What You Should Know About Menopause and Disability
Whether you like it or not, we all get old each year. To survive, all the organs in our body work hard every day just like machines that wore out with years of use. Unlike our body though, you can replace the worn-out parts of machines to new ones.
For us, we feel weaker every year as we get older. We really feel that our flesh and organs are wearing out. It is true that such phenomenon is due to disability or weakening of our body cell replacement. Menopause occurs during this period and it hurts our brain function rapidly. This kind of phenomenon is simply called "fatigue" and will eventually wear and break.
However, our body is not like machines. There is no way to replace worn-out organs. If you feel that something is wrong with your body, visit your family physician. Usually, you wait for your doctor to say "Oh, don't worry, you are all right", then you feel better again. But when you go home, you still feel that something is wrong. That's because of old age and menopausal stage.
And, There Is Male Menopause...
Male menopause (clinically called andropause) has also been proven medically. It is usually caused by a very gradual deficiency in testosterone levels that begins to occur from age 35 onwards. By contrast, women experience sudden onset of menopause when they are at age 50, while in men testosterone level declines 1% per year after age 30.
What Causes Menopause?
One of the main causes of menopause in women is the reduction of the female hormone "estrogen". In the latest study, a decrease in estrogen levels may lead to what we call "menopausal disability" due to disorders such as hot flashes and cold, and cholesterol and collagen degradation.
What Happens During Menopausal Stage?
The average life expectancy of Japanese women is 85 years. The average age where women experience menopausal stage is around 50. Menopause occurs in a variety of mental and physical changes in women. It is one of the major turning points in a woman's life. Therefore, learning how to cope with this transition is important.
In the beginning of menopausal stage, the hormones that support women's estrogen production reduces dramatically. Once again, reduction of estrogen levels can lead to various physical disorders such as hot flashes, sweating, joint pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, cold hands and feet, frequent urination, rough and stiff neck and shoulder, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and symptoms associated with menopause such as urinary incontinence, and dyspareunia.
In addition, osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis due to abnormal blood lipid (fats) metabolism has been noted in recent studies. Also, heart attack and stroke is said to be associated with senile dementia as well as lower estrogen levels.
What You Should Know About Estrogen
- The majority of postmenopausal women have lower estrogen levels than men, thus they are more prone to osteoporosis according to surveys.
- The decline in estrogen levels also causes abnormal blood lipid (fats) metabolism.
- Estrogen prevents atherosclerosis caused by increased cholesterol level. It means that when estrogen level decreases, cholesterol level will rise. Higher cholesterol levels may then lead to blood clots, heart attack, and stroke. Although it does not mean that all these symptoms and diseases are due to decrease in estrogen levels, but you should also keep that in mind.
Estrogen prevents the loss of calcium from bones and help the absorption of calcium from the intestine, too.
Is There a Treatment for Menopausal Disability?
Treatments or remedies for menopausal disability are not readily available in the modern medical technology. Although we do not recommend it, we do know that there is such thing as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). You may inquire with your doctor about this procedure.
Our survey shows that there are more people living in cold countries who suffer from menopausal disability symptoms. One effective remedy is to take hot chili oil every day. Many reports show that hot chili reduces symptoms of menopausal disability. Read article Chili Pepper isn't Hot. It's a Medicine.
To have friends to talk or travel together is another remedy. Let's enjoy our life. Changing your lifestyle may be more important. Good luck!
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