The
menopause marks an important transition into the last third of a
woman's life. It gives the woman and her health professionals an
opportunity to review health risks, plan preventive activities, and
establish monitoring strategies. This is especially important in women
with diabetes because of the compounding menopausal cardiovascular risk
and those associated with diabetes. The importance of the menopause is
often not appreciated by women with diabetes, nor by their health
professionals, and opportunities to avoid future problems may be missed.
Menopause
is a natural process that women go through as the child-bearing years
come to an end and the ovaries cease to release eggs every month.
Menopause is usually defined as the point when periods stop. Menopause
is not an event, but a slow process, often lasting up to 10 years. It
starts during the age of 40s (sometime late 30s) and the average age
for most women to have their last period is 51, where the female sex
hormones hormones, estrogen and progesterone, begin to decline.
How
menopause affects diabetes As you approach menopause, ovaries gradually
stop producing the hormone estrogen and progesterone. Both of these
hormones affect insulin which is the hormone produced by the pancreas
that deliver glucose which is life sustaing to every cell in the body.
Increase
the blood sugar. This will be mostly during perimenopause where the
body may become more resistant to insulin and this causes blood sugar
level to rise.
Decrease
the blood sugar.
This will be during the time when you reach menopause. Where the levels
of estrogen and progesterone decline permanently. Where the body may
regain its sensitivity to insulin, which causes blood sugar levels to
fall.
The hormone fluctuations that characterize menopause may
wreak havoc on the hard-earned blood glucose control. With less
progesterone, there may be greater insulin sensitivity and with less
estrogen insulin resistance increases, and the lack of these hormones
can also cause other changes which can worsen diabetes complications.
For example, lowered estrogen levels increase the risks of
cardiovascular disease, which is already higher for people who have
diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Many symptoms are
attributed to
menopause, and the most common are hot flashes, disturbed sleep, night
sweats and the decreased ability to think clearly. Both menopause and
diabetes produce similar symptoms. Some mistake menopausal symptoms
such as hot flashes, moodiness etc as the symptoms of low blood sugar,
so that they incorrectly assume these symptoms are a result of low
blood sugar and start consuming unnecessary calories which in turn
raises the blood sugar and in advertently cause a surge in blood sugar
Tip!
Every woman, to some extent, will experience what you are going
through. True, not everyone has the same level of severity when it
comes to menopause and there are a variety of symptoms involved.
Because
of diabetes women experience stronger and more frequent episodes of low
blood sugar especially at night. This may affect their sleep, already
interrupted by menopause - associated with hot flashes and night
sweats. Such sleep deprivation causes fluctuations in blood sugar.
In
order to combat this women choose to take hormone replacement therapy
or HRT.These hormones (estrogen and progesterone) replace the hormones
that the body no longer make. But this will not be possible in the case
of women if she is a diabetic as these hormones affect the blood sugar.
But these doses with HRT are so low and they do not cause much effect.
In that case the diabetic medicine needs to be adjusted also .If the
woman is exposed to these hormones it has benefits like
Tip!
As women approach menopause their menstrual cycles begin to change and
start to become unpredictable. This unpredictability of their monthly
cycle is a sign of erratic ovulation.
Protect
the heart
Protect the bones from the loss of
calcium which can lead to
brittle bones.
Eliminate the symptoms such as hot
flashes (which are easy to
confuse with hypoglycemia) helps to sleep and think more easily.
Complications of Menopause
Majority of
women will experience this complication but the
intensity may vary within each women
Irregular
bleeding
Hot flushes
Vaginal
thinning and dryness
Osteoporosis
Heart
diseases
Menopause
is complete when you have not menstruated for 12 months. Women with
type 1 diabetes experience menopause earlier than average. Women with
type 2 diabetes may go through menopause later than average if they are
above a healthy weight, as estrogen levels do not decrease as rapidly
in women who are overweight.
This is one of the
major problems in
many women as they gain weight and become less active during this time,
which compounds blood glucose control difficulties. So it is vitally
important to plan a nutritious, low fat diet with calcium supplements
if needed and physical activity. As these measures will lower the risk
of cardiovascular disease by keeping the cholesterol level low and
protect the bones against the thinning of osteoporosis. Regular
exercise benefits the heart and bones, help to regulate weight,
contributes to a sense of overall well-being and improvement in mood.
Sedentary women are far more prone to coronary heart disease, obesity,
high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis. They also suffer from
chronic back pain, stiffness, insomnia, and irregularity. Depression is
also a problem. Therefore exercise plays an important and beneficial
role as it circumvent these problems and also achieve higher HDL
cholesterol levels.
Tip!
It was only after visiting my Doctor to talk about these frequent,
unexpected hypos I discovered I was starting the menopause (I was in my
late 40s, so it was rather unexpected, normally it doesn't occur until
early-to-mid 50s).
The Benefits of
regular exercise
• Increases circulation,
and improves the regulation of body
temperature.
• Improves weight control
by increasing basal metabolic rate
and lean body mass.
•
Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by strengthening the
circulatory system, lowering blood pressure and maintaining a healthier
blood cholesterol level.
• Increases
strength and range of movement.
•
Elevates your mood and controls stress.
•
Reduces the likelihood of osteoporosis.
Some
suggestions that may reduce the discomforts of menopause:
1.Eat
well balanced meals that forms the basis for managing
the diabetes
2.Cutting out caffeine which may help
to reduce hot flashes.
3.Consuming
more legumes and soy products which decreases the discomforts
associated with menopause as these foods contain phytoestrogen (plant
estrogen.
4.Last but not the least being physically
active may help to
increase energy levels and give you a mental lift.
Therefore
menopause is an important phase in women's life where she undergoes a
lot of physical changes. The body goes through changes that can affect
her social life, her feelings about herself, and functioning at work.
Till recently menopause was often surrounded by misconceptions and
myths, but it is a natural; step in the process of aging. So one should
accept menopause and age gracefully - for "As a white candle in a holy
place so is fine beauty of an aged face."
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