Well, there is no exact way to determine when a woman will hit menopause. But looking at her family history is a good way of ascertaining the approximate age. Usually however, most healthy women menopause between her late 40s to her late 50s. But a lot of lifestyle factors are responsible for women menopausing before reaching the appropriate age. You might wonder what difference does it make if you reach menopause earlier on. But there is a lot more to early menopause than just your ovaries stopping the release of an egg every month.
Early menopause comes with a complete set of health risks later in life. These are heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, osteoporosis, among a battery of serious heath issues. You need to be mindful of the factors that cause early menopause.
To ensure you do not touch menopause too early, every woman needs to be wary of these six extremely important factors.
1. You are too skinny from dieting
While it is not good to be overweight, it does you no good to be underweight either. Do you suffer anorexia, bulimia and have lost a lot of body weight? Be sure your ovaries will wear off before time. In fact, experts believe that more than the ovaries, it is the hypothalamus that burns out.
If you are extremely thin, you need to see your doctor to get on with hypothalamus extract injections. This will help stabilise your body weight. Further leading to healthy and regular ovulation. Sometimes eating disorder might signal the early onset of menopause. And your body being underweight can be an indicator of that. An ideal Body Mass Index or BMI ranges between 18.5 and 24.9.
2. You take stress very easily
Stress is among the habits that cause early menopause. You either have a very stressful job, and have been doing it for years. Or it is as a result of economic conditions. But stress in any form is harmful for a woman’s ovaries as it wears them out very early. In general, stress weakens your immune system. It also puts you at the risk of high blood sugar, cholesterol, sleeplessness and even obesity. All this eventually affect ovary health, and you hit very early menopause.
Image: WHO
3. You drink regularly
This is one of the worst habits that cause early menopause. Women with drinking problem also suffer irregular periods. Chronic drinking is associated with irregular periods. This means you are not regularly ovulating. All this eventually leads to sudden menopause, way ahead of her years.
Drinking curbs the supply of healthy proteins, vitamins and fibre to the body. This can be extremely damaging to the ovaries. It can also lead to eating disorders. Other than of course liver problem and even malnutrition. This is a message even to those women who are social drinkers. You should keep a tab on the number of drinks you are knocking back.
4. You are a smoker
Smoking, both active and passive, damage the ovarian follicles. This leads to hitting menopause about a couple of years ahead of non-smokers. This is if you have been smoking for over 10 years. It matters even if you are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. In the long run, women who do not smoke go on to menopause not before their 50s. Such women are at a lesser risk of stroke or heart disease. It also affects your longevity.
5. Chemotherapy can bring in early menopause
Chemotherapy not only kills the cancer cells but can also damage the ovarian follicles, particularly if the woman is above 40. The procedure of chemotherapy has a bearing on your ovaries. It brings the process of ovulation to a grinding halt. While doctors believe that this condition is sometimes temporary, if the woman is under 40. However, chemo has an impact on your precious ovaries, only its degree varies according to your age.
6. You have had a surgery
A surgery can impact your ovaries if you have had a pelvic inflammatory disease. You might have to get your ovaries surgically removed because of this. However, if you have had a surgery to remove your uterus, your periods can stop. But it hasn’t been established if you immediately hit menopause. But an expert doctor can still advise you on this. You can through a surgery remove ovaries and still save a portion of it. This would further go on to produce the female sex and reproductive hormone estrogen. And still keep menopause away.
Do you relate to any of the mentioned factors that cause early menopause? Time you stopped right away to save your ovaries.
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