FAQs about menopause

FAQs about menopause!

What is menopause?
All women produce eggs through their lifetime called as ova. But after a certain age as the body gets older, the ovaries present in the female body start to wind down. They stop producing eggs and the female hormones estrogen and progesterone that are required for a health baby and pregnancy. Menopause is a natural way of telling the woman that her childbearing days are over.

The process can occur any where from 40- 59 years of age or even earlier because of medical health conditions.

What is natural menopause and how does it occur?
Natural menopause is divided into three stages where the ovaries slowly start reducing their eggs and estrogen formation. It starts with peri-menopause where the ovaries slowly start to reduce their estrogen and egg formation. Fertility rates are lower but women can still conceive. Menopause is the next stage where the women stops having her menstrual period.

No menstrual period for ten to twelve months indicates menopause. Post menopause is when the woman has passed through menopause and now experiences signs and symptoms of estrogen loss like hot flashes etc
.
What are the symptoms of menopause? What are hot flashes and does everyone get them?
Different women experience menopause in different ways but a few of the more common symptoms that are seen are as follows-
•    Fatigue
•    Weight loss or weight gain
•    Headaches
•    Sudden feelings of hot
•    Emotional changes
•    Irritability
•    Dry vaginal mucosa and frequent vaginal infections
•    Difficulty in intercourse
•    Weaker bones
•    Anemia
•    High cholesterol
Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms that are seen in almost every woman simply because they start well in advance. This is because of the sudden stoppage of estrogen formation that used to regulate body temperature in women.  Women experience hotter chests and heats and the skin may also turn red. Most episodes of hot flashes last for about an hour and then go away by themselves.