Print This Page

Symptoms of Menopause Affect The Glands In The Brain

Some studies are beginning to challenge the notion that early symptoms of menopause begin in the ovaries. Unpleasant feelings of night sweats and hot flashes have always been attributed to menopause symptoms that start in the ovaries. Insightful research now suggests that the symptoms of menopause, at least in part, have their beginnings in the brain.

This new research shows that the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus lose their sensitivity to estrogen and as a result some women stop behaving normally. This comes from the December 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association as published by researchers at the New Jersey Medical School. The early symptoms of menopause may come from the brain.

The important conclusion is that the first signs of menopause symptoms don't come only from the ovary but also from the brain. This was the observation of professor of obstetrics and gynecology Laura Goldsmith at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Treating Early Signs of Menopause Symptoms

These findings may help doctors analyze and formulate the type of non-estrogen medications that have the most effective impact on women undergoing a menopausal transition. These methods could help reduce the symptoms of menopause as women enter this startling new phase of their lives. This is the view expressed by Dr. Gerson Weiss who is chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the New Jersey Medical School.

According to the North American Menopausal Society, menopause doesn't just begin when a woman stops menstruating. This must continue for as long as 12 months before she is considered menopausal. Perimenopause, or pre menopause symptoms, is that period in a woman's life just before menopause when her body is undergoing hormonal fluctuations. The common symptoms of perimenopause include vaginal dryness, irregular periods, hot flashes, mood swings, and trouble sleeping.

This comes from a study funded by the National Institutes of Health when they analyzed and studied women and their health as they showed early symptoms of menopause. The research was part of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). This particular research involved more than 3,300 women aged 42 to 52 at the start of the study.

Tests for hormone levels were conducted on a subset group of 840 women who provided daily urine samples. These samples were gathered over 50 days or for one full menstrual cycle, whichever came first. Researchers discovered that in this subgroup 160 women did not ovulate. Those women who did not ovulate were separated into three distinct groups according to their hormone levels.

One group had in increase in estrogen levels and then an appropriate surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) that should have caused ovulation. But it didn't. The most likely indicator, according to Weiss, was a problem within the ovary.

The second group showed a different response. Even though estrogen levels peaked, there was no corresponding surge in LH which, according to Weiss, should have been there because the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland should have reacted to the increase in estrogen levels.

The third group showed equivalent levels of estrogen early in their menstrual cycles, but there was no increase in estrogen levels later as happened with the first and second groups. The LH levels did not surge yet were higher throughout most of the cycle when compared to the other two groups. This group of women were most likely to report feelings of night sweats and hot flashes.

The Brain Does Not React To Symptoms Of Menopause

This was clear evidence, according to Weiss, that the brain does not respond to hormones. The tests suggested that the second and third groups showed decreased sensitivity to estrogen in the brain, but in different reactive ways.

Because of varied results, Goldsmith and the researchers hope to continue these studies. They are especially interested in learning how the first signs of menopause correlates into their findings. Researchers would like to see, for example, if women in the third group were already into a later stage of the menopausal process.

Conclusion About Symptoms of Menopause

Dr. Steven Goldstein who is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University School of Medicine agrees that menopause symptoms don't just come from the ovaries. That the brain has an independent role in this process.

It had been assumed that the pituitary gland always responded to decreased levels of estrogen. The new conclusion is that this is not necessarily true because of a reduced overall sensitivity to estrogen in both the pituitary and the hypothalamus.

The bottom line for women, according to Goldsmith, is that menopause symptoms do indeed create genuine biochemical changes in a woman's body. When researchers understand how those changes begin to happen, then they can come to true terms on how to deal with treatments.

The previous article is on Predicting Menopause Symptoms.

Other wiki resources: menopause symptoms, symptoms of menopause, signs of menopause, early menopause symptoms, pre menopause symptoms, health and menopause