Definition:
Menopause literally means the permanent physiological, or natural, cessation of menstrual cycles,
from the Greek roots 'meno' (month) and 'pausis' (a pause, a cessation). Menopause means the permanent
end of the monthly female reproductive cycles, and in humans this is usually indicated by a permanent
absence of monthly periods or menstruation.
Diagnosis:
Menopuase tends to occur about the same time as your mother's. The age, history of menstrual periods
and symptoms provide additional clues. Results of your pelvic exam, The vagina will be dryer and may
show visual signs of thinning wall tissue.
Treatment:
It may be alleviated through medical treatments. Hormone replacement therapy and SSRIs provide the best
relief, but equine estrogens and synthetic progestin forms of HRT appear to increase health risks,
especially in women who start this treatment after menopause.
Symptoms and Signs:
Symptoms including vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and palpitations, psychological symptoms
such as depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings and lack of concentration, and atrophic symptoms
such as vaginal dryness and urgency of urination. Along with these symptoms, the average woman also has
increasingly erratic menstrual periods.
Causes:
The causes of menopause can be considered from complementary proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate
(adaptive evolutionary) perspectives.
From a proximate perspective: A natural and physiological menopause is that which occurs as a part of
a woman's normal aging process. This is the result of the eventual atresia of almost all oocytes in the
ovaries. This causes an increase in circulating follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone
(LH) levels as there are a decreased number of oocytes responding to these hormones and producing estrogen.
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