Less Estrogen To Blame For Older Men's Lower libido

Men of America, are you feeling less than maximally macho?
Don't blame testosterone.
Your real problem may be lack of estrogen.

That's right, estrogen — the so-called "female" hormone that produces women's secondary sexual characteristics, such as curvy hips and breasts.

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Estrogen may influence location of women's fat

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Hormone replacement therapy (menopause)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in menopause is medical treatment in surgically menopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

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Reasons Your Period Might Be Late (Besides Pregnancy

You were expecting your monthly visitor, your Aunt Flo, your little friend, or whatever you like to call her, but she hasn’t arrived. 

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Estrogen & Menopause

When women were introduced to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT or HT), a light beamed at the end of the menopausal tunnel and everything great that went with it.

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Women Tolerate Pain Better than Men

She gets a tooth pulled, then drives herself home, makes dinner for four, does the laundry and helps the kids with their homework.

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Menopause

What Is Menopause?

The menopause marks the time in a woman's life when her menstruation stops and she is no longer fertile (able to become pregnant).

The menopause is a normal part of like - it is a milestone, just like puberty - it is not a disease or a condition. Even though it is the time of the woman's last period, symptoms may begin many years earlier. Some women may experience symptoms for months or years afterwards.

Symptoms of menopause and peri-menopause?

Experts say that technically, the menopause is confirmed when a woman has not had a menstrual period for one year. However, the symptoms and signs of menopause generally appear well before that one-year period is over. They may include:

• Irregular periods - this is usually the first symptom; menstrual pattern changes. Some women may experience a period every two to three weeks, while others will not have one for months at a time.


• Lower fertility - during the peri-menopausal stage of a woman's life, her estrogen levels will drop significantly, lowering her chances of becoming pregnant.


• Vaginal dryness - this may be accompanied by itching and/or discomfort. It tends to happen during the peri-menopause. Some women may experience dyspareunia (pain during sex). The term vaginal atrophy refers to an inflammation of the vagina as a result of the thinning and shrinking of the tissues, as well as decreased lubrication, caused by a lack of estrogen. 
•  Approximately 30% of women experience vaginal atrophy symptoms during the early post-menopausal period, while 47% do so during the later post-menopausal period. There are cases of women who experience vaginal atrophy more than a decade after their final period.
  



• Hot flashes (UK term: hot flushes) - a sudden feeling of heat in the upper body. It may start in the face, neck or chest, and then spreads upwards or downwards (depending on where it started). The skin on the face, neck or chest may redden and become patchy, and the woman typically starts to sweat. The heart rate may suddenly increase (tachycardia), or it may become irregular or stronger than usual (palpitations). Hot flashes generally occur during the first year after a woman's final period.


• Night sweats - if the hot flashes happen in bed they are called night sweats. Most women say their hot flashes do not last more than a few minutes.


• Disturbed sleep - sleeping problems are generally caused by night sweats, but not always. Sleep disturbance may be caused by insomnia or anxiety. Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep increase as women go through menopause.


• Urinary problems - women tend to be more susceptible urinary tract infections, such as cystitis. Having to urinate may also occur more frequently.


• Moodiness - this often goes hand-in-hand with sleep disturbance. Experts say that most mood disturbances are triggered by poor sleep.


• Problems focusing and learning - Some women may also have short-term memory problems, as well as finding it hard to concentrate on something for long. Some women may not be able to learn as well shortly before menopause compared to other stages in life.


• More fat building up in the abdomen.


• Hair loss (thinning hair).


• Loss of breast size

If left untreated, these symptoms will usually taper off gradually over a period of two to five years. However, symptoms can persist for much longer. In some cases, vaginal dryness, itching and discomfort can become chronic, and eventually get worse if left untreated.

Causes of menopause and peri-menopause?

The hormones estrogen and progesterone regulate menstruation - more specifically, estrogen regulates menstruation while progesterone is more involved with preparing the body for pregnancy.

When the ovaries start producing less of these two hormones, the peri-menopause will start. In fact, by the time a woman is in her late 30s the ovaries start producing less progesterone and estrogen. By the time she is in her 40s, the post-ovulation spike in progesterone becomes less emphasized. A woman's fertility starts to decline a long time before she may notice any menopausal or peri-menopausal symptoms.

As time passes and the ovaries produce less and less estrogen and progesterone, the ovaries eventually shut down completely and the woman no longer has any more menstrual periods. The vast majority of females experience a gradual change in menstrual activity, while some go on normally until they suddenly stop.

