| More than one third
of the women in the United States, about 36 million, have
been through menopause. With a life expectancy of about
81 years, a 50-year-old woman can expect to live more
than one third of her life after menopause. Scientific
research is just beginning to address some of the unanswered
questions about these years and about the poorly understood
biology of menopause.
Menopause is the point in a woman's life when menstruation
stops permanently, signifying the end of her ability
to have children. Known as the "change of life,"
menopause is the last stage of a gradual biological
process in which the ovaries reduce their production
of female sex hormones--a process which begins about
3 to 5 years before the final menstrual period. This
transitional phase is called the climacteric, or perimenopause.
Menopause is considered complete when a woman has been
without periods for 1 year. On average, this occurs
at about age 50. But like the beginning of menstruation
in adolescence, timing varies from person to person.
Health Risks Posed at Menopause
Estrogen has a number of benefits that can be lost when
levels drop too low. For much of their adult lives,
women have a lower risk of heart disease than men the
same age. However, once a woman reaches menopause and
her estrogen levels fall, her prevalence of CVD rises
to equal and finally surpass that of men.
The risk of osteoporosis in women rises as estrogen
levels decrease, both during perimenopause and following
menopause. Without estrogen's protective effects, the
rate of bone loss is increased; it is highest during
the first five to seven years after menopause.
Menopausal Symptoms
Some women experience few, if any, symptoms at menopause.
However, the majority of Western women experience some
noticeable symptoms as their estrogen levels decrease.
Physical symptoms can include hot flashes, night sweats,
and insomnia; changes in vaginal tissues and a decrease
in the ability to control urination; headaches; aching
and painful joints; and sore breasts. Psychological
effects associated with menopause include sudden mood
changes, irritability, problems with concentration and
memory, anxiety, a feeling of being unable to cope,
and even depression.
Hot flashes are sudden feelings of intense heat, which
usually last from thirty seconds to five minutes. They
often start in the neck and spread upward to the face
and scalp and down to the upper chest. A woman having
a hot flash may have a flushed face and sweat profusely.
Some women even experience a strong and/or rapid heartbeat
and feel dizzy during a hot flash. Hot flashes that
occur at night are called night sweats. It is not unusual
for a menopausal woman to wake several times during
the night with her night clothes and the bed sheets
soaking wet. These disturbances contribute greatly to
the insomnia that may become a problem at menopause.
Without estrogen, the tissues lining the vagina become
thinner and more fragile, and there is a lessening of
lubrication. The most common result of this change is
discomfort and pain during intercourse. The tissue lining
the urinary tack undergoes similar changes, leading
to a decrease in the muscle tone that controls the release
of urine from the bladder. This inability to control
loss is called urinary incontinence. Some women have
stress incontinence, which is a sudden leaking of urine
when they cough, sneeze, or exercise. Urge incontinence
occurs when a trigger, such as laughter or a sudden
movement, produces a feeling of needing to urinate,
followed by a leaking of urine.
For some women, menopause is a time of emotional upheaval,
with sudden mood swings, irritability, and depression.
Declining estrogen levels may have a direct effect on
mood and other feelings. And, of course, insomnia and
lack of restful sleep can be major contributors to moodiness,
irritability, and the other psychological side effects
sometimes associated with menopause.
Soy Protein and Menopausal Symptoms
A survey of 8,000 women conducted in Scotland indicated
that 57 percent of the women responding had experienced
one or more of the menopausal symptoms mentioned above.
This percent is actually lower than the estimates of
70 to 85 percent usually given for North American women.
The interesting fact is that Asian women had a much
lower incidence of menopausal symptoms. For example,
studies estimated that less than 25 percent of Japanese
women and 18 percent of Chinese women complained of
hot flashes. These observations led researchers to investigate
the possible effects on menopausal symptoms of dietary
factors in Asian cuisines, including soyfood consumption.
References
View
menopause references list.
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