Facts
At some point, every woman will go through menopause. It’s just a natural part of life that happens to everyone. However, some women experience early menopause or begin their periods earlier than most women. Premature menopause can be scary and confusing for some women experiencing these symptoms for the first time. Here are some things you should know about early menopause: What is Early Menopause?
Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when she stops menstruating. Menopause can occur at any age, typically around 50 years of age. A woman is considered to be in menopause when she has not had a period for 12 months, and all her eggs have been depleted.
Early menopause is defined as menopause occurring before the age of 40. In contrast, premature ovarian failure (POF) is defined as menopause occurring before age 40 with no prior symptoms of low estrogen levels or irregular periods.
A woman who experiences early menopause is not necessarily at an increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. However, since women with POF have lower estrogen levels than their peers who experience normal menopause, they are at an increased risk for osteoporosis.
Although there is no way to prevent premature ovarian failure, some things can help reduce the risk. These include: Avoiding smoking and maintaining a healthy weight (BMI less than 25).
What are the Causes of Early Menopause?
Many factors can lead to early menopause, including:
- Genetic factors. A family history of early menopause may also be a risk factor for the condition. Women with relatives on their mother’s side who went through menopause before age 45 are more likely to experience it.
- Endocrine factors. These conditions impact how hormones are produced in the body, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and adrenal hyperplasia (also known as Conn’s syndrome).
- Lifestyle factors. Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress, and inadequate exercise can all increase the risk of early menopause.
- Hormonal factors. Some women have very low estrogen levels from birth or after puberty due to conditions like Turner syndrome or hypothyroidism. Women who have had their ovaries removed due to cancer also face this risk factor after surgery because they no longer produce estrogen naturally in these cases either.
Common Early Menopause Symptoms
- Hot flashes or flushes: These short bursts of heat come over your body and make you feel hot. They can be triggered by physical activity, stress, or eating spicy foods.
- Night sweats: This is when you wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. The sweating often happens without any warning and may last for more than an hour at a time.
- Vaginal dryness occurs when the vagina becomes less lubricated due to lower estrogen levels caused by menopause. It can cause pain, a burning sensation during intercourse, and difficulty with penetration.
- Vaginal itching: An inflamed vaginal area may result from low estrogen levels causing irritation inside your vagina, leading to itching and burning sensations near your private parts when you urinate (pee). You should see a doctor immediately if this problem persists because it could result in bacterial vaginosis or yeast infection, which requires treatment with antibiotics or antifungal medications respectively.
- Vaginal bleeding: This is a common symptom of menopause. It can also be caused by an infection, polyps, or cancer in the vagina. If this happens, you should see your doctor as soon as possible to determine the cause so it can be adequately treated.
How is Early Menopause Diagnosed?
It’s important to remember that early menopause is not a disease but a condition. There’s no specific test for diagnosing it. Because of this, your doctor will need to do a lot of tests and exams to make the diagnosis. They will probably begin by doing a physical exam to check for any symptoms that may point toward early menopause. Your doctor may also do some blood tests to look at your hormone levels and see if they’re normal or low. If the tests are inconclusive, which can happen if you have normal hormone levels but still experience symptoms associated with early menopause (like hot flashes), they might need to perform other kinds of testing on you. For example:
- A pelvic ultrasound: This type of ultrasound uses sound waves (sound waves are waves similar to light waves) traveling through the air at different frequencies and intensities depending on how far away they are from their source (in this case, your body). The pelvic ultrasound helps doctors see inside parts of your body without making any incisions into them. All that is needed is an instrument called a transducer that emits those sound waves so they can transmit images back onto a monitor where anyone within viewing distance can see what’s going on inside someone else’s body without having cut anything open!
- Bone density test: Bone density refers specifically to bones’ ability to withstand the pressure applied against them by outside forces such as forceps used during surgery. If there isn’t enough calcium stored inside our bodies, those bones won’t be strong enough under pressure from outside sources like surgery tools like these!
The Effects of Early Menopause
The emotional effects of early menopause can be traumatizing. Since early menopause happens without warning, many are caught off-guard, which can come as a shock that hurts their self-image.
It is challenging for many women to realize that it may be difficult to bear children, which may be difficult to hear for those who haven’t started a family yet. As a result, a woman may feel young on the outside but different on the inside.
If you are experiencing these symptoms and you are between 35 and 40 years old, talk to your doctor about early menopause. They can help you diagnose whether or not early menopause is causing your symptoms by testing hormone levels in your blood or urine samples using a simple blood test called an FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) test.
In addition, your doctor can perform a vaginal ultrasound to see if there are any changes in the uterus. If you are experiencing these symptoms and you are over 40 years old, talk to your doctor about menopause.
Conclusion
We all hope to live a long and healthy life, but sometimes life throws us a curveball and makes things difficult. Whether it’s an illness or injury that keeps you from doing something you love or even just the stress of everyday life, sometimes it feels like there are no more options left for us to try before giving up entirely on our dreams. But with early menopause, there is still hope! Premature menopause can be caused by many different factors such as genetics (heredity), pregnancy complications during fetal development, or childhood trauma. In these cases, it may not be possible to avoid the condition altogether, but there are steps you can take now so that later on down the road when signs start showing up again, we’re ready for them.
If you have any experience with early menopause, share it with us in the comment box below. Also, let’s better help other women face early menopause by sharing this on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter!
