Here are a few of your questions, combined together to give our readers the answers they are seeking right away in a simple and easy to read format.
Your Question: A PATIENT HAD A HYSTERECTOMY IN HER 30s BUT RETAINED HER OVARIES. NOW IN HER 50s, SHE OCCASIONALLY HAS HOT FLASHES. HOW WILL SHE KNOW WHEN MENOPAUSE HAS PASSED?
Our Response: The North American Menopause Society recommends that efforts to reduce or even stop HRT should be considered at age 60 or within five to ten years after menopause. However, many women will require HRT beyond that. In the end, maintaining a desired quality of life while considering risks for HRT with aging should motivate the patient, along with her care provider, to engage in a meaningful discussion of menopause management. Menopausal symptoms are a direct result of loss of estradiol from the ovaries as they age. Laboratory evidence of menopause is based on elevated follicular-stimulating hormone or depressed anti-Müllerian hormone. But, the degree and duration of symptoms of menopause are unique to each woman, even as all women ultimately will experience loss of ovarian function. In time, the body adjusts, and for most women, the symptoms will subside without hormone replacement.
Your Question: NOW THAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH MENOPAUSE, MY SKIN IS DRY. WHY?
Our Response: The North American Menopause Society recommends that efforts to reduce or even stop HRT should be considered at age 60 or within five to ten years after menopause. However, many women will require HRT beyond that. In the end, maintaining a desired quality of life while considering risks for HRT with aging should motivate the patient, along with her care provider, to engage in a meaningful discussion of menopause management. Estradiol, produced from the ovaries, is a powerful dilator of blood vessels. During the reproductive years, estradiol, by stimulating nitric oxide, dilates the blood vessels in the dermis, the layer of the skin just below the epidermis. Loss of estradiol in menopause causes a reduction in blood flow to the dermis and with it loss of moisture.
Your Question: I HAD A HYSTERECTOMY AT AGE 49 AND AM NOW 74. I HAVE BEEN ON HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY (HRT) (ESTROGEN) SINCE, BUT I EXPERIENCE HOT FLASHES WHEN I TRY TO STOP IT. IS THERE AN AGE WHEN HRT HAS TO BE STOPPED?
Our Response: The North American Menopause Society recommends that efforts to reduce or even stop HRT should be considered at age 60 or within five to ten years after menopause. However, many women will require HRT beyond that. In the end, maintaining a desired quality of life while considering risks for HRT with aging should motivate the patient, along with her care provider, to engage in a meaningful discussion of menopause management.
Your Question: WHAT IS THE YOUNGEST MENOPAUSAL WOMAN YOU HAVE SEEN?
Our Response: The North American Menopause Society recommends that efforts to reduce or even stop HRT should be considered at age 60 or within five to ten years after menopause. However, many women will require HRT beyond that. In the end, maintaining a desired quality of life while considering risks for HRT with aging should motivate the patient, along with her care provider, to engage in a meaningful discussion of menopause management. The average age of American women entering menopause is 51 ½ years. Yet, some women will experience menopause as early as their late 20s. It now is recognized that there is a wide window of time during which women will experience decline and then cessation of ovarian function, the origin of the menopausal symptoms.
James Woods | 12/5/2019