Some women may experience premature menopause - their ovaries fail earlier than they are supposed to (before the age of 45). Ovarian failure can occur at any age - but very rarely - and often the doctor and patient will never find out why. Some who experience ovarian failure may still have periods and some degree of fertility for a while. Premature menopause may be caused by:

• Enzyme deficiencies


• Down's syndrome


• Turner's syndrome


• Addison's disease


• Hypothyroidism


• Removal of the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy surgery)


• Radiotherapy to the pelvic area


• Chemotherapy


• Hysterectomy surgery (the uterus - womb - is surgically removed)


• Some infections - such as mumps or TB (tuberculosis), malaria and varicella. However, in all cases risk of ovarian failure is extremely small.


• Genetic factors - scientists have been able to identify genetic factors that influence the age at which natural menopause occurs.


• Being a twin - twins are more likely to have a premature menopause.

How is menopause diagnosed?

A GP (general practitioner, primary care physician) should be able to diagnose menopause or peri-menopause if he knows the age of the patient, has information about her menstrual patterns, and receives feedback from her on her symptoms.

Apart from a blood test which can measure levels of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), there is no definitive test to diagnose menopause or peri-menopause. FSH blood levels rise when a woman is in the menopause. However, as FSH levels tend to fluctuate a lot during the menopause and peri-menopause, the test may provide a little data, and is not that helpful for a diagnosis. Under certain circumstance a doctor may order a blood test to determine the level of estradiol (estrogen). As hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) can cause menopause-like symptoms, a blood test to determine the woman's level of thyroid-stimulating hormone may be recommended.

Treatment options for menopause or peri-menopause?

Only about 10% of women seek medical advice during the menopause. Many women require no treatment. However, if symptoms are affecting the woman's daily life she should see her doctor. The kind of treatment the patient should have depends on her symptoms, her medical history, as well as her own preferences. Available treatments include:

• Hormone Replacement Therapy -this is very effective for many of the symptoms that occur during the menopause, including vaginal dryness, vaginal itching, vaginal discomfort, urinary problems, bone-density loss, hot flashes and night sweats. HRT tops up the woman's levels of estrogen. However, as with many treatments, HRT has its risks and benefits:
  
  
  Benefits of HRT
  
  
  • Effectively treats many troublesome menopausal symptoms.
  • Helps prevent osteoporosis.
  • Lowers colorectal cancer risk (cancer of the colon or rectum)
  
  
  Risks of HRT
  
  
  • Raises breast cancer risk
  • Raises ovary cancer risk
  • Raises uterine cancer risk (cancer of the womb)
  • Raises coronary heart disease risk
  • Raises stroke risk
  • HRT slightly accelerates loss of brain tissue in areas important for thinking and memory among women aged 65 and over.
  Older women who take hormone therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms may get the added benefit of reduced body fat if they are physically active.
  
  Hormone therapy in early menopaus
• estrogen-progesterone hormone replacement therapy, if initiated soon after the menopause, not only improves symptoms considerably, but also improves some cardiovascular risk factors and mood.


• Low-dose antidepressants - SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) have been shown to decrease menopausal hot flashes. Drugs include venlafaxine (Effexor), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), paroxetine (Paxil, others), citalopram (Celexa) and sertraline (Zoloft).


• Omega 3s - Researchers from the Universite Laval's Faculty of Medicine found that Omega-3s ease psychological distress and depressive symptoms often suffered by menopausal and peri-menopausal women.


• Gabapentin (Neurontin) - this medication is effective in treating hot flashes. It is commonly used for treating seizures (epilepsy).


• Clonidine (Catapres) - can be taken either orally as a pill or placed on the skin as a patch. It is effective in treating hot flashes. The drug is commonly used for treating high blood pressure (hypertension). However, unpleasant side-effects are common.


• Vaginal estrogen - may be applied locally using a tablet, ring or cream. This medication effectively treats vaginal dryness, discomfort during intercourse, as well as some urinary problems. A small amount of estrogen is released and absorbed by the vaginal tissue.


• Exercise - a study found that slow exercise is better for post-menopausal women than fast exercise.

Hypnosis effective for the treatment of hot flashes

Researchers reported in the journal Menopause, in October 2012, that hypnosis can reduce the symptoms of menopausal hot flashes by up to 74%. The investigators, from the school of Nursing at Indiana University, the College of Education at the University of Texas, Austin, and the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory at Baylor University, carried out a randomized, controlled study to determine what the effect of hypnosis might be.

