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Menopause Stages and Symptoms
Menopause is a single point in time: it is the last period in a woman's life. However, "menopause" is frequently used to describe the period of life when a woman experiences symptoms relating to the decline in estrogen in her body: the period before menopause (peri-menopause), the moment of her last period (menopause) and the time after menopause (post-menopause).
» Usual Symptoms
» Bone Health
» Heart Health
» Am I in Menopause?
Usual Symptoms
» What is Menopause?
» Peri-menopause
» Post Menopause
Back to TopWhat is Menopause?
Every woman will experience menopause in her own unique way. For some women, menopause will be a gradual phase that is hardly noticed. For others it can be marked with severe symptoms that make going about your daily life close to unbearable.
Menopause literally means the last monthly period of a woman's life. However, it is confirmed when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. The gradual decrease in the ovaries production of estrogen during this time is simply the body's natural evolution from the fertile child-bearing years to a whole new stage of life.
For most women, menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 to 55 years. The average age for menopause is 51 in Canada.
Peri-menopause
Natural midlife changes have begun when your periods become irregular. Peri-menopause refers to the time leading up to menopause when the cycle length and menstrual flow can vary significantly. You may skip a period or your flow may become heavier or lighter. A common symptom is the commencement of hot flashes, which many women describe as a sudden rush of heat that spreads over the upper part of the body and face making the skin flush and causing a sudden burst of perspiration. The onset of hot flashes can often cause embarrassment for women as they can occur at anytime without warning. Night sweats and mood swings are also common during this time and you may find that your sleep patterns change.
Estrogen levels play an important role in a woman's life. They rise at puberty with the onset of childbearing years and then increase and decrease rhythmically with your menstrual cycle. They peak during pregnancy and then decline as you reach menopause and your menstrual cycle ceases.
This decline in estrogen levels during menopause
gives rise to common symptoms such as:
Hot flashes
Night sweats
Mood swings & irritability
Other symptoms associated with menopause include:
Reduced libido
Insomnia
Headaches
Urinary frequency
Dry vagina
Inability to concentrate
Anxiety & depression
If you are currently going through menopause, chances are you are accustomed to more than one of these symptoms. Perhaps it's the intense hot flash when you want it the least, or it's the on again, off again tug of war with the blankets at night as you experience night sweats.
The fact is thousands of women begin menopause everyday, so you are not alone.
Many women are also unaware that decreasing estrogen levels can have a less obvious but more harmful effect on your body, such as an increased risk of osteoporosis (bone loss) and high cholesterol.
Post Menopause
For most post-menopausal women, the visible symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats will ease. However, there are the invisible effects of menopause which remain.
After menopause, estrogen remains at very low levels. This increases the risk of osteoporosis. This can mean bones become more brittle and prone to fracture. Cholesterol levels may also rise in some women and arteries become less elastic ("hardening of the arteries").
Both osteoporosis and heart health are major long-term health issues that women should be aware of after menopause.
Bone Health
» Bone Health
» The Role of Calcium and Vitamin D3 in Bone Health
» The Role of Isoflavones in Bone Health
» What are Isoflavones?
» What is the Significance of 40 mg of Isoflavones?
» The Role of Exercise in Bone Health
Bone Health
Osteoporosis is a condition of increased skeletal fragility, and is clinically defined in relation to bone density. Bone density, a balance between bone formation and bone resorption, decreases with age. Although this occurs in both sexes, post menopausal women tend to have a more rapid decline, due to the reduction in estrogen levels.
A woman's bones usually reach their peak density by her mid-20s. Factors that have an impact on bone density include genetic disposition, diet, calcium absorption and exercise. After about the age of 35, bone reabsorption outweighs bone formation, reducing bone density. In the 5 to 10 years following menopause this bone density loss is at its highest due to the gradual decline in production of estrogen by the ovaries, which previously had a role in slowing down the process of bone reabsorption.
With an imbalance between bone formation and bone reabsorption, osteoporosis can occur, causing bone thinning and eventual loss of "connectivity" – parts of the bone become so brittle that gaps start to appear in their structure. This can lead to problems from blows or falls that would not normally arise in people unaffected by the disease.
