Contents
Five things to know about early menopause
1% of women are affected by early menopause
When the ovaries are no longer functioning, the cycle hormonal, therefore ovulation and menstruation stop. Fertility is compromised. the hormonal deficit disturbs the body. This usually happens gradually between the ages of 45 and 50. If menopause occurs before this age, it is called early menopause. Before 40, we talk about premature menopause. Only 1% of women would be affected. Before the age of 30, the phenomenon is even rarer.
Early menopause and menopause: the same symptoms
The periods disappear, or at least the hormonal cycles are disturbed (shorter, longer, irregular). Women can have hot flashes (especially at night), mood disorders (depression, mood swings), sleep disturbance, severe fatigue, decreased tone, libido worries, vaginal dryness. Difficulties in getting pregnant, inherent in this premature ovarian failure, often lead women to consult.
Early menopause can be inherited
A woman whose mother or grandmother has been menopausal before 40 has every interest in consulting a preventive gynecologist, in order to assess his risks of suffering from premature menopause as well. In some cases, a egg freezing can even be offered in order to offer chances of future pregnancy.
The causes of early menopause are not necessarily surgical
Oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) is not the only possible cause for the ovaries to stop working. From metabolic diseases, genetic abnormalities, viral infections, But also some treatments (chemotherapy) can cause early menopause.
You can’t prevent early menopause
No treatment or method exists to date to delay the onset of menopause, and therefore the effects on fertility and quality of life. The only known factor promoting the advancement of the menopausal age is the tobacco consumption. More recently, studies tend to prove that endocrine disruptors could also be involved.
On the other hand, it is possible, under certain conditions, to consider becoming pregnant by resorting to the egg donation. In terms of consequences of early menopause on a daily basis, and Risk prevention osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, hormone replacement therapy estrogen-based and progesterone-based have proven to be effective.