Chronic Conditions
Menopause 
What is menopause?
Menopause is defined as a period whereby a woman skips her period for twelve consecutive months. Perimenopause is a phase that occurs before menopause when early signs such as hot flashes occur.
What are the signs of menopause?
You may experience some or all of the signs of menopause, such as:
- Hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms) are sudden warmth that spreads throughout the body.
- Cold flashes (night sweats).
- Vaginal dryness that leads to discomfort during sexual intercourse.
- Increase in urine frequency (sudden urge to urinate).
- Trouble sleeping (insomnia).
- Mood swings.
- Slight depression.
- Dry mouth & dry skin.
- Tenderness in the breast.
- Worsening PMS
- Inconsistent heavy or light periods.
- Fast heartbeat
- Migraines.
- Unexplainable weight gain.
How do you diagnose menopause?
There are several ways to confirm the transitionary phase of menopause, such as a general inquiry about your menstrual cycle over the previous year. However, if you’ve skipped your menstrual cycle for over a year or longer, then it's a strong indication you've entered the menopausal or postmenopausal phase.
How do you treat menopause?
Menopause is a natural transitionary process all women must go through. Therefore, treatment for menopause involves mitigating symptoms through medication or other forms of conservative treatment measures.
Treatments for menopause can be divided into synthetic hormone replacement therapy, Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and non-hormonal treatments. For example, at the time of menopause, the body goes through major changes, such as the loss of hormones the ovaries produce, like progesterone and estrogen. As a result, hormonal therapy is sometimes prescribed to replace the lost female hormones and alleviate symptoms.
There exist two major types of hormones prescribed for replacement therapy such as the following:
- Oestrogen therapy is administered in a low dose and comes in various forms, such as pills, creams, vaginal patches, gels and sprays.
- Progesterone Hormonal Therapy combines the hormones progesterone and oestrogen. This is a type of hormonal therapy is prescribed for women with a uterus.
FAQ
- Cancer affecting the endometrium.
- The presence of gallstones.
- The formation of blood clots.
- Deep vein thrombosis.
