Menopause and Hormone Therapy in Arizona

Menopause and Hormone Therapy in Arizona
Menopause Chandler, Menopause Phoenix, Menopause Scottsdale, Menopause Queen Creek, Menopause Gilbert, Menopause Tempe, Menopause Mesa, Menopause Arizona

What Is Menopause?

Menopause is a normal condition that all women experience as they age. The term "menopause" is commonly used to describe any of the changes a woman experiences either just before or after she stops menstruating, marking the end of her reproductive period.



Menopause is the permanent cessation of reproductive fertility some time before the end of the natural lifespan. The term was originally used to describe this reproductive change in human females, where the end of fertility was traditionally indicated by the permanent stopping of menstruation or "menses". The word "menopause" literally means the "end of monthly cycles" from the Greek words pausis (cessation) and the word root men (month).


In adult human females who still have a uterus, and who are not pregnant or lactating, postmenopause is identified by a permanent (at least one year's) absence of monthly periods or menstruation. In women without a uterus, menopause or postmenopause is identified by a very high FSH level.

In human females, menopause usually happens more or less in midlife, signaling the end of the fertile phase of a woman's life. Menopause is perhaps most easily understood as the opposite process to menarche, the start of the monthly periods. However, menopause in women cannot satisfactorily be defined simply as the permanent "stopping of the monthly periods", because in reality what is happening to the uterus is quite secondary to the process; it is what is happening to the ovaries that is the crucial factor.

For medical reasons, the uterus must sometimes be surgically removed (hysterectomy) in a younger woman; her periods will cease permanently, and the woman will technically be infertile, but as long as at least one of her ovaries is still functioning, the woman will not have reached menopause; even without the uterus, ovulation and the release of the sequence of reproductive hormones will continue to cycle on until menopause is reached. But in circumstances when a woman's ovaries are removed (oophorectomy), even if the uterus were to be left intact, the woman will immediately be in "surgical menopause".

Thus menopause is based on the natural or surgical cessation of hormone production by the ovaries, which are a part of the body's endocrine system of hormone production, in this case the hormones which make reproduction possible and may influence sexual behavior. The resultant decreased levels of circulating estrogen impacts the entire cascade of a woman's reproductive functioning, from brain to skin.

The menopause transition, and post-menopause itself, is a natural life change, not a disease state or a disorder. The transition itself can be challenging for a number of women, but for others it is not difficult.


What Causes Menopause?

A woman is born with a finite number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which regulate menstruation and ovulation. Menopause occurs when the ovaries no longer produce an egg every month and menstruation stops.

Menopause, when it occurs after the age of 40, is considered "natural" and is a normal part of aging. But, some women can experience menopause early, either as a result of a surgical intervention, such as hysterectomy, or damage to the ovaries, such as from chemotherapy. Menopause that occurs before the age of 40, regardless of the cause, is called premature menopause.

How Does Natural Menopause Occur?

Natural menopause is the permanent ending of menstruation that is not brought on by any type of medical treatment. For women undergoing natural menopause, the process is gradual and is described in three stages:
Perimenopause. Perimenopause begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually produce less estrogen. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last one to two years of perimenopause, the decrease in estrogen accelerates. At this stage, many women experience menopause symptoms (see below). 
Menopause. Menopause is the point when a woman has her last menstrual period. At this stage, the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and producing most of their estrogen. Menopause is diagnosed when a woman has gone without a period for 12 consecutive months. 
Postmenopause. These are the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, ease for most women. However, health risks related to the loss of estrogen increase as the woman ages. 


http://www.solarisdentistryandmedical.com/pages/medical


 perimenopause premenopause 
menopause age early menopause menopause and weight gain


menopause hormone replacement therapy menopause hot flashes menopause estrogen therapy 
menopausal symptoms