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| How to postpone menopause and stay young longer
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"Menopause" - this word fears any woman whose age is approaching forty. Immediately there
are thoughts of fading, and so want to stay young longer. Especially since today more and more
often give birth after 35-40 years. And to talk about menopause at forty, especially for a woman
who recently became a mother, seems premature. Whether it is possible to postpone menopause
and make this period more comfortable.
When and how menopause comes?
Climacteric period - a smooth physiological restructuring associated with the decline of
reproductive function of women and a decrease in the level of estrogen (the main female sex
hormones produced in the follicles of the ovaries) until the complete disappearance of menses.
It encompasses three stages: premenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.
At what age do changes in the hormonal background begin?
- Approximately at the age of 40-45 years. It can be a prolonged state - from one to five years
before the onset of menopause, when a woman begins to have irregularities in the cycle, the first
symptoms of hypoestrogenemia, that is, insufficiency of ovarian function appear. Due to
biochemical and hormonal changes appear such manifestations as a feeling of weakness,
hot flashes, increased sweating, frequent mood changes, insomnia. At the same time, menstrual
function is still preserved.
- Then comes menopause, when menstruation stops. On average, this happens at the age of 45
to 55 years. But it can also happen later - by the age of sixty, or earlier. Among my patients
diagnosed with "ovarian exhaustion syndrome" and "early menopause" were women aged
35-36 years, and one girl induced menopause (that is, artificial) came at the age of 25 years - this
happens after surgical interventions. However, to say that it is definitely menopause, and not a
failure of the cycle, you can only after a woman lives without menstruation for a year. After
menopause, the body ages rapidly: many begin to have health problems, in particular
osteoporosis.
Follow the cycle, check three hormones
- If a woman begins to notice: something happens to the body, shortens the cycle, it is urgent to
run to the doctor?
- The duration of a normal menstrual cycle is 21-35 days (plus or minus 2-4 days). Not all
women correctly calculate their cycle: they start counting when their period ends. And it is
necessary - from the beginning of the first day of menstruation to the beginning of the next,
including the first day. If the cycle is less than 21 days, it is definitely necessary to go to the
doctor and deal with - it is a violation.
Any woman once a year must visit a gynecologist, do ultrasound of the mammary glands and
pelvic organs. If the function of the ovaries is not disturbed, ovulatory cycle, in a year we check
again. If the doctor sees that the ovaries are depleted (less than 4-5 follicles in one ovary in a
woman under 35 years old), then you need to check the hormones.
What hormones should be tested for?
- Sex hormones that will help to recognize whether menopause is coming, has already occurred
or there are some hormonal disorders - two. This is follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which
provides maturation and rupture of the follicle, and therefore - the onset of ovulation and the
possibility of conception. And estradiol - it is synthesized by the ovaries and, in much smaller
quantities, adipose tissue and skin cells. This hormone provides preparation of the uterus for
implantation of the embryo, and in menopause its synthesis declines. Disturbances in the
production of estradiol lead to failures of the cycle and problems with conception. It is also
necessary to look at TTG - thyroid hormone, because with its dysfunction can also prematurely
enter menopause. These three hormones should be checked to understand at what stage of life a
woman is. But be warned: disorders can be temporary.
A diet low in protein means menopause will come sooner.
- Is it true that Japanese women go into menopause later than European women?
- Yes. They eat a lot of tofu and other soy products, and this is the most powerful phytoestrogen -
many herbal remedies for menopause symptoms contain an extract from soy. Second, they eat a
lot of seafood, seaweed - and that's vitamin D, Omega, iodine. And plus they do special
gymnastics - it's their lifestyle. So we draw conclusions.
- What can accelerate the approach of menopause?
- Today we experience stress at every turn, and it, in turn, brings changes in the endocrine
system: hormonal disorders begin. For example, girls suddenly stop having periods during
exams. During the war years because of chronic stress, exhaustion and physical overstrain,
many women did not menstruate. Approaches menopause active smoking, poor protein and
vitamin nutrition. All this is proven.
- What about vegetarianism, when a woman does not eat meat?
The main thing is that the diet must necessarily contain a sufficient amount of vegetable protein,
every day there were nuts, lentils or tofu. But low-protein diet is dangerous. As is the fascination
with low-calorie diets. Fragile ladies with low body weight have a risk of premature menopause
and severe menopause.