The volunteers, all with symptoms of hot flashes, were assigned to one of two groups:

• The hypnotherapy group
• The structured attention group

Those in the hypnosis group had considerably fewer bouts of hot flashes and much milder symptoms, compared to the women in the structured attention group.

Complications

After the menopause it is common for the following chronic conditions to appear. Chronic, in medical English, means long-term, continuous (as opposed to "acute").

• Cardiovascular disease - a drop in estrogen levels often goes hand-in-hand with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is not exclusively a male problem, it is the main cause of death among both men and women. In order to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease a woman should quit smoking, try to keep her blood pressure within normal levels, do plenty of regular exercise, sleep at least 7 hours each night, and eat a well-balanced healthy diet.


• Osteoporosis - a woman may lose bone density rapidly during the first few years after menopause. The lower a person's bone density gets the higher their risk is of developing osteoporosis. The absolute risk of a second clinical fracture is highest in the five years after any first clinical fracture for post-menopausal women.


• Urinary incontinence - the menopause causes the tissues of the vagina and urethra to lose their elasticity, which can result in frequent, sudden, strong urges to urinate, followed by urge incontinence (involuntary loss of urine). Stress incontinence may also become a problem - urinating involuntarily after coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting something, or suddenly jerking the body as may happen when we temporarily lose our balance.


• Low libido - this is probably linked to disturbed sleep, depression symptoms, and night sweats, a study found.


• Overweight/obesity - during the menopausal transition women are much more susceptible to weight gain. Experts say women may need to consume about 200 to 400 fewer calories each day just to prevent weight gain - or burn of that number of calories each day with extra exercise. The chances of becoming obese rises significantly after the menopause.


• Breast cancer - women are at a higher risk of breast cancer after the menopause. Regular exercise after menopause significantly reduces breast cancer risk.

Self Assistance

Unless your symptoms are severe, you may find that some changes in your lifestyle and diet are all you need to deal with the symptoms.

• Hot flashes and night sweats
  
  
  • Do plenty of exercise.
  • Avoid wearing tight clothing.
  • Make sure the bedroom is not hot.
  • Try to reduce your levels of stress.
  • Remember the following commonly trigger symptoms for susceptible people: spicy food, caffeine, smoking, and alcohol.


• Sleep disturbance
  
  
  • Exercise regularly. However, do not exercise too late during the day. Exercising too late may keep you awake longer.
  • Go to bed and get up at the same time each day - even during weekends.
  • Cut out all drinks and foods that contain caffeine.
  • Learn how to do deep breathing, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation.


• Moodiness
  
  
  • Make sure you do not get tired - get plenty of rest.
  • Do regular exercise. If you can, do strenuous exercise - check with your doctor whether this is OK for you.
  • Practice yoga. Make sure you have a well qualified trainer.


• Vaginal discomfort and dryness
  
  
  • Get some OTC (over the counter) water-based vaginal lubricants or moisturizers.
  • Stay sexually active.
• Urinary incontinence
  
  Practice pelvic floor muscle exercises - Kegel exercises. If you practice three or four times a day you will most probably notice a difference after a few weeks. This review of studies explains that women suffering from urinary incontinence can benefit from pelvic floor muscle training.

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Is the Male Menopause Myth or Reality?

When men reach their late forties to early fifties, some may experience a reduction in libido (sex drive), erectile dysfunction, weight gain, fatigue, depression, and other emotional symptoms which bear some similarities to the female menopause.

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Causes and Effects of Fibroid

What Are Uterine Fibroid Tumors

Uterine fibroid tumors are almost always benign. These benign (non-cancerous) tumors are found in most cases, in the uterus of women in their 30's and 40's.

Fibroid tumors are solid tumors which are made of fibrous tissue, hence the name 'fibroid' tumor. Most often fibroids occur as multiple tumor masses which are slow-growing and often cause no symptoms.

The size of fibroids varies immensely among women and some are so small that a microscope is required to see them.

However some women experience a single large fibroid tumor the size of a grapefruit or a fibroid which is so large it encompasses the entire abdominal area.

Such large tumors can weigh as much as 50 pounds; the largest, reported, fibroid ever recorded weighed in at 140 pounds.

No one is sure why fibroid tumors develop, but some facts seem clear:

• fibroid tumors do not develop before the body begins producing estrogen during the onset of menstruation
• fibroid tumors will continue to grow while estrogen is present
• they will grow very quickly during pregnancy when the body is producing extra estrogen
• the tumors often shrink and disappear after menopause when the body stops producing estrogen
• a woman will almost never develop fibroid tumors after menopause.