A strong healthy bone vs a bone with osteoporosis
During and after menopause women lose up to 2% or more of their bone density annually making them prone to fractures and osteoporosis. Postmenopausal women should schedule a bone density screening once they turn 50 to assess their risk for osteoporosis. If bone loss is significant, a doctor can prescribe medications to protect and strengthen bones.
Even if a woman's bone density is normal, it is vital to protect against future bone loss. Women are more likely to fracture a bone than men, so it is important they participate in weight bearing exercises such as jogging or stair climbing, and supplement their calcium intake. Unfortunately, one in four women over the age of 50 has osteoporosis.
The Role of Calcium and Vitamin D3 in Bone Health
Calcium is a mineral essential for good health. The majority of calcium (99%) in the body is stored in bones and teeth. The remaining 1% is found mainly in the blood, and helps control muscle movements, blood clotting and nerve impulses. The skeleton is a calcium storage bank: if the body does not get enough calcium from food, it will take it from the bones, making them weaker.
Source: www.health.gov.sk.ca/calcium
Calcium helps in the development and maintenance of bones and teeth. The Adequate Intake of Calcium for women over 50 is 1,200 mg per day, as recommended by Health Canada. Osteoporosis Canada recommends 1,500 mg per day for women over 50.
"Calcium intake, when combined with sufficient vitamin D, a healthy diet, and regular exercise, may reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis." Health Canada
Vitamin D is a nutrient that helps the body use calcium and phosphorous to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Too little vitamin D can cause calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood to decrease, leading to calcium being pulled out of the bones to help maintain stable blood levels. This can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia (softening of the bones) or osteoporosis (fragile bones) in adults.
The recommended vitamin D intake levels set for adults age 50 and over are based on the role of vitamin D in bone health. While Eating Well With Canada's Food Guide provides sound nutrition advice for people over the age of 50, the amount of vitamin D in foods as recommended by the Food Guide is not enough to meet the Adequate Intakes necessary for people over the age of 50 to help reduce the risk of bone fractures. Therefore, for adults over the age of 50, Health Canada recommends that, in addition to following Canada's Food Guide, everyone over the age of 50 should take a daily vitamin D supplement of 400 IU. (Source: From the Health Canada website. Osteoporosis Canada clarifies this by stating that "adults over 50 should receive at least 800 IU's per day". Their July 2010 guideline suggests between 800 and 2,000 IU's per day supplementation (see www.osteoporosis.ca).
Conversion Factor for Vitamin D: 1 μg (micro gram) = 40 IU (International Unit)
Each tablet of Promensil® Vitality contains a standardized dose of 500 mg of calcium (from 1,278 mg of calcium carbonate) and 3.5 µg or 140 IU of vitamin D3, plus 40 mg of isoflavones from red clover extract. The recommended limit for calcium to be absorbed by the body as a single dose is 500 mg. Standardization of Promensil® Vitality means that each table is manufactured under strict quality controls to ensure every tablet delivers the dose of ingredients that the product promises.
The Role of Isoflavones in Bone Health
A sufficient daily intake of isoflavones has been shown to help maintain a woman's bone health. A daily dose of Promensil® Regular (40 mg), Double Strength (80 mg) or Promensil® Vitality (40 mg), which contain isoflavones from red clover, helps to reduce bone mineral density losses in post menopausal women.Adequate calcium must also be consumed daily. Promensil® Vitality has 500 mg of elemental calcium and 140 IU vitamin D to ensure adequate in take of calcium.
What are Isoflavones?
Isoflavones are phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) with a chemical structure similar to natural human estrogen. Red clover isoflavones can act similarly to the body's own estrogen and when consumed in adequate quantities, can mimic some of the beneficial effects. However, isoflavones are much weaker than the body's estrogen and are selective for specific tissues in the body producing such benefits as reduced menopause symptoms, and maintaining bone and heart health.
