Symptoms of premature menopause. How do you know if you are starting to bleed?

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Menopause is a natural process that will affect every woman sooner or later. In Poland, it most often occurs in the age of 50 or 51. But it happens that menopause begins earlier. What do you need to know about premature menopause? Readers of MedTvoiLokony are told by prof. Robert Jach, a gynecologist from the Superior Medical Center in Krakow.

1. Menopause is the process by which menstruation ends eventually
2. Among its most common symptoms are, apart from lack of bleeding, hot flushes and mood changes
3. Smoking can make menopause faster
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Premature menopause – what causes it?

Agnieszka Mazur-Puchała, Medonet: Do modern women really fade earlier than their grandmothers or even mothers? What influences it?

Prof. dr hab. med. Robert Jach, gynecologist: By reading carefully the available medical records on this topic, it can be concluded that the age at which women menopause is unlikely to change. It still occurs around 50-51 years of age. Therefore, it does not appear that women are bleeding faster than in earlier generations.

On the other hand, there is an analysis that women who are heavy smokers reach the menopause statistically earlier, from one year to one and a half years, than non-smokers. Considering the fact that in Poland, for example, statistically more women than men smoke, it can be concluded that in this population the menopause will actually occur earlier. Not so much, however, that you could talk about premature menopause.

The rest of the text is below the video.

What does premature menopause mean? Is it a disease entity?

Yes. Premature menopause is a disease entity, one of the seven groups of menstrual disorders classified by the WHO. It is also one of the most common causes of anovulation. Premature menopause is defined as a situation in which it occurs before the age of 40. It is also worth noting that the term “premature menopause” is now being replaced by another, namely, “primary ovarian insufficiency” (POI).

Is it possible to stop premature menopause?

Is it possible to somehow inhibit, slow down premature menoupause?

You might as well ask if we are able to stop the aging process. Menopause is the final cessation of menstruation as a result of the loss of first the germinal function and then the hormonal function of the ovary. It is inextricably linked with the aging process.

In the past, the menopause was referred to as the menopause. The word comes from Greek and means a ladder. The menopause is therefore the natural stage that a woman climbs up in her life. We are not able to extend it, but we can improve its quality. Menopause is not a disease. It is simply a stage in a woman’s life when many unfavorable trends that she works for throughout her life may emerge, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, metabolic disorders, or psychological or psychiatric disorders. It is also related to the particular age of the woman at that time, as well as to related situations and states, such as the adulthood of children or the “empty nest syndrome”. In men, of course, this condition also occurs at some point in life, but usually it comes about 10-15 years later.

Some hopes were placed in the technique called oncofertilitythat is, taking ovarian tissue, securing it for the future, and then implanting it naturally. However, even in women who underwent this technique during the menopause, ovarian function only returned for a few months so that pregnancy could be achieved. However, when it comes to the production of hormones, the ovary also ages quickly and stops producing them.

We can, however, alleviate the symptoms of menopause through the use of hormone therapy for menopause. By using it, a woman substitutes treatment of menopausal symptoms, e.g. vasomotor, outbreaks, mainly associated with a decrease in female hormones, such as estradiol or estrogen. In this way, many women actually benefit – they do not return their periods, but estrogen levels stabilize (after their blood levels drop, women feel worse). Therefore, after using hormone therapy for menopause, with the use of estrogen or combined estrogen-progesterone preparations, women feel better. However, this is not a way of prolonging youth. Such a theory was used 25-30 years ago, when in the United States, after the invention of these preparations, it was believed that a woman using them would be able to maintain eternal youth. Unfortunately, unbalanced hormone use also causes adverse health changes.

Hormone therapy of menopause is applicable, implemented up to ten years after the onset of menopausal symptoms. It has benefits in terms of improving the functioning of the quality of life and general health. Every second woman in Poland dies due to cardiovascular diseases, while only every 26 due to postmenopausal complications. Overall, however, the trend is not favorable, because the WHI study conducted about 15 years ago showed that women who use hormones indiscriminately suffer more often, e.g. . for breast cancer.

The effects of premature menopause – how does a woman’s menopause feel?

What does premature menopause for a woman in the context of everyday life (condition, health, appearance)? Does a woman feel it somehow?

Menopause, treated as the extinction of the ovarian function, which – as I said before – occurs in Poland between the ages of 50 and 51 (although it may also occur five years earlier, but it is still not a premature menopause yet).

Premature menopause, i.e. premature termination of ovarian function, i.e. the absence of menstruation before the age of 40, is firstly the lack of fertility, and secondly, the occurrence of symptoms such as coagulation and circulatory system disorders, perimenopausal symptoms in the form of profuse sweating, mood swings , urogenital atrophy (loss of epithelium in the vagina or the end part of the urinary system, which results in recurrent bladder and vaginal infections, vaginal dryness, pain and discomfort during intercourse, and consequently – in some cases – also earlier osteoporosis).

Harbingers of premature menopause – how to recognize it?

What are the signs of premature menopause? Which specialist should you go to with this?

If a woman begins to have irregular periods, which are shortened from 28-day to 20-24-day (or shorter) intervals, she should see a gynecologist, preferably a gynecologist-endocrinologist. If mood swings begin to appear, hot flashes appear, a woman wakes up at night in a sweat, she alternates between hot and cold, unable to sleep, then she should take care of her health. It is worth having a gynecologist to examine the reproductive organ and breast, but more specialized hormonal tests should be ordered by a doctor specializing in endocrine gynecology.

Contrary to appearances, not only the hormones are tested, but also the action of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovary axis. The thyroid gland, estradiol, progesterone, morphology, metabolic level, vitamin D and calcium levels are checked.

The perimenopausal period is associated with the loss of the correct concentration of hormones, and estrogens stimulate carbohydrate metabolism, lipid profile and the regulation of coagulation. Therefore, if this is not the case, it should be expected that there will also be unfavorable changes in medical examinations.

Menopausal symptoms related to premature menopause are primarily menstrual disorders (and ultimately amenorrhea) and ovulation, as well as vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes, accompanying redness of the face and neckline, chest pain, dizziness, palpitations, joint and bone pain, difficulty concentrating, decreased libido, memory problems or chronic fatigue).

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time Kamila Wykrota, the resilience trainer, will tell us about what resilience is. How does the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and react to adversities affect our quality of life? You will find out by listening to the latest episode of our podcast.