Dr. Gunasheela Gynaecologist & Obstetrician, Chairperson Of The Indian Branch Of Royal College Of Obstetricians And Gynaecologists Of U.K.

Are you over 40?

And Are you experiencing these symptoms?

Hot flushes, Sensation of pins and needles, Decreased interest in sexual activity….?

Well there’s nothing to fear. More often than not, women dread the onset of menopause and look upon it as the end of their active lives, the end of their sexuality, attractiveness and good health. Contrary to perception, menopause is one of the most significant and profound milestones in a woman’s life. But sadly, menopause has always been bound by myths and blind beliefs.

It is time now to take a renewed look at the “dreaded pause” in every woman’s life - menopause.

How does a woman know that she has attained menopause?

The term menopause means a pause in menses. Stoppage of menses in a normal woman occurs due to ovarian failure. Since ovaries have several functions to perform apart from producing menses, many other symptoms appear during the time of menopause, related to ovarian failure. So a woman who has an artificial menopause caused by removal of uterus may not experience other symptoms of menopause until the age of natural failure of ovaries. So symptoms which are unrelated to uterine function, that appear during the time of natural menopause are called climacteric symptoms.

What are the Climacteric Symptoms?
The climacteric symptoms in a normal woman appear side by side with stoppage of menses. While climacteric is due to ovarian failure, stoppage of menses is due to non-functioning of uterus caused by ovarian failure. The signs of climacteric are irritability, mood changes, hot flushes that come in the form of waves of feeling warmth, sweating, sensation of pins and needles over the scalp, etc. Some women have these hot flushes 10-15 times a day and they may complain bitterly about it. Some women get it only once or twice a day. Insomnia, arthritis, depression, etc that appear around the age of 50 are usually transitory and women recover from it in the course of time.

What is the cause of psychological trauma that comes with menopause?
Women resent menopause, because they think that they have lost their sexuality and their husbands may not be interested in them anymore. The children are usually married by then and the mother may start feeling lonely. Psychological effects are however not seen in all women. here are some typical women who are prone to such problems. There are women who have suffered from premenstrual depression and mood swings. Such people might have menopausal disturbances also, but by and large most women go through menopause without any problems or complaints.

What is the nature of changes in sexuality in post-menopausal women?
Women in menopause have ovarian failure. Ovaries produce two very important sets of hormones – Estrogen and Progesterone. Loss of progesterone after menopause has no functional significance, because the function of progesterone is to support pregnancy when it occurs and support lactation after delivery. On the other hand the function of estrogen is multifarious. It is responsible for satisfactory sexual activity. It takes care of the texture of vaginal mucosa and secretion of mucos from cervical, Bartholins gland, etc. It maintains the matrix of the skeleton. It also helps in maintenance of neurons and nerve fibres. So loss of estrogen results in thinning of vaginal mucosa and lessening the acidity of the vaginal secretion, atrophic changes in the urethra and decreased interest in sexual activity. Breast atrophy is not common to all menopausal women and many women may even see an increase in breast size.

Next fortnight Dr.Gunasheela writes about dealing with menopause.

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Other Articles By Gunasheela

Age and Infertility-How old is too old?
Infertility : Myth v/s Reality
Postmenopausal Therapy
Stressed Out Over Infertility
Tubal Infertility
Understanding ART- Solutions For Infertility
Unexplained Infertility
Your Guide To Infertility Treatment