8 Risk Factors for an Early Menopause

Every woman must go through menopause at some stage in their life, but some, unfortunately, go through it a lot earlier than normal. Even if you haven’t started experiencing hot flashes yet, the following 8 risk factors could indicate that you’re in for “the change” earlier than expected.

1. You’ve Had Surgery on Your Uterus or Ovaries
Unsurprisingly, removing both ovaries causes immediate surgical menopause because they’re responsible for the release of hormones. However, the removal of just one ovary can result in a decrease in the total productions of estrogen and progesterone. When women have hysterectomies (removal of the uterus), their ovaries are often left in place to prevent menopause – but this is sometimes not enough to stave it off.

2. Your Mom Went Through Menopause Early
According to the National Institute of Aging, the average age of menopause is 51, but for some women, it can start in their forties or before. There are some genetic or inherited risk factors for early menopause. For example, one National Institute of Health study found a significant link between lower levels of ovarian reserve, as marked by the follicle-stimulating hormone, in women whose mothers went through early menopause. In fact, if your mother had early menopause, you’re six times more likely to have the same experience.

3. You Smoke or Live with Someone Who Smokes
If you’re a smoker, then you already know that it’s not good for you. Smoking can lead women to transition to menopause up to two years earlier than expected. This is because of the anti-estrogen effects of nicotine. Researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, found that women who have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lives had a 26% greater chance of going through menopause before the age of 50. Furthermore, the study also revealed that women who were exposed to the toxins of second-hand smoke on a regular basis also had a higher rate of early menopause.

4. You Had Problems Getting Pregnant
If you were diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) while going through infertility treatment, you, unfortunately, will more than likely experience early menopause. DOR means that your ovaries have fewer follicles left that will become eggs, so it will be harder to conceive and you’ll have a quicker road to menopause. If you’re still in the middle of family building, time is of the essence.

5. You Were Treated for Cancer
Early menopause can be a side effect of radiation or chemotherapy for cancer. Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and pelvic radiation, often damage ovarian tissue, resulting in premature ovarian failure, thus causing menopause. According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, symptoms of menopause from cancer treatments can be worse than natural menopause because the decrease in hormones happens more quickly. Furthermore, if cancer treatments don’t cause menopause right away, the damage that has already been done will lead to menopause sooner than normal.

6. You Are Very Underweight
When it comes to early menopause, not weighing enough is a greater risk factor than being overweight. Estrogen is stored in fat tissue, so being overweight increases the likelihood of having a later onset of menopause since there’s more estrogen. Being thin means that there’s less fat, and thus less estrogen, and a higher likelihood of going through early menopause.

7. You Have an Autoimmune Condition
The very definition of autoimmune means that your body is attacking itself. Therefore, for women who suffer from conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or Addison’s disease, damage to their eggs by their own immune system is possible. Certain types of autoimmune diseases produce antibodies that might mistakenly attack ovarian tissue, resulting in premature ovarian failure. Some also cause harm to glands that produce hormones. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, recent studies suggest that up to 20% of women with premature ovarian failure also have an autoimmune disease.

8. You’re Very StressedWhile stress alone doesn’t cause early menopause, it might help it along. Recent research from the University of California San Francisco has shown that stress might, in fact, play a part in when a woman enters menopause. The good thing is that stress, along with smoking and weight, can be controlled.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Early Menopause Increases Health Risks After 60

Women who undergo premature menopause are almost three times more likely to develop multiple, chronic medical problems in their sixties than women who make the transition at 50 or 51, researchers reported Monday.

In high-income countries, a third of a woman's life unfolds after the menopause.

Earlier research showed that premature menopause at 40 or younger is linked later in life to single medical problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

But the new study, published in Human Reproduction, is the first to examine links between the timing of natural menopause and the onset of multiple medical conditions, known as multimorbidity, the authors said.

The data were drawn from more than 5,100 women enrolled in an Australian national health survey.
The women reported at three-year intervals from 1996 to 2016 on whether they had been diagnosed with any of 11 health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, depression, anxiety or breast cancer.

Multi-morbidity was defined as having two or more of these conditions at the same time.
 
The women were considered to have entered natural menopause after 12 months without monthly periods.

During the 20-year follow-up, more than half of the 2.3 percent of women who experienced premature menopause also developed multimorbidity.

Compared with women who experienced menopause at the age of 50-51 years, they were twice as likely to develop multimorbidity by the age of 60, and three times more likely to experience it after 60.

"Forty-five percent of women with premature menopause had developed multimorbidity in their 60s compared with 40 percent of women who experienced menopause at the age of 50-51," said co-author Xiaolin Xu, a research professor at China's Zhejiang University.

The study does not show that premature menopause causes the development of multimorbidity, only that there is a strong correlation, the authors noted.

"Our findings indicate that multimorbidity is common in mid-aged and early-elderly women," said senior author Gita Mishra, director of the Centre for Longitudinal and Life Course Research at the University of Queensland, Brisbane.

"Premature menopause is associated with an increased risk of developing multimorbidity, even after adjusting for previous chronic conditions."

Number of children, level of education, body mass index, tobacco consumption, and physical activity were also taken into account.

Health professionals should consider providing comprehensive screening and assessment of risk factors when treating women who experience natural premature menopause, the authors recommended.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Six health conditions you can inherit from your mother

Genetics have a huge role to play in our health and well-being. As per the research from the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London, there are 57 per cent chances that a girl will start menstruating within three months of the date when her mother first began to menstruate. So, yes genes do play a role.

