Does Menopause negatively affect anything else in the body?

Does Menopause negatively affect anything else in the body?

After menopause, women are at increased risk for certain health conditions, including osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes.

Skin, nails and hair can suffer too while bladder, bowel control and intimate health can be negatively affected. Anxiety levels can rise and mood swings are common.

Skin and hair. Your skin can become drier, thinner and itchier as you may lose some skin protein (collagen). Hair may also become thinner.

Intimate Health: In the months or years after Menopause, the tissue in and around your vagina can become thinner and drier and may cause increased pain during sex. The skin next to your vagina (the vulva) can become dryer and itchier. Libido may be reduced. Women may also experience the need to urinate more frequently, have leakage and experience recurrent urinary tract infections.

Bones: The reduction of hormones in the body around Menopause accelerates bone density loss. HRT has a protective effect on bone density and combined with resistance/weight training and other lifestyle factors and supplements, can delay the possible onset of osteoporosis.

Heart disease: At menopause, the risk of heart disease and stroke increases. Lifestyle changes including stopping smoke, eating a healthy diet, staying at a healthy weight and exercising can help to counteract this cardiovascular risk.

Mood during Menopause: Changes in your hormones during menopause can impact your mental health and you may experience feelings of anxiety, stress or even depression. Menopausal symptoms may include anger and irritability, anxiety, forgetfulness, loss of self-esteem, loss of confidence, low mood and feelings of sadness or depression. You may experience poor concentration, often described as 'brain fog'. Often you will experience problems with your sleep which can also make symptoms including irritability, inability to concentrate or anxiety worse.

How is Menopause Diagnosed?

Your doctor can usually diagnose Menopause based on your symptoms. Sometimes your doctor will order hormone blood tests, especially if you are under 45 years old or if you do not have typical symptoms.

Treatment for Menopause

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is the first and most effective treatment for all women experiencing menopause symptoms.

Types of Hormone Replacement Therapy

The mainstays of HRT are oestrogen and progesterone. Both are naturally produced in the female body but decline during perimenopause and menopause, causing a range of symptoms, that can be mild or severe. The goal of hormone therapy is to replace what your body no longer makes, with the lowest amount of hormone therapy that delivers your needed results. Depending on whether a woman has her uterus, the type of hormone therapy recommended will vary. 

Oestrogen-only Therapy:

Oestrogen-only therapy is given to women who do not have a uterus.

Combined Oestrogen and Progesterone Therapy:

For women with a uterus, a combination therapy of both oestrogen and progestogens is necessary. During perimenopause and post-menopause, when the endometrial lining no longer sheds during menstruation, oestrogen alone can promote excessive growth of the uterine lining. Progestogens play a crucial role in safeguarding the lining and mitigating the risk of uterine cancer development.

For perimenopausal women, the recommended treatment is oestrogen as a patch/gel/spray combined with progestogen in the form of a Mirena intrauterine coil or cyclical progestogen tablets for 14 nights per month.

NOTE: cyclical progestogen will trigger a withdrawal bleed/period each month.

For postmenopausal women, the recommended treatment is oestrogen as a patch/gel/spray combined with progestogen in the form of a Mirena intrauterine coil or continuous progestogen tablets every night.

NOTE: continuous progestogen SHOULD NOT trigger a withdrawal bleed/period.

Non-Hormone Therapy Prescription medication

Some prescription medications, originally intended for other use, help ease some menopause symptoms. However, they must be prescribed by your doctor on review of your current health.