the time whenever menstruation is natural and before hormone levels start to fall down. Few people says the word to point to the time with in the perimenopause before the final period.

Before and after the last actual menstrual bleed is called perimenopause and it starts after hormone levels have started to fluctuate and before they settle and there are no more symptoms due to this fluctuation. For the climacteric the above symptoms are same. It is more and more usual for women to refer to this time as their menopause.

The term “postmenopause” covers anything after the final menstrual period. It overlaps with “perimenopause”. A woman is described as postmenopausal following her final bleed, though the term is not used until a year has passed, to give time to be sure which period is the very last. Nine out of ten women who are in perimenopause and have not had a period in six months will not menstruate again.

Menopause Hormones

The levels of progesterone and estrogen diminish it called menopause. During the menopause the supply and quality of eggs declines in midlife, hormone production from the ovaries becomes erratic. Approximately 28-day cycle estrogen and progesterone are produced and released until the menopause stage

Premenopausal. During the first half of the menstrual cycle is when estrogen levels reach their peak. After ovulation these levels then decline gain and progesterone levels start to increase. If the egg does not get fertilized these hormones both decline which triggers menstruation.

Perimenopausal. Estrogen is still being produced by the ovaries, but ovulation is sporadic, so progesterone is not produced every cycle and there may not be a monthly bleed.

Post menopause. Your body is not producing estrogen now, but there may be small amounts present in your system due to your fat cells breaking down androstenedione, which is better known as a male hormone.

Osteoporosis and Bone Health

Lower estrogen levels in blood can lead to osteoporosis and brittle bones amongst women. This is corroborated by the facts that in the Western world about quarter of women develop brittle bones around the age 60, which is just 10 years after menopause and about half the women have high degree of osteoporosis by the age of 70. There are many different treatment for menopause options that can help protect you against osteoporosis, so take time to discuss your options with your doctor or health professional.

The metabolism of calcium, the mineral mainly involved in bone building, is in part dependent on estrogen and there are estrogen receptors in the osteoclasts and osteoblasts. The levels of available calcium circulating in the bloodstream are partly controlled by the hormones calcitonin and parathyroid hormone.

Our bones store most of the calcium, and if at all blood calcium levels come down the parathyroid hormone will cause the bone and release calcium into the blood. After menopause, low estrogen levels make bone more sensitive to parathyroid hormone, making it more fragile.