At what age is a woman just right for menopause? 5 things your body changes when you're about to go through menopause

"Doctor, I'm going crazy. In the past year, my periods have been very irregular. Sometimes they come and sometimes they don't. This time I haven't had my period for two months. Is it normal?"

"You're 53, that's normal."

"Ah? Menstruation is so irregular, is it normal? Help me to see if I should prescribe some medicine to regulate it."

"In this case, it depends on the age. This is the performance of approaching menopause."

Ms. Zhang's menstruation has been irregular in the past year. She was worried about what gynecological diseases. How could she go to the hospital for consultation, but the doctor told her that it was a normal manifestation of menopause. Menopause is mentioned by many women who express resistance. For them, menopause means aging. Today we are going to talk about menopause.

1. The earlier the menopause, the shorter the lifespan?

Liu Zhen, an attending physician in the gynecology clinic of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, said that the reproductive aging period of women is usually divided into three stages: reproductive period, menopausal transition period, and postmenopausal period. Symptoms of menopause often appear later in the menopausal transition.

The true meaning of menopause is the failure of a woman's ovarian function, the permanent cessation of menstruation. Generally speaking, menopause is defined as the absence of menstruation within 12 months of the last menstrual period.

For women, menopause means that there is no estrogen and progesterone in the body, and the human organs begin to age. The initial impact may only be hot flashes, sweating, irritability, and symptoms such as vaginal mucosal atrophy, sexual intercourse pain, and skin aging in the mid-term. During this period, cardiovascular, metabolic problems, osteoporosis, etc. also began to appear.

However, there is no evidence that late menopause is associated with a shorter lifespan. However, Liu Zhen said that women who go through menopause early will lose the protection of estrogen and increase the risk of disease.

2. Is the later the menopause better?

Women's ovarian insufficiency starts at about age 40 and lasts as short as 1 to 2 years and as long as 10 to 20 years. The average time of menopause for Chinese women is 49.5 years old, and 80% are between 45 and 54 years old.

Menopause time can generally be divided into 4 stages:

· Premature menopause before age 40

40-44 years old is premature menopause

45-55 years old is normal menopause

Delayed menopause after age 55

Of course, there are differences in the natural age of menopause for women in different countries, races and regions, but the fluctuation range is basically between 44.6 and 52.0 years old.

Does later menopause mean slower aging? In fact, it is not. If you are over 55 years old and have not yet menopause, it is basically a late menopause, so you should be vigilant.

In late menopause, estrogen levels remain high in the body for long periods of time, which can often indicate a risk of malignancy. Such as endometrial cancer, ovarian epithelial cancer, breast cancer, etc., estrogen remains high, which can promote the occurrence of estrogen-related tumors.

Of course, late menopause does not necessarily mean that there is a problem, some people still have menstrual cramps after the age of 60, and there is no physical abnormality, so the time of menopause varies from person to person.

3. If these symptoms appear in the body, it may be about menopause

Before menopause, what physical changes can women use to determine whether they are about to menopause?

· Menstrual disorders

This is a more common symptom before menopause, and it is also the basis for many women to suspect that they are about to menopause. Although menstrual disorders, everyone behaves the same. Some people may have a short cycle and then a long cycle, while others may come twice a month, and the amount is still large. If you find that your menstrual cycle is different from before, and your regularity changes, you should be alert to whether it is a near menopause.

· Hot flashes

Recurrent transient facial flushing and sweating is also one of the characteristic manifestations of perimenopausal women, known as hot flashes. General symptoms may last for 1 or 2 minutes and appear several times a day. This kind of symptoms will improve after about a year for some people, and some people may last for 5-10 years.

· Irritability

When women are approaching menopause, the level of estrogen in the body begins to decline, the entire endocrine system is affected, and some neurological symptoms are also caused.

· Panic, insomnia

During the transition period of menopause, hormonal changes will affect the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, causing women to experience difficulties in falling asleep, repeated insomnia, palpitation, dizziness, and even headache, tinnitus and other discomforts.

· Painful urination, difficulty urinating

Women before and after menopause may also experience difficulty urinating, which is also caused by a drop in estrogen levels, such as frequent urination, urgency, painful urination, and even repeated urinary tract infections.

In addition, perimenopausal women may also experience symptoms such as back pain, joint pain, vaginal dryness, and pain in intercourse. When these symptoms occur, it is best to check the ovarian function to determine whether it is caused by menopause.

4. How to get through perimenopause smoothly?

Perimenopause women have to endure various "unfamiliar changes" brought about by the physiological stage, and their body and mind will fall into anxiety and fear. How should women at this stage survive the critical period smoothly?

First, ask a doctor for help. If the discomfort of perimenopause has affected normal work and life, please remember: you can seek medical help.

Endocrinology clinics or gynecology clinics are good choices. Of course, perimenopausal period may also involve other organs, and if necessary, seek the help of professional doctors such as orthopedics, breast surgery, and endocrinology.

In addition, a series of changes in the perimenopausal period are related to the decline of estrogen levels in the body, so hormone replacement therapy has become a magic weapon for the treatment of perimenopausal syndrome. However, it should be noted that taking the medicine should be under the guidance of a doctor, and do not use estrogen drugs or health products indiscriminately.

If it does not affect your daily life, you can actively adjust your lifestyle . Pay attention to nutritional balance and supplement vitamin D and calcium appropriately; ensure adequate sleep every day; maintain a positive and optimistic attitude towards life, and communicate more with family and friends; maintain about 150 minutes of moderate-to-high-intensity exercise every week; Breast cancer, cervical cancer, three high-level detection.

Menopause is a fact that every woman cannot avoid. Just like in adolescence, she greets its arrival with ignorance and unknown, and she also has to learn to accept and face its departure.

References:

[1] "The sooner the menopause, the shorter the lifespan? I don't know about these menopausal symptoms...". The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. 2020-09-11

[2] "The menstrual flow is getting less and less, is it old? 》. Tencent Medical Code. 2021-07-04

[3] "Ultra-comprehensive "menopause" care guide, collection for mother and yourself! 》. Tencent Medical Code She Knows. 2022-03-30

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