I will explain the diseases and disorders that should be noted during menopause. Poor health during menopause is affected by a rapid decrease in the secretion of female hormones. The cause is that the function called “feedback” that regulates the secretion of female hormones does not work well.
Table of contents
- Female hormones are secreted by the brain
- Lack of female hormones causes chaos in the body
- The autonomic nervous system is involved in the symptoms of menopause
- Diseases to watch out for during menopause and how to deal with them
Female hormones are secreted by the brain
Menopause causes a variety of physical and mental health problems due to the decrease in estrogen secretion that accompanies aging.
What happens in the body when estrogen levels drop? To understand this, let’s first explain how female hormones are secreted.
Estrogen, a female hormone, is secreted from follicles in the ovary, but the part of the brain that issues the order is the hypothalamus. First, GnRH (gonadotropin) is released from here, which stimulates the secretion of FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) from the pituitary gland.
In the ovary, follicles grow due to the action of FSH, and a large amount of estrogen is secreted along with it. Then, by positive feedback, LH acts as an accelerator, and LH (luteinizing hormone) explodes the follicle. This is ovulation.
After ovulation, LH transforms the follicle into a corpus luteum, which secretes progesterone. After this, about two types of progesterone are secreted to wait for pregnancy.
It’s a little complicated, but in this way, the secretion of female hormones is related to the “exchange (feedback) between the brain and ovarian hormones.” In a nutshell, the brain and ovaries are always connected and moving.
Lack of female hormones causes chaos in the body
During menopause, even if the brain sends commands to encourage the secretion of female hormones, there are few follicles that respond to FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) in the ovaries, and almost no estrogen is secreted.
Then, the stimulation system (FSH and LH) of the brain becomes markedly excited, and the related functions of the autonomic nervous system and the emotional system are disturbed.
At an age when enough follicles remain, estrogen is secreted in response to FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), and when the information is transmitted to the brain, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland say, “You don’t have to secrete it anymore.” Information is received and adjustments are made so that FSH and LH are no longer secreted.
This process is called “feedback”. In other words, if a sufficient amount of female hormones is secreted, feedback will no longer give instructions to encourage secretion.
However, during menopause, even if there is a command from the brain, there are no follicles that respond to it, so estrogen is not secreted. Then, the hypothalamus sends a command to the pituitary gland to release a large amount of FSH and LH to stimulate the ovaries, as if prompting the brain to say, “Why aren’t you secreting more? Please secrete more!”
However, the ovaries no longer have follicles and are no longer capable of secreting female hormones. In this way, the feedback system that is supposed to regulate the secretion of female hormones goes out of control and disrupts all the regulation systems in the body.
The autonomic nervous system is involved in the symptoms of menopause
Despite the fact that the ovaries can no longer secrete female hormones, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain issue orders to secrete them one after another.
Then the autonomic nervous system is affected. The reason is that the hypothalamus also contains the center of the autonomic nervous system.
The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in regulating the functions of the whole body, such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, contraction and dilation of blood vessels, and internal organs. It is also closely linked with the cerebral limbic system, which controls emotions and emotions.
In other words, the excessive stimulation that promotes the secretion of female hormones affects the autonomic nerves, which are also controlled by the hypothalamus. As a result, various disorders appear throughout the body.
Symptoms of menopause include hot flashes (hot flashes and excessive sweating), palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches, and chills, all of which are autonomic imbalance symptoms.
In addition, female hormones, especially estrogen, act on the whole body, including the brain, blood vessels, liver, bones, skin, and mucous membranes, and play a role in protecting the elasticity and moisture of cells, as well as maintaining immune function. It will be lost after menopause.
Diseases to watch out for during menopause and how to deal with them
Before menopause, the hypothalamus, which is the command center of hormone secretion, also controls the functions of the autonomic nerves and immunity, so hormones, autonomic nerves, and immunity work in a well-balanced manner, and women’s beauty and health have been protected.
However, as explained so far, when estrogen is not secreted and the brain is unable to control hormones, other functions, including the autonomic nervous system, are dragged down and weakened.
Whether or not the menopausal symptoms caused by this process are severe enough to be called a “disability” varies from person to person.
It is not only a genetic influence, but also a person’s susceptibility to hormonal changes, physical factors such as health condition and health care, mental factors such as attitudes and values, and social and environmental factors such as work and private life situations. because it will be relevant.
Menopausal symptoms are not the only physical and mental disorders that appear as a result of a decrease in female hormone secretion due to aging. Let’s remember the diseases that are likely to occur after menopause and their timing.
1 Irregular menstruation/hypermenorrhea
……After 40s to menopause
2 Menopausal symptoms
(hot flashes, sweating, palpitations, headaches, stiff shoulders, joint pain, depression, irritation, lightheadedness, fatigue, insomnia, etc.)
3 Female hormone deficiency symptoms
(vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, vulvar pain, itchy skin, dry eyes, dry mouth, urinary incontinence, frequent urination, etc.)
4 Diseases that are likely to develop due to a decrease in female hormones
(arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, dementia, autonomic imbalance, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, hypertension, hyperlipidemia・Cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, Hashimoto’s disease, atrophic vaginitis, etc.)
…from before and after menopause
In the case of 3 female hormone deficiency symptoms and 4 female hormone deficiency diseases, many people are not aware of the symptoms at first.
By all means, I would like you to undergo health checkups for women, such as cancer tests specific to women, measurement of hormone levels, measurement of bone density, and blood tests to detect autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease, rheumatism, and connective tissue disease.
By knowing your condition, you can face the disease at an early stage. If you think it’s menopausal symptoms, be careful because you may have been sick.
Low-dose pills for premenopausal women, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for premenopausal and postmenopausal women can be used as a means of stabilizing the autonomic nervous system and immunity by successfully compensating for and controlling decreased hormones.
And let’s take in Chinese medicine that can compensate for the weaknesses of the body and expect overall improvement, and supplements that support the disorder.
There are many other ways to deal with it, such as counseling, exercise, and aromatherapy.
Menopause is one opportunity to face your health. Let’s brighten up our lives by knowing our condition correctly, coping with it, and realizing what we want to be.