Isoflavones are found mainly in legumes, such as lentils, split peas, red clover, broad beans and soy. More than 1,000 isoflavones have been identified in plants. Of these, four specific isoflavones have been shown to possess significant individual and specific biological activity:
Genistein
Daidzein
Formononetin
Biochanin A
However, not all legumes contain these four important isoflavones. For example, red clover contains all four, whereas soy has only two. The isoflavones content of food also varies: red clover contains 10 to 20 times the quantity of isoflavones that is found in soy.
Promensil® Regular and Vitality provides 40 mg of isoflavones extracted from red clover in a convenient daily dose tablet. Promensil® Double Strength contains 80 mg.
What is the Significance of 40 mg of Isoflavones?
If estrogen is so important to a woman's long term health, why would nature purposely deprive the body of it? Nature didn't get it wrong. The answer may be in our diets. In the Western world, we have changed our diets away from the type of diet our ancestors ate – the same type of diet that is typically consumed in Asian, Central American and Mediterranean countries. A key factor in these diets is that they contain greater quantities of legumes, which are rich in isoflavones. The typical Eastern diet contains on average 30 to 50 mg of isoflavones per day, while it is estimated that the typical Western (North American and European) diet contains only a few milligrams of isoflavones a day. Eastern/Asian countries derive more of their proteins from legumes whereas Western countries get their protein from meat and dairy. Western countries have lost the benefits derived from legume consumption.
Women who consume an average of 40 mg of isoflavones a day have lower incidences of menopausal symptoms, and maintain bone and heart health longer into life. The rate of osteoporosis in the countries of high isoflavones consumption is lower.
The Role of Exercise in Bone Health
It is recommended that post menopausal women do regular weight-bearing exercises to strengthen bones and the supporting muscles – good advice for women of any age. Bone is a living tissue and is constantly renewing itself. Physical activity places an increased "load" or force on the bones. Bones respond by forming new bone and remodeling the bone to be stronger. Physical activity also helps to improve coordination and balance, which in turn helps to reduce the risk of falling. For more information, please see Osteoporosis Canada. Also, it is recommended that you check with your doctor to determine the level of exercise that is appropriate for you.
Heart Health
» Cardiovascular Health
» The Role of Isoflavones in Heart Health
Cardiovascular Health
Cardiovascular disease (heart disease, diseases of the blood vessels and stroke) accounts for more deaths of Canadians than any other disease. Every 7 minutes in Canada someone dies from heart disease or stroke. 31% of female deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease (source: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada). Although the statistics are startling, it is important that post menopausal women understand that they are at a greater risk for developing heart disease. Once diagnosed with heart disease, it becomes a life long condition.
Prevention is the best treatment for heart disease and even simple lifestyle changes can make a big impact. A healthy, low fat diet prevents arteries from clogging while reducing alcohol and smoking are strongly recommended. Moderate exercise three times a week for thirty minutes is a great way to strengthen your heart and purify your bloodstream.
Maintaining heart and cardiovascular health after menopause is a significant health issue for women. Estrogen plays a "cardio-protective" role, helping to maintain lower levels of LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins – the bad cholesterol) and higher levels of HDL (High Density Lipoproteins – the good cholesterol), and keeping arteries healthy and elastic. The decline in estrogen levels through and after menopause cause changes in heart and cardiovascular health.
As estrogen levels drop during menopause, blood pressure increases dramatically. During menopause women often develop a sensitivity to salt along with weight gain which contributes to higher blood pressure. Often know as the silent killer, high blood pressure causes scarring to blood vessel walls and promotes fatty plague build-up.
A healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains along with limited salt and alcohol consumption can make the world of difference. Physical exercise strengthens the heart, and helps relieve pressure. Since high blood pressure is a silent affliction it is important to consult with a physician regularly to keep your heart in check.
The Role of Isoflavones in Heart Health
Red clover isoflavones, if consumed in adequate quantities on a daily basis, can help maintain a healthy heart. Research has suggested that red clover isoflavones can help lower LDL cholesterol and improve arterial elasticity (as we age our arteries become more inelastic or as it is commonly known: "hardening of the arteries").
Promensil® products help support cardiovascular health by improving arterial compliance.
Am I in Menopause?
Click here to use our interactive chart to determine if you are in menopause.
