Menopause

Symptoms of Menopause and its adverse effects and preventions

I am Dr Rita Bakshi. Chairman of National Infertility Centre, Gynecologist and obstetrician. Today I will talk about menopause.

The word itself means meno and pause means pause of menses. And that means stoppage of menstrual cycle of a woman. Now all of us women are in doubt with a certain quantity of eggs at beginning. At puberty we start our menses you know which is usually around 11-12 years. And this menses continues every month the cycle happens for three to five days every 28 to 35 days for everybody. It could be 28 days for some it could be 35 for the other. It could be 3 days for some and 5 days for other. So this is how the cycle happens every single month day in day out every month till we reach around age of 45 to 52 you know which is the usual age of menopause. That means the menses stop completely. Now the period before the menopause also called the perimenopause When your cycle start going a little long you know and there is a long period of gap with the cycles are about to stop. This is called the period of perimenopause.

Lot of changes one starts expecting at perimenopause. Now it is normal for women at this time to feel fatigued, to feel urinary symptoms. They do have you know pain during sex because of excessive dryness in vagina. You start losing your hair, losing your eyebrows and there are skin changes as the wrinkles and hot flushes. Hot flushes in something which many women have. Suddenly will get up at night. They are drenched in sweat. And even in winters their time to have the AC on. This what is hot flashes which happen? Some people have and some people don't have. You will have heard some of the people would just say that I just went into menopause I didn't even realize. There was not even a single change. While some women have very painful end to menses that means they have a huge heavy periods and they have all these symptoms and they have severe mood changes. One is so irritable one doesn't want to talk. And you are fighting you are frustrated. So all the things have to be taken in your stride. Because menopause is a very natural normal phenomena. And what do you do so, that your hormone estrogen is the one which is the problem. Because there are no eggs anymore so there is no estrogen that is why all these changes are happening.

One way is to have hormone replacement therapy. So if the symptoms are so strong that means hot flashing and this is really so disturbing then one can take hormones that is estrogen Progesterone replacement therapy or the HRT as it is called. Now if a person is on HRT one should keep getting investigated and see you know it doesn't cause cancer.

What are the things that should know in Menopause and after Menopause? In Menopause after Menopause male female nearly become equal. You know you are prone to heart disease Lipid profile changes So it is important when you are going into Menopause to get your lipid profile done to get your ECG done, to get your ultrasound done, to get your Pap smear done and get your mammo graphy done. All these tests should be done so that you know you are normal and there is nothing wrong in all that. Keep a good Lifestyle, must exercise. You know 40 minutes of exercise and especially weight bearing exercises are important. Be stress free, exercise, go out in the sun, enjoy your life, and if required take the help of hormones otherwise lot of tender loving care with lot of people around will just bite you through that period.

Dr. Rita Bakshi I am available either through lybrate or you can contact me at International Fertility Center H-6 Green Park, New Delhi-16. Thank you.