2023-12-10 00:55:07
The main cause is ‘menopause’… Usually starts in the mid to late 40s
Rapid physical and psychological changes appear like disease dominoes
From initial fever and night sweats to osteoporosis and dementia
[이데일리 이순용 기자] Menopause, which occurs around the age of 50, is often referred to as the four-year period. It is an expression that compares it to puberty, which usually occurs during adolescence. In fact, at this time, like puberty, physical, mental, and environmental changes occur all at once. In particular, women stop menstruation and lose reproductive function as sex hormone secretion decreases during this period. Of course, men also go through menopause. However, compared to women, it is rare for them to require treatment, and their sexual function is usually limited to a low level.
The biggest cause of these changes is menopause. Menopause is diagnosed when a person does not have a period for more than a year after the last menstruation. It can also be found out through a follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) test. In addition, the period from the period when the regularity of the menstrual cycle before menopause disappears to the actual menopause is called the menopausal transition period. During this period, frequent or excessive menstruation and vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes commonly appear. Typically, 75% of women aged 45 to 55 complain of menopause symptoms, which shows that menopause management is necessary for women of a relatively wide age group.
Song Hee-kyung, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea, said, “Menopause, which occurs around the age of 50, is accompanied by significant physical and psychological changes, especially for women. Considering that the life expectancy of women in Korea is 86.6 years as of 2021, the “It is no exaggeration to say that the next 30 years will be determined by the health management of the squirrels preparing for winter,” he said.
◇The cause is ‘menopause’… Rapid physical and psychological changes lead to disease
When menopause occurs, menstruation first becomes irregular and the amount becomes irregular, eventually leading to menopause. Wrinkles increase significantly and the vagina becomes dry. They have sensitive nerves, so they get irritated easily over trivial things, and their memory and concentration are poor. It is also easy to lose confidence and become depressed.
Additionally, disease outbreaks continue like dominoes. 75% of women in early menopause experience hot flushes and night sweats, and in their mid-50s, they experience rapid mood swings, memory loss, and sexual dysfunction, and in their later years, osteoporosis may appear. Sometimes you may feel depressed for no reason. This period becomes especially worse as it coincides with the time when children leave home.
The vagina and urinary tract are also affected. The mucous membrane becomes thin, dry, loses elasticity, and atrophies. If the lack of hormones continues, the vagina becomes even drier, causing pain during sexual intercourse and becoming susceptible to damage or infection, which naturally leads to avoidance of sexual intercourse.
In addition, after menopause, the urinary epithelium becomes thinner and elasticity decreases due to a decrease in female hormones, and the ability to control the bladder decreases due to relaxation of the tissues that support the bladder. You may need to urinate frequently and wake up several times at night to go to the bathroom. In addition, stress urinary incontinence, which causes urine to leak involuntarily when coughing or sneezing, occurs, and people are easily exposed to urethritis or cystitis.
You should also be careful about osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the most serious and life-threatening disease among menopausal symptoms. The cause is that the rate of bone turnover increases and the imbalance between bone resorption and formation increases as a result of female hormone deficiency after menopause. Bone loss increases rapidly one year before menopause and continues for three years thereafter. Areas where bone loss occurs most often include the spine, thighs, pelvis, and ilium. Song Hee-kyung, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea, said, “If osteoporosis is severe, compression fractures can occur in the spine, causing back pain, shortening of the kidneys, or bending the back.” “It will occur, and the fatality rate is high, reaching about 15%,” he warned.
◇ Appropriate female hormone treatment, improving quality of life after menopause
Treatment for female menopause mainly involves replenishing female hormones that are lacking. Early facial flushing, sweating, and sleep disorders can be improved to some extent with oral hormone replacement therapy. If you experience discomfort in your sexual life due to thinning of the vaginal mucosa, narrowing of the vagina, and dryness, regular use of vaginal tablets or creams containing female hormones can help.
Facial flushing can be reduced to some extent by regular exercise, weight control, avoiding hot or spicy foods, and quitting smoking. In particular, strengthening muscles through exercise increases bone density and helps prevent fractures caused by decreased bone density. Walking and hiking are recommended. Additionally, exposure to sunlight for at least 10 minutes a day and supplementing vitamin D and calcium deficiencies through a calcium-rich diet are also helpful for bone health.
You also need help from your family. It is a good idea to talk to your family about your menopausal symptoms in advance and get help. Try to make up for your poor memory by posting sticky notes on the refrigerator, and urinary incontinence can be prevented to some extent by doing regular Kegel exercises. Repeat the exercise of contracting your pelvic muscles for 10 seconds and relaxing them for 10 seconds as if you were stopping while urinating.
The timing of starting menopause hormone therapy is important. It should begin within 10 years of menopause or before the age of 60. People who do not have undiagnosed vaginal bleeding, estrogen-dependent malignancies such as endometrial cancer, breast cancer, active thromboembolism, active liver disease or gallbladder disease may be eligible.
There are also things to be careful about. The longer the duration of hormone treatment, the greater the potential risk of breast cancer. Additionally, deaths related to coronary artery disease or other diseases may decrease when hormone therapy is started close to menopause, but if hormone therapy is started at age 60 or older or 10, especially 20 or more years after menopause, the risk of coronary artery disease The absolute risk of disease, venous thromboembolism, and stroke may increase.
Professor Song Hee-kyung said, “Hormonal treatment can increase the quality of life of menopausal women and help maintain a healthy life, but it must be started at the appropriate time and accompanied by regular examinations and expert evaluation to be safely administered, so it must be performed safely by an obstetrician-gynecologist. “Consultation is important,” he emphasized.
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