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Menopause
Menopause is a stage of life where a woman will undergo profound changes emotionally and physiologically. We all know about it, we all wait expectantly for it, but we are often surprised and unprepared when the change actually makes its impact felt.
Why? Well, I think unlike puberty, we don't discuss menopause so much, even though it is
at least as significant an event in the life cycle of a woman. It signals the end of the
monthly periods. It signals the end of the childbearing capability and the move into a mature stage of the human lifecyle.
It is a time of transition.
Like puberty, it is maddeningly non specific in its arrival and the individual experience it will bring.
It may begin in your 40's or not until your mid 50's
It can last for as little as 2 years or as many as 5
you may suffer minor discomforts or major inconveniences
While it is going on you are technically peri-menopausal; meaning still experiencing your periods but they are becoming irregular.
Another reason the initial signals may be missed is that a woman is often in the middle of a pretty hectic lifestyle at this stage of life.
She will be likely running a household as well as working.
She may be stressed dealing with teenage children or becoming distracted with
minor discontentments in her relationships.
She may have a partner going through a midlife crisis or a parent that is failing due to illness.
She may confuse some of what she feels on these things without noticing other changes going on within her.
So it can sometimes sneak up on a woman!
What is actually happening is that your body is triggering the cessation of ovulation
which will impact on both your hormone levels and your periods. Many of the things
experienced during menopause are related to the fluctuating levels of hormones and your
body's effort to adapt to that.
So the bad news is that you may experience a wide range of
physical and emotional
issues during
menopause;
everything from hot flushes, indigestion, headaches, emotional outbursts, urge incontinence and depression. However, virtually all these things can be addressed with medical or herbal remedies if they become too much to manage on your own. And the very good news is that once through the menopause phase, many women experience a new zest for life and measurably less emotional stress and depression. It is one of the great rites of passage. You move into wise woman status.
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Womens Health Problems
from
Menopause
Other articles in the Women's Health section:
Womens health problems
Womens health problems at this stage of life centre around half a dozen main issues. This is where you shake off the bad habits for longevity.
| Health Goals
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| Benefits of Exercise
Once you are in your 50's, all those bad lifestyle choices you made previously come home to roost. The benefits of exercise are wide ranging and for some, life saving.
| Perimenopause Symptoms
Experiencing perimenopause symptoms is the start of the menopause, when periods become irregular and you begin to feel those hot flushes.
| Menopause
Menopause is a stage of life where a woman will undergo profound changes emotionally and physiologically, but we are often surprised and unprepared when menopause actually hits.
| Menopause Symptoms
There are a wide range of menopause symptoms and perimenopause symptoms a woman may experience. Treatments for most are available if they become too much.
| Menopause and Sex
Physical changes during menopause can impact on maintaining intimacy. Menopause and sex can mix, it just needs adjustment.
| Depression and Menopause
Statistically there is a link between depresson and menopause, but depression is not considered a symptom of menopause. How will you know the difference?
| Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy or HRT can reduce the impact of the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause such as night sweats and insomnia.
| Testosterone for Women
Testosterone for women to replace shrinking levels in middle age sounds great, but needs to be treated with extreme caution.
| Heart Attack Signs in Women
The heart attack signs in women are often very different from those in men, but the message remains the same...get help quickly.
| Breast Cancer
Post menopause is when women are particularly at risk of contracting several life threatening diseases and breast cancer is one of them.
| Brain Health
As we age brain health was thought to decline, but not so. Not only can you improve your brain health into old age, you can reprogram your brain after illness.
| Pre-diabetes
An estimated 300 million people have pre-diabetes, but it's still not too late to avoid diabetes altogether.
| Belly Fat
An increase in belly fat in middle age is related to hormones, diet and that tipple we've become partial to each evening...
| How to stop overeating
You know the feeling, disgust with yourself, bloated because you have over eaten again. How to stop overeating? It's going to take a bit of retraining on your part but you can stop overeating.
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