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Calcitonin: a hormone produced by the parathyroid,
thyroid and thymus glands and responsible for increasing the
amount of calcium and phosphate deposited on bones.
Climacteric: it is a period of life around the
menopause which is characterised by the declining levels of
sex hormones. It include the premenopausal and the early postmenopausal
period.
Cardiovascular Disease: describes
a group of diseases related to the heart and arteries, including
coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension (high blood pressure),
and peripheral vascular disease (atherosclerosis or "hardening
of the arteries").
Constipation: stipsi.
Dysmenorrea: menstrual pain.
Dyspareunia: pain during sexual intercourse.
Dysuria: pain during urination.
Endometrium: the lining of the uterus shed with
each period.
Fluctuations in sexual desire (loss of libido):
for some women the loss is so great that they actually find
sex repulsive, in much the same way as they felt before puberty.
What hormones give, loss of hormones can take away. See also
vaginal atrophy.
FSH: Follicle Stimulating Hormone produced
by hypophysis.
Gonadotrophins: a collective term for follicle
stimulating hormone (FSH) and lutenising hormone (LH).
Hormone: a hormone is a substance that is produced
in one part of the body, passes into the bloodstream and is
carried to other distant organs or tissues where it acts to
modify their structure of function.
Hot Flushes: uncomfortable waves of heat (sudden
warm feeling, with blushing) that involve all the body's in
response to declining of estrogen levels. It's still unknown
why hot flashes last only a few months for some women, and persist
for years or never occur at all for others. During a hot flash,
which typically lasts from 1 to 5 minutes, the heart beats faster,
and blood vessels dilate causing a flush. Women may also sweat
or suffer a wave of anxiety.
HT: hormone therapy.
Incontinence: involuntary leaking of urine
such as when coughing or sneezing. It is correlated with the
decline of estrogens levels and reflects a general loss of smooth
muscle tone.
Induced Menopause: is a menopause due
to one of a number of medical interventions. Surgically removing
both ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) before natural menopause
causes surgical menopause. Induced menopause can also occur
if the ovaries are rendered inactive by pelvic radiation, chemotherapy,
or certain other drugs. Due to their abrupt loss of ovarian
hormones, women who experience induced menopause are more likely
to have a sudden onset of hot flashes and other menopause-related
disturbances such as a dry vagina. These women, as well as women
who experience early natural menopause (before age 40) or prolonged
time without menstrual periods due to excessive exercising or
dieting, may be at greater risk later in life for health problems
such as osteoporosis (thinning of bones) and heart disease since
they spend more years without the protective effect of estrogen.
A woman who has a hysterectomy (uterus removed but not the ovaries)
prior to experiencing natural menopause usually continues to
produce hormones and thus will not experience surgical menopause.
However, sometimes removal of the uterus may interrupt the blood
supply to the ovaries. In this unusual circumstance, a woman
may experience earlier menopause-related changes.
Mammography: mammography is a special type of
x-ray imaging used to create detailed images of the breast.
an x-ray of the breast.
Mastectomy: surgery to remove the breast.
Menarche: first menstruation.
Menopause: is a natural occurrence in a woman's
life that designates the end of fertility. Strictly speaking,
menopause is a woman's very last menstrual period. However,
it's also the transition period in a woman's life that begins
as her body starts to slow its production of estrogen. This
reduction in the amount of estrogen in the body can have wide
ranging effects from short-term symptoms such as hot flashes,
night sweats, and vaginal dryness, to an increased risk of osteoporosis.
Menopause results from the ovaries being depleted of their supply
of eggs, leading to a decrease in the production of the sex
hormones: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Most women
can tell if they are approaching menopause when their menstrual
periods start changing. "Perimenopause" and "the menopause transition"
are terms used to describe this time. Menopause is confirmed
when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive
months (and no other biologic or physiologic cause can be identified
for lack of periods). Until twelve consecutive months have passed
without a period, a midlife woman may still be able to get pregnant.
Osteoporosis (thinning of the bones): a disease
which causes bones to lose mass and become porous and brittle.
Frequently leads to fractured spine, wrists or hips in elderly
women.
Parity: number of pregnancy.
Postmenopausal blues, mood swings:
In the past, just about every emotional blip or bout of the
blues felt by women in their 40s or 50s was attributed to menopause.
Women can become irritable when hot flashes rob them of a good
night's sleep, but there is no correlation between menopause
and serious depression. Since depression affects one woman in
four at some point in life, however, persistent low moods should
never be ignored. Other symptoms of depression include insomnia
(or sleeping too much), loss of appetite (or eating too much),
and feeling helpless, hopeless or worthless. If you experience
these symptoms, be sure to talk to your health care provider.
Stress Incontinence: involontary loss
of urine due to an effort.
Stress / Urge Incontinence: involontary
loss of urine due to an effort and impossibility to delay the
urination.
Timing of Menopause: In the Western
world, the majority of women experience natural menopause on
average at about age 51, but it can occur as early as in a woman's
30s and, rarely, as late as in her 60s. Contrary to previous
opinion, there is no correlation between the time of a woman's
first period and her age at menopause. In addition, age at menopause
is not influenced by race, height, the number of children a
woman has had, or whether she took oral contraceptives for birth
control. However, cigarette smoking can influence the age of
menopause; smokers and even former smokers can reach menopause
two years earlier than nonsmokers.
Urge Incontinence: impossibility to delay
the urination.
Vaginal atrophy, Vaginal dryness:
a condition which causes the lining of the vagina to become
dry and lose its elasticity. Can also cause urinary tract infections.
Often results in painful intercourse.
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