In "women in the body", while active and mobile, menopause is a little easier. Of course, we
are not talking about significantly overweight and accumulation of fat in the abdominal cavity.
This obesity is pathological.
Prevention with the "vitamin of youth" and cinnamon will help to postpone menopause
- In the period of pre-menopause, when the restructuring is just beginning, it is necessary to somehow help your body to adapt - take estrogens, phytoestrogens, supplements?
You should. After forty, all women need to take useful drugs. But not herbal medicines to
relieve menopausal syndrome - they have nothing to do with it. You need to take them when
you already have symptoms of hypoestrogenism. And we are talking about prevention - that is,
as far as possible to push back this period. There are certain vitamins and biologically active
supplements for this purpose.
- Like what?
For example, Lady's formula - these are different complexes for women from forty and forty-five
years old, in menopause. They differ in their composition.
Vitamin B8 - the international name is inositol or inositol, and there are many names in the
pharmacy network. For women, this is one of the most important vitamin-like substances, which
the body for three quarters of the need produces itself, and the rest is obtained with food. This
"vitamin of youth" regulates hormonal function from the pituitary gland to ovarian regulation.
Inositol can be taken for long periods of time, especially in situations where hormonal balance
needs to be restored, and when correcting insulin resistance. It is a proven factor.
Antioxidants should be taken. Some of the best are dihydroquercetin and coenzyme Q10. They
are on the list of substances that a person needs for health in everyday life. Cinnamon is very
useful for women's health: it supports estrogenic and antioxidant background, freezes the aging
process of the body. It relieves pain and reduces irritability, so it is indispensable during
menstruation. Constant use of this spice improves blood circulation in the uterus, promotes
tissue regeneration. Only buy real cinnamon - sticks.
Vitamins and supplements, which I said, are taken for a long time. And do not forget that all
dietary supplements have indications and contraindications, there is a normal dose and overdose.
It is necessary to take vitamin D and periodically Omega-3 acids. Do not forget that we have an
endemic area, the soil lacks iodine. Seaweed or natural supplements - this is also do not forget.
I advise you to take tests sometimes, to see the ratio of vitamins and trace elements in the blood
and in the structure of the hair. And thus support your body. Even if menopause will come, on
such a preparatory background it will not be heavy. A woman will enter it calmly.
Myths about hormone replacement therapy and cancer
- When the symptoms of hormonal insufficiency begin, how to help yourself?
There, together with the doctor, it is necessary to decide what exactly to do: or herbal remedies to start taking (klimaktoplan, estrovel, ci-clim, klimadinon), or choose hormonal menopausal therapy.
- Many women fear that hormone therapy can cause tumors to develop.
- There is a term MHT, which means menopausal hormone therapy is supportive when we are
talking about a healthy woman who is going through menopause. She doesn't want to endure
these hot flashes, get into sweating, mood swings and she chooses MHT because her own
ovarian function has gone down. And there is HHT - this is hormone replacement therapy,
when a woman has lost the function of her ovaries due to some other factors: she had them
operated on or removed, she received chemotherapy after malignant pathology and on the
background of this came premature menopause, but oncologists allowed to take HHT. That is,
it is already a therapeutic concept. In fact, the same drugs are taken, but the condition of women
is different.
There is the International Menopause Society. There are recommendations where the impact of
hormone replacement therapy in different categories of women on their further condition has
been analyzed over several years. This is a serious document, we work strictly according to it,
observing all the guidelines. The benefits are unambiguously established: prolongation of life,
reduction of the risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. All the risks of oncopathology are
very low, if the drugs are correctly prescribed and the woman strictly follows all the
recommendations.
Smoking and stress lead to early menopause
▼ If a woman smokes during pregnancy, she directly harms her baby. This can lead to damage
to the ovarian tissue in the fetus - future eggs are laid in the embryo at eight weeks of pregnancy.
▼ Stresses have a major impact on women's health. By themselves they do not change the
number of eggs. But on the background of stress can occur amenorrhea (cessation of
menstruation), which leads to early menopause. Such cases are not rare today. A woman comes
to see a gynecologist-endocrinologist, she is checked: there are a lot of eggs, but her periods
have stopped.