After about 5 years of perimenopause the last period occurs.
One year later women are defined as being in Menopause, usually at the age of
51 or 52.
One hundred years ago that just happened to be the same as
life expectancy so the time spent in menopause was brief NOT ANYMORE. Life expectancy
is now up to 80 years for women in the United States; a third of their lives,
about 30 years in menopause. In 2010
there were 80 million women who were in menopause. There is an enormous need to optimize those
30 years of life that women did not have 100 years ago.
The simply unifying cause in menopause is a Decline in Estrogen, an ovarian
hormone. This decline manifests itself
in many different was throughout the body, some obvious and serious, and some
vague are poorly understood. Receptors
to estrogen rise in many parts of t the woman’s body including not only the
breast and urogenital tract, but also in the skin, liver, bone, brain, heart
and gastrointestinal tract. Probably the
most commonly recognized effect of estrogen loss is the “Hot Flash”, among the
conditions attributable to menopause, it is not life threatening or the cause
of serious illness. But it has large
consequences. In women aged 40 to 64
years, 63% report symptoms that are very bothersome. These symptoms last, on average, 10
years. A large percentage reports a
negative impact on their daily lives.
Other problems associated with menopause take their toll, as
well. Heart disease, bone disease and
urogenital conditions are a big problem.
Those issues will be addressed, along with therapeutic approaches, in
follow up posts in the discussing menopause.
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