When does a woman enter the menopause?

A woman enters the menopause when the function of her ovaries dries up and she no longer has the eggs to generate ovulation. This time is different for each woman and depends on many different factors. Both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the timing of the final onset of the menopause.

Most women enter the menopause between the ages of 40 and 50, and some women enter it later. Hormonal changes in a woman’s body begin even before the final absence of menstruation. It is difficult to determine when these changes begin. By definition, however, the “real” menopause is only reached when ovarian function has completely ceased. Women who have had their ovaries surgically removed experience an immediate onset of the menopause with the correspondingly radical onset of symptoms of hormonal deficiency.

Does menopause also occur in men?

Men also experience a kind of menopause. However, unlike in women, this does not necessarily occur in every man in the form of symptoms. This so-called andropause in men is also not clearly defined, as men gradually lose hormonal production over the course of their lives and therefore no specific time for menopause can be defined.

However, when symptoms occur, they are similar to the symptoms of a woman during the menopause and usually occur between the ages of 45 and 65. Generally speaking, the term “menopause” is controversial as such for men. Only a few years ago, women with symptoms during their menopause were generously treated with hormone replacement therapy.

In this therapy the female sex hormones are supplied by medication. However, after several studies had pointed out the side effects of such a therapy, especially a long-term therapy, a rethinking of the forms of therapy took place. Nowadays, herbal agents are increasingly used in the therapy of climacteric complaints.

Increased physical activity and a calcium-rich diet (e.g. with dairy products such as cheese) can also help to improve symptoms around the menopause. Thus, without hormone replacement therapy, menopausal symptoms usually decrease after one to two years, so that the woman no longer feels impaired. In addition, the individually varying symptoms can usually be adequately treated individually.

The skin changes already described lead to a loss of elasticity, strength and moisture of the tissue. For this reason, adequate sun protection on the skin is particularly important to prevent the tissue from being increasingly stressed. Moisturizing creams or oily skin creams can also help with dry skin.

The pain caused by dry vaginal mucous membranes during sexual intercourse can be effectively treated and avoided with lubricants or locally applied estrogens. Severe bleeding irregularities around menopause make surgical removal of the uterus (hysterectomy) necessary from time to time. Psychotherapy or psychotropic drugs can help if the psychological changes are severe in the individual.

Hormone replacement therapy is now only used when there is a medical necessity, such as in cases of massive climacteric symptoms, early onset of menopause before the age of 43, severe changes in the external genitals, and through early surgical removal of the ovaries (ovariectomy) or their early loss of function. Hormone therapy is always adapted to the individual complaints, so that the choice of the appropriate medication depends on the type, strength and time of occurrence. In principle, the hormones administered are all estrogen-combination preparations.

These consist partly of the estrogen hormone group and partly of the progesterone group (this group of hormones is also called progestin). The hormones administered are either naturally derived sex hormones or artificially produced. There are different ways of administering the hormones.

They can be taken in the form of tablets by mouth, through the skin as patches or as a cream through the vagina, or injected through the skin.Previous blood clots (thrombemboli), breast cancer and uterus cancer (breast and corpus carcinoma) as well as severe liver damage speak against a therapy with hormone administration. The duration of therapy is determined individually for each woman, but for half of all women treated it is about one year and should not be longer than two years if possible due to the side effects. Possible side effects of such a therapy are described as nausea, weight gain and water retention (edema) but also stomach and headaches as well as tension pains in the breast are possible.

As the menopause is a naturally occurring part of a woman’s life and contributes to her aging and maturation process, it is not possible to avoid the menopause or prevent it with the help of medication. Physical activity, a healthy balanced diet and a healthy sleep have a positive effect on the reduction and experience of symptoms during the menopause. or hormone replacement therapy during the menopause