The estrogen connection appears to be quite clear, although there are still some who doubt the role estrogen plays in the development of fibroid tumors because women with fibroids often have blood levels which reveal normal amounts of estrogen.

Types of Fibroid Tumors

Submucous Fibroids
 
These fibroids occur just below the lining of the uterus and can cause menstrual problems, including pain as they grow and move around the pelvic area.

Intramural Fibroids
 
A round fibroid most often within the uterine wall which can cause enlargement of the uterus as they grow.

Subserous Fibroids
 
This fibroid grows on the outer wall of the uterus and usually causes no symptoms until it grows large enough to interfere with other organs.

Pedunculated Fibroids
 
These fibroids develop when a subserous fibroid grows a peduncle (stalk), as they grow larger they may become twisted and cause severe pain.

Interligamentous Fibroid
 
A fibroid which grows sideways between the ligaments which support the uterus in the abdominal region. This type of fibroid is especially difficult to remove without the possibility of interfering with the blood supply or other organs.

Parasitic Fibroid
 
The rarest form of fibroid tumor occurs when a fibroid attaches itself to another organ.

Diagnosis of Fibroid Tumors

Diagnosis of fibroids is generally made by your physician during your annual gynecological exam when your physician feels a mass, they often are found when your physician is looking for something else or may never be discovered if you do not experience symptoms.

However larger fibroids may make examination of your ovaries impossible if they grow near your ovaries.

An ultrasound scan is often ordered when such masses are felt by your physician to determine the cause of the mass, however some fibroids appear on sonograms as ovarian tumors and surgery is the only way an accurate diagnosis can be made.

Although most fibroids cause no symptoms, the estimated 25 percent of women who do have symptoms may have abnormal bleeding, pain during menstruation, and as the fibroid tumors grow larger, women will often experience a swollen abdomen.

Larger fibroids may cause frequent urination or an inability to control your bladder, either the ability to control the urge or in severe cases, a women may find that she is unable to urinate at all. If a fibroid extends towards a woman's back it may push on the bowels, causing constipation and a backache.

Treatment of Fibroids

If your fibroid tumors are severe enough that they cause certain symptoms, surgery is often, the recommended treatment.

However, before you consent to hysterectomy, learn about your treatment options. Symptoms which justify surgery include: extremely heavy bleeding during your menstrual cycle, which causes anemia that does not respond to treatment; pain, which has become intolerable to the woman or discomfort caused by the pressure of the fibroids on another organ; or when the location of the tumors is likely to cause further problems.

Surgery for fibroid tumors includes, myomectomy and hysterectomy. Myomectomy is the surgical removal of each individual tumor without damage to the uterus, preserving a woman's ability to conceive.

However, fibroids will often grow back and although it is possible to have a myomectomy repeated, multiple myomectomies can cause other problems such as the walls of the uterus sticking together due to scarring.

Women should also consider uterine artery embalization. Uterine artery embalization leaves the uterus intact in a non-surgical procedure.

Polyvinyl particles are placed into the uterine artery at a point just before the nexis of vessels spread out into the uterine tissue.

The particles flow into the vessels and clog them. This prevents the fibroids from receiving the constant blood supply they require and causes the fibroids shrink overtime.

However, almost immediately the symptoms of heavy bleeding and pelvic pain are significantly reduced.

The sad fact is that because fibroids do grow back, most women will eventually have to face a hysterectomy. Removing the uterus is the only permanent way to effectively relieve most women of fibroids.

Hysterectomy is, most often, the procedure of choice for fibroid tumors when a women with severe symptoms, has completed her family and her uterus has grown to the size of a uterus at twelve weeks of pregnancy; a women has excessively large fibroid tumors; severe abnormal bleeding occurs; or when the fibroids are causing problems with other organs such as the bladder and bowels.

Science is starting to evaluate other options for treating fibroids, including the use of Lupron which may be beneficial for those who want to become pregnant or for women approaching menopause when fibroids often shrink naturally. Lupron shrinks fibroids in most women with continued use, but one drawback is that the fibroids will quickly grow back once treatment is stopped.

If you have fibroid tumors, investigate your options before deciding what treatment you want to try. There are many alternatives to hysterectomy currently available, and science is creating more options for women everyday.

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How Does Menopause Affect Sexual Life?

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The Ugly Side Of Breast Cancer

History of Breast Cancer and Bras

Breast cancer is an ancient disease, and in the days before X-rays, appropriate surgeries, and other modern treatments was both well known and fatal.

