Health

  50 years old woman

We appraise in approximate numbers that female population of Brazil nears 75 million and the number of women over age 49 is of 10 million (approximately 13% of the total population). Considering that Brazilian women’s life expectancy increased, today over 70 years old, it is possible to understand the importance of menopause and what its problems represent to the daily Gynecological services.

This great number of possible patients, that represent an important Public Health problem, needs to understand what is happening with their bodies and emotions.

So, it is ideal to see a gynecologist before the menopause beginning or, if it is not possible, after your last menstrual period before symptoms and signs start to represent discomfort and loss on quality of life.

Women that accept monthly discomfort during their lives suffering of dysmenorrhea and PMT syndrome deserve to live in peace when they are 50 years old. And peace means that these new women want to see themselves and be seen differently; more capable, more confident and more happy!

  Let’s understand what is Menopause

Menopause is the name of the last menstrual period every woman has. It usually occurs when she is 50-52 years of age, but it doesn’t happen all of a sudden or overnight. Some time before menopause, there is a period when the menstrual flow becomes irregular. It doesn’t occur in the same cycle and the intensity flow varies, sometimes there is a very intense blood flow, sometimes a less intense blood flow until it completely disappears.

  After menopause, great changes in a woman’s life

In the post menopause period, the most important occurrence is when the woman's ovary stops producing a ripe ovum each month and she stops having her menstrual periods, what means she isn’t fertile any more, i.e., she can no longer procreate. The ovarian hormones (estrogen and progestin), both of which were decreasing before menopause drop much more during this post menopause period. Due to this lack of ovarian hormones, the woman starts to feel and observe several signs and symptoms.

  Symptoms and signs of post menopause

The main complaints about menopause are the occurrences of "hot-flashes" - sudden strong feelings of heat and sweating – that happen several times during the day and night interfering with sleep, since the woman wakes many times during the night. The hormone reduction starts showing symptoms in many areas, such as skin (it becomes thinner, drier and wrinkled), hair (more rare and frail) and even the woman's voice can become more low pitched. Besides, the vaginal mucous (vaginal wall) starts to dry and the vagina becomes thinner which can lead to a painful sexual intercourse; also the woman’s urinary system starts to show inability to keep urine in the bladder and the woman needs to go to the toilet more frequently.

  Woman behavior changes too

The woman’s emotional instability in the post menopause period is one of the most important aspects of this period, when depression and exciting emotions alternate themselves easily and without apparent reason, by turning women into unpredictable beings, including to them. And, everything happens with a great level of anxiety. Thus, their familiar circle is compromised and everyone becomes unstable without knowing what to do or how to help. Besides these anguish sensations, for some women this new situation of not procreating can arise deep feelings of inferiority and rejection, without any reason.

  There is a solution for all these problems

All this set of menopause signs and symptoms that arises due to the reduction of the ovarian hormone production is named as climacterium, which is the women’s post menopause phase. The solution undoubtly is to restore the hormones produced by ovary. There are estrogen-based drugs, as well as progestin-based drugs that are used concurrently in the Hormonal Reposition Therapy – HRT. When replacing natural hormones, the HRT medicines eliminate the climacteric signs/symptoms reproducing in some way the same pre menopause conditions.

  Necessary steps

The first necessary step undoubtly is to see a gynecologist. He/she will know what to prescribe, whether it is a medicine or a new way to face this new phase of woman’s life. The next necessary step refers to not paying attention to “palls, neighbors, well-intentioned friends and advisers” that always have an infallible way to face problems, many times with the help of a miracle herbal drug that eliminates all symptoms without any secondary effect. Nothing against bottling herbs or faith healers, it is only that there isn’t a scientific proof of these methods. It is like to change something right to something not so right.

And finally, the third necessary step is to live happy. The woman climacterium is not a disease; during this phase her body is only resenting the lack of some hormones, although these hormones can be restored. This phase only means that the woman reached the highest level of her wisdom and experience and, therefore, she is ready to be happy and make other people happy.