Menopause, aging and depression in women

The article was consulted professionally by Specialist I Pham Thi Yen – Obstetrician and Gynecologist – Share99 Hai Phong International Health Hub.

Menopause is a natural process of aging. Entering the menopause, women face psychological changes and the risk of many diseases. Aging and depression are common problems, affecting the quality of life of menopausal women.

Menopause is a condition that no longer has permanent menopause and is no longer able to naturally produce, which is a normal biological phenomenon due to ovarian degeneration and female enderthormonal deterioration. Menopause is determined when the woman does not have menstruation for 12 months in a row. 50 years ago, the average life expectancy of women, even in developing countries was only about 50 years. Along with the development of economy and society, human life expectancy is increasing and the number of menchu women also increases. In 1990, there were an estimated 467 million menchusal women worldwide. It is predicted that by 2030, the number of menchu women worldwide will increase to 12 million. In the 1990s, nearly 25 million women entered menopause each year, but this number is expected to rise to 47 million by the 2020s.

The average natural menopause is about 45-55 years old, menopause before the age of 40 is considered early menopause, after 55 years is late menopause. In countries with developed economies, natural menopause averages about 51, while in developing countries, the average natural menopause is about 48 years old. In Vietnam, the average menopause age is 48.7 years, with a 47-52 year age.

Entering menopause , thewoman will face a psychological change and a high risk of disease due to estrogen deficiency, the effects of age, habitat,… Aging and depression are common problems, which greatly affect the quality of life of menopausal women. According to the General Statistics Office in 2010, the average life expectancy of Vietnamese women is 72.4 years. So after menopause, women will live another 25 years. Therefore, changes in women's bodies during this period such as aging, depression need to receive more attention from the community, understandings of this issue will help menopausal women have lifestyle adjustments, activities to reduce the effects of menopause on life , family members who understand the psychological changes of their mother, the wife will have better sympathy and support.

In menopause,cells age faster. With a deterioration of hormones and a decrease in the functioning of the muscles in the body, the common signs of aging in menopausal women are:

• Deteriorating appearance: Dry skin, wrinkles appear, sagging, melasma, age spots appear and grow quickly.
• Symptoms of vascular disorders such as hot luck and night sweats appear. Hot flushes are hot flushes accompanied by sweating, body heat, nervousness, anxiety, sometimes accompanied by chills. The heat lasts an average of 3-4 minutes. Night sweating is a hot breath that occurs at night and often interferes with sleep.
• Biological deterioration: female genital genitals such as the pussy, vagina, uterus, ovaries all degenerate. The vagina reduces oily secretion, is prone to inflammation, genital activity causes pain caused by dryness, thereby reducing libido, fear of sexual activity.
• The hormone estrogen plays an important role in the maintenance of the bladder and urethra's macromthees. Menopause estrogen depletion causes changes in these organs, women may experience urinary tract symptoms such as urinary folds, urinary difficulties, repeated urination, recurrent urinary tract infections,…
• Reduced bone density, increased bone consumption, calcium absorption increase the risk of osteoporosis, fragile bones due to trauma.

• Cardiovascular diseases increased by 2-4 times in meningausal women, which is the leading cause of death in women with menstruation. Before the age of 40, men were twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease as women had high estrogen levels. Estrogen helps maintain high HDL and low LDL levels thus helping to protect women from early manifestations of cardiovascular disease. Estrogen deficiency during menopause makes the ratio of cholesterols change in the opposite direction, facilitating the formation of atherosclerosis.

In addition, when women enter middle age, the digestive muscles reduce the secretation of taste and digestive enzymes. This deterioration leads to anorexia and inabsorption. The source of nutrition and energy provided to the body is impaired, the function of parts of the body is affected, weakened, the risk of infectious and chronic diseases increases, the aging process is further promoted.

The psychological disorders that menopause can experience are insomnia, changes in personality, irritability, anxiety, depression. Psychological variations are shown to varying degrees depending on the person. Depressive disorders account for about 20% of women of menopause. People with an unstable psychological history before menopause are at higher risk of depression after menopause.

Depression is a disease related to the patient's temperament, behavior, thinking, affection. The disease affects the way of eating, sleeping, living, as well as the way of thinking and seeing the person about everything around him. The disease can manifest it as a depressed mood for most days, can last 2 weeks or longer, no longer care, enjoy the activities that used to be favorites.

A study conducted in 2006 at Harvard University on 460 women around the age of menopause aged 36-45 years, had no previous diagnosis of depression. Research has explained that the rate of depression in women who go into menopause doubles compared to women who are still menstruating. Depression is especially associated with symptoms of vascular disorders such as hotness, night sweating. Sweating causes difficulty sleeping at night, during the day women will be tired, frustrated and lead to depressive symptoms. A study conducted in Taiwan in 2005 found that 42.1% of meninged women with sleep disorders and depression are intimatelyrelated to sleep disorders .

Another study conducted at The Du hospital showed an link between the rate of depression and some other factors as follows:

• Women around the menopause who have traumatic trauma associated with illness are 1.65 times more likely to be depressed than others.
• Women around menopause have work-related trauma, a 4.51 times higher risk of depression than others.
• Women around menopause without children are 2.75 times more likely to have depression than women with children.
• Women around the menopause who have traumatic trauma associated with family happiness are 3.74 times more likely to be depressed than others.

Aging and depression in menopausal women seriously affect quality of life. Menopause is a natural, iversible process, therefore adjusting lifestyle and activities to suit the change of the body is extremely necessary. Sleep is a very important part, sleep helps to air blood, restore health. Building a sleep-wake-up routine on time from a young age will help the brain's biological clock work effectively in old age. Scientific diet, reduce salt and fat, eat more fruits, greens, do not overeating and full before going to bed. Limit stimulants such as alcohol, beer, coffee, tobacco,… Practicing physical exercise regularly will help blood circulation, enhance the activity of the body system, mental comfort.

Currently, Share99 International Health Hub currently has a pre-menopausehealth consultation and examination package. When registering for the examination package, customers will be examined and consulted with a gynecologist; Perform tests to assess the state of hormones such as:

• Gynecology Examination
• Gynecologic examination, breast examination
• Ultrasound of the uterus, ovaries through the abdomen
• Taking the product as a cervical cell session – vagina
• Mammogram (2 sides)
• Osteoporosis measurement
• Perform other tests to detect pre-menopause conditions if available.

Dr Pham Thi Yen has 11 years of experience in examination and treatment in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Doctors with strengths and insights in:

• Examination and consultation of common pregnancies, pathology pregnancies, high-risk pregnancies
• Examination and treatment of gynecologic diseases: cervical inflammation, cervical glands
• Laparoscopic surgery of gynecological diseases : extra-uterine pregnancy, uterine tumor , ovarian tumor
• Surgery for breast tumors, vaginal, cervical tumors
• Obstetric surgery : pregnancy surgery, examination
• Treatment of female endormonal disorders of all ages: puberty, reproduction age; pre-menopause.

Recommended videos:

About Share99 Health System