5 Signs You May Be Entering Menopause
If you’re a woman in your 40s or early 50s, your reproductive years end when you enter menopause. The changes your body goes through start with specific symptoms so here’s what to look for.
How Menopause Can Affect Bone Health
Bones are much more complex than the sturdy, rigid body parts we often take for granted. Your bones have a hard exterior (compact tissue), with a spongy material (cancellous tissue) and marrow underneath.
This living tissue is filled with osteoblasts, osteoclasts, osteocytes, and hematopoietic cells, which are essential for remodeling, restoring, dissolving, and maintaining bone as necessary. They also make white and red blood cells and platelets, which are vital for bodily functions.
Our bones change with us as we age, and when we reach menopause, the hormonal changes we experience also affect our bones, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. May is National Osteoporosis Prevention and Awareness Month, and the perfect time to help you understand the connection between bone health and menopause.
Women in the Las Vegas, Nevada, area trying to maintain bone health in postmenopause can find help with Dr. Staci McHale and her dedicated staff at WHASN Sunset Valley.
Changes during menopause
During the stages of menopause, your ovaries slow down the production of estrogen and progesterone. By the time you’re in the final stage, your periods have stopped for a complete year, and hormone levels are significantly lower. You can experience symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, irregular cycles, mood changes, thinning hair, and weight changes as you go through perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.
The effects of osteoporosis
Estrogen is a vital hormone in growth and development. It helps build and protect bone during puberty and maintains it in adulthood. After menopause, estrogen levels are much lower, and the risk of osteoporosis is much higher, leading to an increased chance of fracturing or breaking bones. Your bones look solid, but they comprise many layers of honeycomb-like patterns that repair and remodel themselves quickly. Osteoporosis thins these layers and weakens them, and that fragility often affects your hips, wrists, and spine.
You won’t notice any signs immediately, but left untreated over time, this illness leads to changes in your posture, loss of height, lower back pain, and shortness of breath with enough spinal compression.
How we can help
We can help you navigate the changes during menopause and test for changes in bone density that indicate osteoporosis. To prevent severe bone health issues from this disease, we offer medications, supplements, hormonal therapy, and exercise regimens to preserve bone strength and keep it active.
Menopause takes you into the next chapter of your life, and we’re there to ensure you stay healthy and ready for whatever comes. Make an appointment with Dr. McHale and her team at WHASN Sunset Valley today to start your journey.
You Might Also Enjoy...
Endometriosis Management: When is Minimally Invasive Surgery the Best Option?
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month when we raise awareness about the effects of this illness on your reproductive health. This condition creates problems outside the uterus, but are there times when minimally invasive treatments can help?
Does a High-Risk Pregnancy Require More Prenatal Care Visits?
Pregnancy is a time of physical, hormonal, and emotional changes, and with these changes comes at least some risk. High-risk pregnancies carry the chances of additional complications, but does that mean you need more prenatal care?
I've Been Diagnosed with Cervical Cancer: Do I Need a Hysterectomy?
Several illnesses can lead to cervical cancer, but once you’ve been diagnosed it’s important to know your treatment options. You should know you may need a hysterectomy, but it’s not the only treatment.
7 Common Myths About Menopause Symptoms, Debunked
Menopause is the transition out of a woman’s childbearing years, which includes a lot of changes. Women approaching this time in their lives may not have all the facts about it, so let’s help put some myths to rest.
What Is Considered a High-Risk Pregnancy?
Being pregnant means a lot of changes in your body over a nine month period. It always comes with some level of risk but when does a pregnancy become high risk, and what can be done about it?