Menopause
Transcript: Irregular periods Hot flashes Trouble sleeping Vaginal and urinary problems Mood changes Changing feelings about sex Osteoporosis: a condition in which your bones get thin and weak Women can use menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) to help control the symptoms of menopause. MHT, which used to be called hormone replacement therapy (HRT), involves taking the hormones estrogen and progesterone. MHT can be very good at helping with moderate to severe symptoms of the menopausal transition and preventing bone loss. MHT also has some risks, especially if used for a long time. What is Menopause? Menopause is the point in time when a woman's menstrual periods stop. Menopause happens because the ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Once you have gone through menopause, you can't get pregnant anymore. Some people call the years leading up to a woman's last period menopause, but that time actually is the menopausal transition, or perimenopause. Menopausal Hormone Therapy Medical treatments that may cause early menopause include: Chemotherapy or pelvic radiation treatments for cancer. Surgery to remove the ovaries. Surgery to remove the uterus. Sometimes menopause happens early on its own. Some possible causes include: Chromosome defects. Genetics Autoimmune diseases Research Article #1 Menopause that happens before the age of 40 is called early or premature menopause Early menopause can be caused by certain medical treatments, or it can just happen on its own. MHT can help with menopause by: Reducing hot flashes, night sweats, and related problems such as poor sleep and irritability Treating vaginal symptoms, such as dryness and discomfort, and related effects, such as pain during sex Slowing bone loss Possibly easing mood swings and mild depressive symptoms For some women, MHT may increase their chances of: Blood clots Heart attack Stroke Breast cancer Gall bladder disease Women who enter menopause early can have symptoms similar to those of regular menopause. Hot flashes, mood changes, vaginal dryness, and decreased sex drive. For some women with early menopause, these symptoms are quite severe. In addition, women who go through menopause early may have a higher risk of certain health problems, such as heart disease and osteoporosis. Risk of Breast Cancer in Relation to Use of Combined Oral Contraceptives near the Age of Menopause Research Article #2 Perimenopause, or the menopausal transition, is the time leading up to a woman's last period. Periods can stop and then start again, so you are in perimenopause until a year has passed since you've had a period. During perimenopause a woman will have changes in her levels of estrogen and progesterone, two female hormones made in the ovaries. These changes may lead to symptoms like hot flashes. Some symptoms can last for months or years after a woman's period stops. Early Menopause Age at Menopause, Cause-Specific Mortality and Total Life Expectancy http://www.jstor.org.navigator-millersville.passhe.edu/stable/info/3553024?&Search=yes&searchText=menopause&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dmenopause%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26pt%3D%26isbn%3D http://www.jstor.org.navigator-millersville.passhe.edu/stable/info/20486095?&Search=yes&searchText=menopause&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dmenopause%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26pt%3D%26isbn%3D http://www.jstor.org.navigator-millersville.passhe.edu/stable/info/4036942?&Search=yes&searchText=menopause&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dmenopause%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3D%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26pt%3D%26isbn%3D https://www.womenshealth.gov/menopause/menopause-basics/index.html http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/menopause http://www.menopause.org/for-women http://www.medicinenet.com/menopause/article.htm http://www.webmd.com/menopause/guide/menopause-symptoms-types Abstract: A later menopause has been associated with a decreased cardiovascular risk but with an increased risk for breast and endometrial cancer. The net effect on mortality is unclear. We determined the association of age at menopause with longevity and with the balance between cardiovascular and cancer mortality. What is perimenopause? Abstract: Data from a multinational, hospital-based, case-control study were analyzed to determine whether use of combined oral contraceptives (OC) around the time of menopause preferentially increases risk of breast cancer. Results show that the relative risk (RR) of breast cancer was increased in women of all ages who had used oral contraceptives within the past year, but not to a greater extent in women near the age of menopause than in younger women. RRs did not increase with duration of OC use after age 45 in either pre- or