What are the symptoms of menopausal syndrome?

Menopause is actually what we often call the menopausal period. Usually women will experience menopausal symptoms before and after menopause. This is a transitional period. If women can smoothly get through this period, their physical and mental health will be greatly improved. However, most women will have family problems during this period, and even divorce may occur. This is mainly because their emotions are particularly irritable during menopause.

(I) Vasomotor syndrome: The incidence rate is 75-85% within 1 to 5 years after menopause and 76% within 1 to 6 weeks after bilateral oophorectomy in women under 25 years of age.

Vasomotor syndrome refers to a syndrome characterized by paroxysmal hot flashes, spontaneous sweating and palpitations caused by estrogen deficiency and autonomic dysfunction. The hot flashes first start on the face, neck, and anterior chest, and then spread to the lower abdomen, trunk and limbs. The skin blood vessels dilate, and the patches are red and congested. The temperature rises, accompanied by headaches, dizziness, palpitations, irritability, and dry mouth. To dissipate heat, patients often undress, expose their arms, open windows, fan themselves, or go outdoors to drive away the heat. The hot flashes last for 3 to 4 minutes and are followed by sweating, vasoconstriction, and the body temperature returns to normal and ends. The attack cycle is 54±10 minutes. When the attack occurs at night, the patient often wakes up suddenly from a dream, sweating profusely, soaking the clothes and quilts, accompanied by insomnia and anxiety. The next day, the patient is confused and forgetful, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness and other discomforts.

Mechanism of hot flashes: ① GnRH neurons in the preoptic area of ​​the hypothalamus have direct synaptic and neural connections with adjacent thermoregulatory neurons (Thermoregulatory neurons), so changes in GnRH neuron function will affect the latter; ② Postmenopausal estrogen deficiency feedback causes increased norepinephrine activity, thereby stimulating the release of GnRH activity through neural connections, causing the activation of the heat dissipation mechanism (heateoss mechanism). Hot flashes are related to GnRH fluctuations and norepinephrine activity fluctuations; ③ Dopamine and β-endorphin activity in the central nervous system and hypothalamus is reduced.

2. Aging diseases of various organ systems

1. Degeneration of sexual characteristics and atrophy of genitals: dry vulva, loss of pubic hair, white lesions, vulva itching, secondary infection, sexual dysfunction, bladder, rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse, etc. Some women develop masculinization symptoms such as hirsutism, seborrheic dermatitis, and acne.

2. Breast atrophy, sagging, and hypopigmentation of the nipple and areola: the breast firmness decreases and the tissue becomes soft and sagging.

3. Skin and mucous membranes: dry, wrinkled, hair loss, pigmentation and age spots, prone to skin diseases, dry mouth, pharyngitis and hoarseness.

4. Cardiovascular system: including hypertension, arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. The incidence of embolic diseases increases with age after menopause. The incidence of coronary heart disease in women aged ≤55 years is 5 to 8 times lower than that in men of the same age.

In fact, the main manifestation of menopausal syndrome is that your skin will undergo some changes. You will not feel that your skin is as fair as before. You will feel some wrinkles on your skin, and even the color of your skin will become darker than before. If you are not careful, it is very easy to develop some skin diseases, and your voice will become hoarser than before.