Humans are built with many body systems that function to help humans live and survive. The human reproductive system plays a role not only for expanding human lineage but also helps the many bodies system to work well. This is thanks to hormones involved in the reproductive system. However, there are differences in the male and female reproductive system in terms of changes that involve within the process. The female reproductive system constantly has changes and stages compared to male. Hence, medicine such as Femara 2.5 mg is widely used for females. In this article, we will be going through one of the stages of the female reproductive system known as postmenopausal syndrome.
Postmenopausal syndrome is a syndrome that refers to the final stage of the menopause process. Menopause is described as permanent cessation of menstruation. Menopause is defined as the time of the final menstrual period and followed by 12 months of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation). Post-menopausal begins officially 12 months after the menopause. Post-menopausal symptoms last for the rest of a woman’s life.
Postmenopausal syndrome can occur at different ages, depending on the hormone level changes triggering the menopausal process which ultimately affect the postmenopausal occurrence. For most women, it is the same hormone level changes leading to postmenopausal symptoms. However, there are factors that may affect the initial time of the postmenopausal to begin such as bad lifestyle habits such as drinking alcohol and smoking, constant level of high stress and surgery of removing the ovaries. Once a female reaches postmenopausal, the hormone levels remain constant at low levels.
Postmenopausal symptoms include hot flushes, mood swings, irritability, insomnia, vaginal dryness, insomnia, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating, headache and overactive bladder. These symptoms are just among the many symptoms affecting postmenopausal women. It is quite difficult to distinguish symptoms related to hormone changes leading to the postmenopausal stage and from ageing process or socio-environmental stresses during the midlife.
The issue with postmenopausal women does not stop with the symptoms but also the risk of diseases that comes with it. This is because hormonal changes do cost many changes in the body system. Postmenopausal women are at risk for diseases such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases. Such diseases can be life-threatening and may result in great disability which affects the woman’s quality of life. Beside these harmful diseases, it also affects the urinary system causing bladder leakage, urinary tract infections. These diseases are a result of the low level of estrogen causing changes to the organs and body system.
Doctors are usually able to diagnose postmenopausal syndrome based on symptoms and evaluating the menstrual cycle. In some cases, doctors may recommend blood tests to check for hormone level, specifically FSH hormones. Follicle stimulating hormones (FSH) is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, an endocrine gland located at the base of the brain. FSH hormones are hormones that cause ovarian follicles to enlarge and produce estrogen. As females get older, the number of follicles get smaller and the remaining fewer follicles are only able to produce estrogen. This explains why there is low level of estrogen in postmenopausal women and continues to remain as there is no more follicle that can be stimulated to produce estrogen. At the same time, the level of FSH increases as there is an attempt to trigger estrogen production and the low level of estrogen is not enough to send signals for the brain to turn off the FSH production.
Besides blood tests, additional examinations such as pelvic exams, breast exams, mammograms, pap smears, cancer screening and osteoporosis tests should be expected when a postmenopausal woman meets a doctor. It is best to get continuous medical check-ups to prevent many diseases that develop after menopause. If a postmenopausal woman experiences vaginal bleeding, they should seek medical advice as this may be a sign of a serious health condition such as atrophic vaginitis, endometrial atrophy and growth in the cervix or uterus.
There is treatment available to help postmenopausal women cope with these changes and for them to have a better life. Hormone replacement therapy is the common therapy used to help treat postmenopausal symptoms. Treatments usually starts with the lowest effective dose and review by the doctor is needed to decide if the dose is enough to be regularly continued. Apart from improving the hormone levels, treatments are focused on lowering the risk for developing serious diseases such as antihypertensive medications, anticholesterolemic agents and calcium supplements. Beside medication, making lifestyle changes such as practising healthy eating habits, being physically active and to ditch unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and drinking alcohol, can go a long way in improving the postmenopausal syndrome and a person’s health level in general.
In essence, postmenopausal symptoms last for a lifetime due to the low level of estrogen hormones. It is part of the normal changes in women but symptoms can greatly lead to poor quality of life and risk for diseases. Hence, postmenopausal women need to take extra care of themselves by leading a healthy lifestyle and to regularly seek medical advice or to get regular medical check-ups. If a postmenopausal woman decides to use a non-hormonal approach such as supplement and herbal therapies, they should seek advice from their healthcare provider first.