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Estrogen Levels Unrelated To Mood Change

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Study Links Milk-Producing Protein to Aggressive Breast Cancer

The discovery that a protein that triggers milk production in women may also be responsible for making breast cancers aggressive could open up new opportunities for treatment of the most common and deadliest form of cancer among women.

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Women With Diabetes Can Control Vaginal Health - Mache Seibel, M.D.

Approximately over 10.0 million women globally suffers from diabetes and almost over 50 million adults with prediabetes, most of the women are experiencing unconfortable

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Obesity Associated With Increased Risk of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Scientists from the Women’s Health Initiative have found a relationship between obesity, physical activity and triple-negative breast cancer, a subtype of breast cancer characterized by a lack of estrogen, progesterone and HER2 expression.

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Top Cancer Fighting Foods

1. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are an excellent dietary source of lycopene, a phytochemical molecule known as a carotenoid, which is responsible for the vibrant red, orange and yellow colours of a lot of vegetables and fruits.

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The Risk factors for breast cancer

Risk factors of breast cancer may be divided into preventable and non preventable. Their study belongs in the field of epidemiology.

Breast cancer, like other forms of cancer, can result from multiple environmental and hereditary risk factors. The term environmental, as used by cancer researchers, means any risk factor that is not genetically inherited.

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Controls of Menstrual Cycle

Menstrual Cycle

What is a menstrual cycle?

The menstrual cycle is the series of changes a woman's body goes through to prepare for a pregnancy. About once a month, the uterus grows a new lining to get ready for a fertilized egg. When there is no fertilized egg to start a pregnancy, the uterus sheds its lining. This is the monthly menstrual bleeding that women have from their early teen years until menopause, around age 50.

The menstrual cycle is from Day 1 of bleeding to Day 1 of the next time of bleeding. Although the average cycle is 28 days, it is normal to have a cycle that is shorter or longer.

Girls usually start having menstrual periods between the ages of 11 and 14. Women usually start to have fewer periods between ages 39 and 51. Women in their 40s and teens may have cycles that are longer or change a lot. If you are a teen, your cycles should even out with time. If you are nearing menopause, your cycles will probably get longer and then will stop.

Talk to your doctor if you notice any big change in your cycle. It’s especially important to check with your doctor if you have three or more menstrual periods that last longer than 7 days or are very heavy. Also call if you have bleeding between your periods or pelvic pain that is not from your period.

Controls of menstrual cycle?

Your hormones control your menstrual cycle. During each cycle, your brain's hypothalamus and pituitary gland send hormone signals back and forth with your ovaries. These signals get the ovaries and uterus ready for a pregnancy.
The hormones estrogen and progesterone play the biggest roles in how the uterus changes during each cycle.

• Estrogen builds up the lining of the uterus.
• Progesterone increases after an ovary releases an egg (ovulation) at the middle of the cycle. This helps the estrogen keep the lining thick and ready for a fertilized egg.
• A drop in progesterone (along with estrogen) causes the lining to break down. This is when your period starts.

A change in hormone levels can affect your cycle or fertility. For example, teens tend to have low or changing progesterone levels. This is also true for women close to menopause. That is why teens and women in their 40s may have heavy menstrual bleeding and cycles that change in length.
Other things can change your cycle. They include birth control pills, low body fat, losing a lot of weight, or being overweight. Stress or very hard exercise also can change your cycle. Pregnancy is the most common cause of a missed period.

Common symptoms to menstrual cycle?

Some women have no pain or other problems. But other women have symptoms before and during their periods.
For about a week before a period, many women have some premenstrual symptoms. You may feel more tense or angry. You may gain water weight and feel bloated. Your breasts may feel tender. You may get acne. You also may have less energy than usual. A day or two before your period, you may start having pain (cramps) in your belly, back, or legs. These symptoms go away during the first days of a period.

When your ovary releases an egg in the middle of your cycle, you may have pain in your lower belly. You also might have red spotting for less than a day. Both are normal.

How can women take care of bleeding and symptoms?

You can use pads or tampons to manage bleeding. Whichever you use, be sure to change the pad or tampon at least every 4 to 6 hours during the day. Pads may be best at night.

Many women can improve their symptoms by getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet. It also may help to limit alcohol and caffeine. Try to reduce stress.

A heating pad, hot water bottle, or warm bath also can help with cramps. You can take an over-the-counter medicine such as ibuprofen or naproxen before and during your period to reduce pain and bleeding.

 

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Symptoms At 11 Weeks Pregnancy

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