Health During Menopause

For women approaching menopause, it can feel like they're suddenly becoming a different person – but not in a good way. When menopause hits, women start to feel their body change, and it stops behaving like it used to. Certain bodily functions begin to deteriorate, and they're suddenly at risk for a number of scary diseases. They can have mood swings, so women who were once optimistic and cheery suddenly feel morose, anxious, or just plain sad. Overall energy starts to go down, and so women who were once active and fit no longer feel like they have what it takes to go out and run, swim, or hike like they used to.

These are all chemical changes, initiated by a decrease in estrogen production, and while many changes brought on by menopause can affect quality of life, some of these changes are not anything to worry about long-term. Unfortunately, there are other causes brought on by menopause and the hormonal changes that come with it that can seriously affect your health, which is why women who are approaching menopause need to take care of themselves, see their doctor, and keep themselves as healthy as possible, all so that they have a lesser chance of developing the following health conditions:

Atherosclerosis

This is the technical term for cardiovascular disease. But before we proceed, let's start out by stating a medical fact: menopause does not cause heart disease. That being said, there is a connection between menopause and increased risk of heart disease which has been noted by the medical community, and which is why women approaching menopause need to take care of their heart health.

The truth is that while menopause does not cause cardiovascular disease, it can contribute to the problem. Estrogen plays a key role in cardiovascular health by affecting the walls of the arteries, keeping the inner layer flexible so that vessels and arteries can dilate and constrict when they need to. When estrogen production decreases, arteries don't have as much help in maintaining their health. During menopause many women also experience higher blood pressure, and there is a marked increase in “bad” LDL cholesterol, which is what causes the buildup in arteries that contributes to a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.

To prevent this as much as possible, women are urged to maintain an adequate level of exercise and to control the amount of fats and cholesterol they eat, in order to have optimum cardiovascular function. This way, menopause won't have as serious an effect on their heart health when it comes.

Lack of Sleep

When hormone production goes down, women often experience problems sleeping. Part of this is due to the fact that progesterone – the other main female hormone – plays a role in maintaining a normal sleep cycle. When this hormone is no longer produced in as high quantities as before, the body isn't getting what it needs, and it becomes more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. Fluctuating hormone levels also cause hot flashes, which are brief bursts of heat that can cause body temperature to rise and make women sweat. These changes can either keep women from comfortably falling asleep or they can wake them up, disturbing the sleep cycle and preventing them from having a refreshing night's rest.

When this happens over a long period of time, fatigue can set in, and with fatigue comes a host of new health issues: lessened motor function and responsiveness, fuzzy memory, muscle weakness, and loss of appetite. There are some supplements which can help you deal with hot flashes, which in turn can prevent sleep loss.

Osteoporosis

This is perhaps the most famous symptom of menopause. Estrogen, in addition to its many other effects, promotes bone growth and prevents something called bone resorption, where calcium is transferred from the bones to the blood. Normally this is okay, because it is offset by a comparable level of bone growth, but when estrogen declines, bone resorption happens with less bone formation to balance it out. The result is weakened bones that are more brittle, and therefore more prone to breaking.

A diet high in vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamin D and calcium, is an important part of making sure your bones are in good shape before the inevitable symptoms of menopause set in. With proper preparation, women can prevent the worst symptoms of osteoporosis from affecting them.

If you're a woman, then don't worry. Even though menopause is going to happen to you eventually, knowing what you're at risk for and how to prevent it will help you weather the