This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 8:28 am and is filed under Women's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Information on popular complementary and alternative medical topics
Welcome to our look into the world health.
WOMEN: EFFECTS OF THE LACK OF OESTROGEN AFTER THE MENOPAUSE
Long-term lack of oestrogen leads to changes in many systems of the body that make them more liable to degeneration and disease. After the age of about 60, most women who don’t have hormone replacement will have some signs of health deterioration due to a lack of oestrogen, though the degree of disability varies greatly.
Muscular aches, weakness and stiffness may be due to reduced muscle tone and joint ageing, which are accelerated without oestrogen. Osteoporosis can lead to crush fractures of spinal vertebrae resulting in dowager’s hump and increased risk of other fractures, especially of the hip and wrist. Deterioration in the cardiovascular system can lead to angina and heart attack.
Some symptoms that start around the menopause become worse with the years. Dryness and thinning of the vaginal lining and genital skin are progressive and sex may become painful or impossible.
There may be loss of scalp hair, excessive hair growth on the upper lip and chin, and sometimes deepening of the voice. These changes (and acne-like skin eruptions) are caused by male hormones that are produced by the ovaries in small amounts throughout adult life; before the menopause their effects are cancelled out by oestrogen. After the menopause male hormone production declines very slowly, so that for some years there is a relative excess of androgens.
Much of the past 30 years of research into the menopause and its consequences has been aimed at preventing or reducing menopausal problems and finding means to help older women enjoy better health -about time, too. This branch of health care was previously entirely neglected.
*197/31/5*
RelatedPosts:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.