Here are six health conditions that you can inherit from mother.

​Heart disease

If your mother had a heart attack, your chances of getting it increases by 20 per cent. A study from Oxford University showed that your chances of getting a stroke also increase if your mother has suffered one. This happens because the inherited vascular disease affects the coronary artery in the heart as well as the cerebral artery in the brain.

​Breast cancer

Women carrying mutated gene BRCA1 or BRCA2 are more at risk of developing breast cancer. Most women who have this defective gene develop breast cancer at an early age.

It’s extremely important for women to get mammograms after the age of 40. If any of your relatives have breast cancer, you should get genetically screened. Women who have a family history of breast cancer get prophylactic mastectomies to reduce their chances of developing cancer.

​Alzheimer’s

The Alzheimer Society has found that the Alzheimer gene can be passed on. If your mother is suffering or has suffered from Alzheimer, your chances of getting dementia increase by 30 – 50 per cent.

Keeping a check on your weight, getting your blood pressure and cholesterol monitored regularly and leading an overall healthy lifestyle can help reduce your risk of developing dementia by almost 20 per cent.

​Depression

Mental illnesses are known to run in families. There is a 10 per cent chance of you inheriting depression if you have a family history of it.

Take proper sleep, watch your alcohol intake and manage stress levels to reduce your chances of getting depression.

​Migraine

You might be shocked to know but there are 70 – 80 per cent chances that you might suffer from migraine if your mother did. The flawed gene that causes headache can be passed on.

Some common migraine triggers include sensitive foods like chocolate, cheese, coffee, citrus fruit and red wine. Also, girls need to really take care of their hormones during the menstrual cycle as it can set them off.

​Early menopause

If your mother had early menopause, your chances of following her footsteps increase by 70 – 85 per cent. The average age of menopause is 51, but one in every 20 women gets it even before the age of 46.

There is nothing you can do to prevent early menopause, though you can meet your doctor to get advice. 

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Women with HIV may transition to menopause earlier

Women infected with HIV are more likely to enter menopause at an average age of 48 years which is 3 years younger than the general population, according to a study in Canada which may lead to new strategies in planning their care. The researchers from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) noted that the average age of menopause in Canada and the United States is between 50 and 52 years. 

Based on earlier studies, they said that women living with HIV are at an increased possibility of experiencing early age (between 40 and 45 years) and premature age (less than 40 years) menopause. The current study from Canada published in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society, is the first to determine the average age of menopause for HIV patients, the researchers said.

According to the study, the prevalence of early menopause in HIV+ patients was on average between 40 and 45 years, and premature menopause happened before 40 years of age.

The researchers said that women living with HIV experience menopause at a younger age — specifically 48 years — roughly 3 years earlier than uninfected women. These women, they said, also had higher rates of early menopause and premature menopause. 

The study said lower education and hepatitis C co-infections may influence the risk of early menopause, with other factors such as marital status and region of birth also playing a part.

According to the researchers, a woman’s increased likelihood of experiencing early menopause has implications for healthcare practitioners planning their care since the transition is linked to changes in mood, sexual function, reduced quality of life, and increased the risk of developing other disorders such as heart disease and osteoporosis. 

“Healthcare practitioners should be aware of the increased risk for premature and early menopause in their female patients living with HIV in order to provide appropriate counseling and management, given the known increased risk for potential adverse long-term health consequences associated with early estrogen deprivation,” said Stephanie Faubion, director of NAMS. 

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Early menopause may raise the risk of cardiovascular issues

Researchers suggest that attaining menopause before the age of 40 is linked to several heart  conditions in women.

In the largest, single study to-date of diverse heart disease risks relative to age at menopause, researchers used the UK Biobank to examine data on more than 144,000 postmenopausal women ( average age of 60), including about 4,900 women who experienced menopause before age 40 after their ovaries were removed surgically.

During an average of 7 years of follow-up, researchers found that women who had experienced premature menopause were  significantly more likely to develop conventional heart disease risk facttors, such as high blood pressure, high levels of " bad" cholesterol and tyep 2 diabetes.

Even after accounting for conventional risk factors, women with premature menopause still had a significantly increased risk of coronary artery disease, heart failure, thickening and narrowing of the arotic valve, atrial fibrillation ( an abnormal heart rhythm) and blood clots forming in the legs or lungs.

The heart disease risks were higher for women who experienced menopause due to surgery compared to natural menopause. Some of this risk difference may be explained by differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Whether or not a woman took hormones for menopausal symptoms did not change the cardiovascular risks.

Menopausal age prior to age 50 had a dose-dependent effect on cardiovascular disease risk, meaning risk continued to increase with younger menopausal ages and increased cardiovascular risks lasted for decades after menopause.

Our study reinforces the importance of menopause history in informing a woman's risk of future heart disease, said the lead author of the study.

Women should make sure their physician knows their menopause history, particularly of they experiences menopause before age 40. History of premature menopause should prompt physicians to refine the patient's estimated future risks for heart disease and to work toward lowering their heart disease risks, added the author.

He said early evaluations could lead to intervention and medication recommendations. 

Whether or not medications are warranted, eating a heart-healthy diet and exercising regularly may be especially important for women with a history of premature menopause, he said.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement