Menopause A to Z.pdf - Medwords.com.au

MENOPAUSE A to Z
genital cancer, or a history of blood clots.
Side effects may commonly include abnormal uterine bleeding, vaginal thrush, nausea, fluid retention, weight gain
and breast tenderness. Unusual side effects may include a rash, blurred vision, vomiting, bloating, intestinal cramps
and pigmentation of the skin on the face. Severe but rare side effects include blood clots, calf or chest pain and yellow
skin (jaundice).
It interacts with other sex hormones, and smoking increases risk of serious side effects.
Currently estropipate has only limited distribution around the world.
See also OESTROGEN
FERTILITY
Fertility is the ability of either a man or woman to conceive a child. It commences with puberty, rapidly reaches a
peak, then slowly declines to the menopause in women and at a later age, the andropause in men. Even if a woman is
menstruating regularly at the age of 50, her fertility is greatly reduced due to the inability of eggs (ova) to be
successfully released with each menstrual cycle. A woman’s fertility starts to reduce markedly from about 38 years of
age, and by 50 is down to 1% (ie. a one in 100 chance of falling pregnant in a year with regular sex and no
contraception).
See also OVARY
FIBROIDS OF THE UTERUS
The uterus (womb) is made up of muscular,
fibrous and glandular tissue. After childbirth, the
uterus shrinks back to its usual size, but the stress
on the uterus during pregnancy may result in some
minor injury to the fibrous tissue in its wall, and
after the uterus shrinks, it may repair itself in an
abnormal way by the formation of one or more
hard fibrous balls in the wall of the uterus. These
are fibroids.
When the uterus contracts to force out the
blood and wastes during a period, the fibroids
distort the uterus causing painful cramps and
sometimes heavy menstrual bleeding. Fibroids can
usually detected on pelvic examination, but the
diagnosis may be confirmed by an ultrasound
scan of the abdomen, laparoscopy or special x-
rays of the uterus.
The treatments available include a
hysterectomy to completely remove the uterus, or
if the woman wishes to have more children, the
individual fibroids can be removed from the uterus.
See also UTERUS
FLUSH, ABNORMAL
A flush is a brief episode of facial redness and warmth.
Many people have a facial flush (redness and hot feeling) when they are embarrassed, and this is a completely
normal characteristic, particularly in women with fine skin. Abnormal flushes may occur occasionally, or may be almost
constant.
The menopause is a very common cause of sudden, unexpected flushing when sex hormone levels surge instead
of being released at in a very slowly varying pattern. The woman usually feels the flush far more than others can see it
as the skin in women of this age has usually thickened somewhat over the years, particularly if they live in a sunny
climate.
Sex hormone treatment can also cause abnormal flushing, particularly if the dosage is incorrect.
Excessive indulgence in alcohol can cause obvious flushing that may persist for several hours after over imbibing.
Repeated excessive use of alcohol can result in liver and blood vessel damage that causes a persistent red face that is
not specifically flushing.
A fever of almost any cause can cause flushing that lasts for hours or days.
Other causes of flushing may include an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism), a severe allergy reaction
(anaphylaxis), Cushing syndrome (caused by over production in the body, or over use, of cortisone),
phaeochromocytoma (tumour of the adrenal glands that causes very high blood pressure), Pepper syndrome (a cancer
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