menopause symptom : Late Onset Symptoms
Vaginal Symptoms
Vaginal symptoms tend to begin some years after the cessation of menses. Postmenopausal women (the term for women who have completed their menopausal transition) may experience vaginal dryness, itching, or irritation due to the lack of estrogen. Pain with intercourse (dyspareunia) can also result from the loss of estrogen. However, these types of vaginal symptoms can be due to other causes as well, and should be evaluated by a physician.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is the deterioration of the quantity and quality of bone that causes an increased risk of fracture. The density of the bone (bone mineral density) normally begins to decrease in women during the 4th decade of life. However, that normal decline in bone density is accelerated during the menopausal transition. As a consequence, both age and the hormonal changes due to the menopause transition act together to cause osteoporosis.
The osteoporosis process can operate silently for decades. Some osteoporosis fractures may escape detection until years later. Patients may not thus be aware of their osteoporosis until suffering a painful fracture. The symptoms are then related to the location of the fractures.
For an extensive review of osteoporosis, its treatment and prevention, please read the Osteoporosis article.
What are the treatment options for menopause?
Menopause treatments can be divided into two categories (based on those symptoms that are present in a given woman at a specific time); (1) treatment of early onset symptoms, and (2) treatment of late onset menopause symptoms.
Treatment of Early Onset Symptoms
Irregular Vaginal Bleeding
Prior to treatment, a doctor excludes other causes of erratic vaginal bleeding. Women in menopausal transition tend to have considerable breakthrough bleeding when given estrogen therapy. Therefore, oral contraceptives are often given to women in menopause transition to regulate menstrual periods, relieve hot flashes, as well as to provide contraception. Oral contraceptives are considered safe in healthy, non-smoking women. The list of contraindications for oral contraceptives in women going through the menopause transition is the same as that for premenopausal women.
Hot flashes and night sweats
The choice of medication for treating hot flashes depends on whether a woman is still having periods or not. For women experiencing unpredictable bleeding and hot flashes during menopause transition, oral contraceptives are commonly used (even up to 50 years of age) because they are successful in controlling both erratic perimenopausal bleeding, vaginal bleeding, and hot flashes. For women without periods, hot flashes can be treated with either oral (by mouth) or transdermal (vaginal ring, patch, newer FDA-approved prescription gel) forms of estrogen. Both oral and transdermal estrogen therapies are available either as estrogen alone, or estrogen combined with progesterone and are effective in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes. Generally, available treatments decrease hot flash frequency by about 80 to 90%. For more, please read the Hormone Therapy article.
Mood Symptoms
Even though moodiness, irritability, and tearfulness are commonly attributed to menopause, studies are underway to determine which of these symptoms are actually due to menopause versus other conditions such as medical depression. Even though many women experience improvement in irritability with oral hormone therapy, hormone therapy alone will not be adequate treatment for a woman suffering from true medical depression (a true depression may require antidepressant medications that are different from medications for menopause). Accordingly, women who are experiencing significant mood symptoms should be evaluated by their doctors to exclude depression and other medical illnesses.
?996-2006 MedicineNet, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vaginal symptoms tend to begin some years after the cessation of menses. Postmenopausal women (the term for women who have completed their menopausal transition) may experience vaginal dryness, itching, or irritation due to the lack of estrogen. Pain with intercourse (dyspareunia) can also result from the loss of estrogen. However, these types of vaginal symptoms can be due to other causes as well, and should be evaluated by a physician.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is the deterioration of the quantity and quality of bone that causes an increased risk of fracture. The density of the bone (bone mineral density) normally begins to decrease in women during the 4th decade of life. However, that normal decline in bone density is accelerated during the menopausal transition. As a consequence, both age and the hormonal changes due to the menopause transition act together to cause osteoporosis.
The osteoporosis process can operate silently for decades. Some osteoporosis fractures may escape detection until years later. Patients may not thus be aware of their osteoporosis until suffering a painful fracture. The symptoms are then related to the location of the fractures.
For an extensive review of osteoporosis, its treatment and prevention, please read the Osteoporosis article.
What are the treatment options for menopause?
Menopause treatments can be divided into two categories (based on those symptoms that are present in a given woman at a specific time); (1) treatment of early onset symptoms, and (2) treatment of late onset menopause symptoms.
Treatment of Early Onset Symptoms
Irregular Vaginal Bleeding
Prior to treatment, a doctor excludes other causes of erratic vaginal bleeding. Women in menopausal transition tend to have considerable breakthrough bleeding when given estrogen therapy. Therefore, oral contraceptives are often given to women in menopause transition to regulate menstrual periods, relieve hot flashes, as well as to provide contraception. Oral contraceptives are considered safe in healthy, non-smoking women. The list of contraindications for oral contraceptives in women going through the menopause transition is the same as that for premenopausal women.
Hot flashes and night sweats
The choice of medication for treating hot flashes depends on whether a woman is still having periods or not. For women experiencing unpredictable bleeding and hot flashes during menopause transition, oral contraceptives are commonly used (even up to 50 years of age) because they are successful in controlling both erratic perimenopausal bleeding, vaginal bleeding, and hot flashes. For women without periods, hot flashes can be treated with either oral (by mouth) or transdermal (vaginal ring, patch, newer FDA-approved prescription gel) forms of estrogen. Both oral and transdermal estrogen therapies are available either as estrogen alone, or estrogen combined with progesterone and are effective in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes. Generally, available treatments decrease hot flash frequency by about 80 to 90%. For more, please read the Hormone Therapy article.
Mood Symptoms
Even though moodiness, irritability, and tearfulness are commonly attributed to menopause, studies are underway to determine which of these symptoms are actually due to menopause versus other conditions such as medical depression. Even though many women experience improvement in irritability with oral hormone therapy, hormone therapy alone will not be adequate treatment for a woman suffering from true medical depression (a true depression may require antidepressant medications that are different from medications for menopause). Accordingly, women who are experiencing significant mood symptoms should be evaluated by their doctors to exclude depression and other medical illnesses.
?996-2006 MedicineNet, Inc. All rights reserved.
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