The transition from a woman’s reproductive to post-reproductive years is not only a natural part of life for most women (Tiran, 2001), but indicates a significant period bearing in mind that women now, more than ever, spend one-third of their lifetimes in a postmenopausal state (Munson, 2011). The present paper aims to discuss some underlying issues related to menopause, including symptoms, causes, complications, diagnosis, treatment, lifestyle changes and natural remedies to menopause.
Menopause can be traced back to the perimenopause period, where women’s ovaries generation of hormones estrogen and progesterone becomes unpredictable. Due to the variable nature of the hormones, women in their late forties begin experiencing menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and sleep disturbances. These symptoms are largely caused by the erratic nature of estrogen and progesterone as both hormones are critical in regulating body temperature and sustaining the vaginal lining (Tiran, 2001)
Available literature demonstrates that menopause heralds a new era of health complications for women. Not only do systems and tissues that traditionally relied partly on estrogen for optimal functioning begin to malfunction, leading to potential urinary tract infections, but bone mineralization slows down and the risk of developing osteoporosis increases (Tiran, 2001). Mikkelsen et al (2007) note that “…early onset of menopause is a risk factor of osteoporosis and death from ischemic heart disease, although it seems to protect against breast cancer” (p. 2). Additionally, as demonstrated by Tiran (2001), researchers are on the verge of validating if menopausal effects are related to the probability of developing colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease among women.
Some home-based kits can be used to test the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels and bone mineral density levels A woman is diagnosed as postmenopausal when she goes for 12 months without receiving her menstrual flow (Hickey et al., 2008), and when these tests demonstrate symptoms for perimenopause and menopause as described above (Sahin et al., 2011).
Health-related literature demonstrates that women can successfully tackle the symptoms and health challenges related to menopause through estrogen supplementation in a procedure known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (Hickey et al., 2008). However, most women maintain that the therapy “…implies that postmenopausal women are deficient in a necessary substance and that midlife is a disease state rather than a normal life passage” (Tiran, 2001, p. 6). Indeed, a strand of existing literature (e.g., Ewies & Alfharly, 2010; Tiran, 2001; Warren, 2010) demonstrates that HRT causes negative side effects on women, including breast pain, bloating and intense headaches. More importantly, the therapy has been linked to serious health issues, including increased risk of developing breast cancer, gallstones, and deep vein blood clots among postmenopausal women.
Research demonstrates that women can adopt lifestyle changes to either trigger or delay menopause and its effects. Trends demonstrate that “…a higher educational level, being overweight, a moderate intake of alcohol and a higher intake of coffee seems to protect against early menopause” (Mikkelsen et al., 2007, p. 2). On the contrary, some habits such as intense smoking around the onset of menopause serve to occasion early menopause and aggravate symptoms (Sahin et al., 2011).
Although the term ‘natural’ is open to varied interpretation, research has demonstrated that some herbal remedies and dietary approaches have been tested in clinical trials and found to be effective in ameliorating the adverse health effects associated with menopause (Tiran, 2001; Hairmou-Kochman et al., 2008 ). Indeed, according to these authors, herbal remedies such as soy, black cohosh, natural progesterone, red clover, ginseng, and evening primrose oil, are effective for menopausal symptoms as they act to counter the effects of erratic estrogen.
Reference List
Ewies, A.A.A., & Alfharly, F. (2010). Topical vaginal estrogen therapy in managing postmenopausal urinary symptoms: A reality or a gimmick? Climacteric, 13(5), 405-418.
Hairmou-Kochman, R., Brzezinski, A., & Hochner-Celnikier, D. (2008). Herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms: Are we cautious enough? European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care, 13(2), 133-137.
Hickey, M., Davis, S.R., & Sturdee, D.W. (2008). Treatment of menopausal symptoms: What shall we do now? Lancet, 366(9483), 409-421.
Mikkelsen, T.F., Graff-Iversen, S., Sundby, J., & Bjertness, E. (2007). Early menopause, association with tobacco smoking, coffee consumption and other lifestyle factors: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 7(1), 149-158.
Munson, E. (2011). Significance of the menopause. Practice Nurse, 41(2), 27-30.
Sahin, N.H., Bal, M.D., Boga, N.M., Gokdemirel, S., & Taspinar, A. (2011). Women’s perception of the menopause and hormone treatment: Barriers against hormone therapy. Climacteric, 14(1), 152-156.
Tiran, D. (2001). Natural approaches to menopause. Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 9(2), 6-7.
Warren, M.P. (2010). Hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms: Putting benefits and risks into perspective. Journal of Family Practice, 59(12), 1-7.