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[KarineT]

Hi everyone,

I hate it when they associate menopause with ageing. Also, it's almost as if they are suggesting that after the menopause you'll aiutomatically get health problems because of a decrease in oestrogen. They almost look at the menopause as a health issue but it's not as it's natural and it happens to every woman who had a reproductive cycle.  Someone suggested that society favours youth over maturity because youth goes hand in hand with fertily and maturity with infertility.  I'm almost 50, II'm going through the menopause and losing my fertility but I don't feel old at all or unhealthy.  Health problems shouldn't have anything to do with the menopause.  You may stay healthy or you may not regardless.

[Kathleen]

Hello KarineT


My trusty meno book notes that we can become vulnerable to bone fractures and heart problems in post menopause because the protective effects of oestrogen has been lost so a healthy lifestyle becomes even more important at this time in our lives and for the future.

Take care.

K.

[KarineT]

Oestrogen probably has a protective effect but that does not mean that we will get heart disease or osteoporosis.  If we eat a sensible diet and exercise then we shouldn't have any health problems. 

[Taz2]

That's true of course and exercise and healthy living is important throughout all of our lives male and female. There is a lot of mention that females are less at risk of heart disease than males though and it is important to get the message across that post-meno women's risk becomes the same as men's due to the withdrawal of the protective effect of oestrogen.

Taz x 

[KaraShannon]

Katrine

I know where you're coming from.  It is one aspect of ageing, in that the reproductive age is coming to a close, but that doesn't mean the rest of the body will be ageing at that time.  However I do think oestrogen keeps us healthy and makes other problems somewhat less likely.  People have different views though.  I've chosen HRT for this reason and I've noticed huge improvement in so many things, subtle things, that I personally feel that lack of oestrogen was ageing me in other ways and now I've arrested that with the HRT, and I really do feel I've arrested and reversed what was happening in my body.  Joint pain virtually gone, some energy back, etc.  But I have a friend who's felt no effects whatsover and is further along in the peri menopause than me.

I think science is beginning to understand the many causes of ageing in people now anyway, and anything it comes up with to delay that I will want to try.  Not because of wanting to live forever but because a large part of ageing is just health problems, it would be better if we could all live out our lifespan without all those problems.

[CLKD]

Menopause is in general an ageing issue, however, some girls never have a period or have a couple then nowt.  So that is nothing to do with ageing. 

I've been lucky.  By taking pain relief if anywhere aches for more than an hour and by having a very good GP who noted my va symptoms, I've done well thus far.  I never want to return to the deep fear, anxiety and depression that I went through in the 1990s  .  Nowt due to menopause.

My grannies both had lovely soft skin due to using rain water and very few chemicals.  Also they didn't have bathrooms so washed up/down every day.  Both died aged 82/80.

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

Those of us who were fortunate not to die young will inevitably age and suffer at least some of the consequences. We can however do our best to remain healthy which is where lifestyle choices come in.

When I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis ten years ago I began looking for ways to help myself and learned about the part that inflammation plays in our health. It seems that as we get older our immune system becomes
 less efficient and is slower to react to pathogens meaning we are more vulnerable to infections. It is  also slower to down regulate meaning auto immune diseases are more likely to develop. Anything we can do to keep our immune system in good order and our inflammation levels as low as possible will help our general health whatever our age.

Wishing you well ladies.

K.

[honeyblossom]

I couldn’t agree less! 😐  but we were not designed to last as long as we do. Nature wants us pregnant at 13 and popping out kids til we die in childbirth whilst our husband dies of plague.
The fact we are not doing this is wonderful but we are  old
I don’t think many other animals have the menopause... maybe elephants?
It’s great you feel this way. Maybe I’m
Just miserable... pass the Estrogel .

[Joaniepat]

Absolutely, honeyblossom! We are the only primates that suffer menopause. As to other species, there are four species of whales that are said to experience menopause, but I've no idea how good the science is behind that. IMO, menopause is an unnatural state brought on by increased longevity. I'm sure there's a whole raft of other conditions and diseases brought on by this.
JP x

[Kathleen]

Hello again ladies.

My trusty meno book says that it is unfair to ask women to live thirty years in an oestrogen deprived state but clearly that has been the norm for a very long time. Whether those women were feeling fine or suffering horribly is another question.

I think the longevity argument is confused by infant and child mortality figures from the past. I read somewhere that females who survived childhood diseases, childbirth and accidents  could expect to live past the menopause.
My grandmother was born in 1888, had eight children, took no medication  whatsoever and died at 83. She was not alone either as I knew many other old women just like her as I was growing up. I like to think these women were feeling well but who knows as they certainly didn't have the opportunity to try HRT.

Wishing you all well.

K.

[Sparrow]

I agree with you Kathleen.

The theory is that the reason human females survive to menopause, is to do with our evolution.

Humans take long time to reach maturity, far longer than any other species.  Therefore grandmother's are needed, who do not themselves any longer reproduce, to help care for the young children.

Nothing changes.

[sheila99]

I suppose that guess is as good as any other. Perhaps there is some other positive survival trait that went along with the negatives of the menopause. In the days when we were evolving you were either eaten or starved when your body started to slow down so there wouldn't be so many women surviving beyond menopause anyway.