Analyzing The Research Topic Menopause, Background Information (Research Paper Sample)

Menopause
(Author’s name)
(Institutional Affiliation)
Menopause
Research problem
The aim of this study is to explore and discuss details of various aspects of the menopause period. These include the definition, epidemiology, physiology behind the process, cultural variations and various traditions and beliefs associated with the period (Alvis & S, 2013). In addition to that this research seeks to discuss early and short-term symptoms, late and long-term symptoms, both nonpharmacological and pharmacological interventions plus menopause relations to cancer (Alvis & S, 2013).
Background information
According to the International Menopause Society in 5th March 2018, at National Conference of the Indian Menopausal Society, the term menopause is elaborated as cessation or a period where menstrual periods stop following twelve consecutive months due to loss of female reproductive follicular activity of which there is the absence of both physiological and pathological cause (Tomkins, 2018). The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the physiology of menopause period to be divided into three major parts. These include peri-menopause, menopause and post-menopause (Nendaz, 2014).
Peri-menopause is the period prior to menopause transition begins which involves at least one year after menopause (Tomkins, 2018). This is the time where various aspects of hormonal, physical clinical characteristics and biological changes start to portray ("The Menopause Years", 2015). On the other hand, pre-menopause mostly refer to three to four years before menopause (Nendaz, 2014). During the whole process, various physiological changes occur. First, there is a decrease in ovarian functions that lead to irregular menstrual cycles. This leads to increase in poor feedback to the pituitary gland and hypothalamus as a result of a decrease in hormones productions (Tomkins, 2018). The progesterone levels fall bit by bit but estrogen levels fall drastically (Tomkins, 2018).
Due to these processes, the intervals between the menstrual cycles shorten as well as the follicular phases which increase the menstrual distribution distance as a result of long inter-menstrual intervals ("The Menopause Years", 2015). During the process of cessation, the gonadotrophins and steroid hormones change drastically although the production remains until the age of sixty-five years. Specifically, the estradiol hormones levels decreases and the follicle stimulating hormones increase (Nendaz, 2014). However, as the age goes by progesterone and estrogens ceases being produced but about half levels of aldosterone continues to be produced (Tomkins, 2018).
The menopause period has been drastically been related to various multicultural and traditional variations (Sievert, 2013). Differences in cultures have been the major issues affecting the menopause periods in terms of how the whole process is viewed (Sievert, 2013). Cultures that have negative attitudes towards menopause stage end up having more menopause symptoms being reported as compared to those who have positive attitudes and perceptions (Sievert, 2013). Some of the positive attitudes include physical exercises, appropriate diet, and proper medical care. A study by WHO in 2015 indicated that in the culture of The United States of America, women are supposed to be in menopause between the age of forty years and the age of fifty-five years (Sievert, 2013). In Japan and China, women are less likely to exhibit more symptoms as compared to African who more are likely to experience more hot flashes (Alvis & S, 2013). The study concluded that there is a big gap and a lot of variation when comparing different cultures and behaviors when it comes to menopause period (Alvis & S, 2013).
One of the major short-term symptoms of menopause especially at peri-menopause period is irregular bleeding (Freedman, 2014). The study indicated that most of the women experience irregular menses at a gap of one to ten years of length before the menopause. Most of these episodes of bleeding normally occur in more than twenty-one days for the heavy bleeding and the rest in two to ten days following periods of amenorrhea (Alvis & S, 2013).The other most common symptom is hot flashes (Alvis & S, 2013). Hot flashes have been reported to occur in about 75 percent of all women undergoing menopause. Various risk factors like smoking, lack of physical exercises, obesity, depressions, poor physical health, poor dieting, alcoholism, caffeine and climatic changes have been associated with hot flashes (Freedman, 2014). However, about 10 to 20 percent of women experiencing hot flashes have been caused by unknown origins (Alvis & S, 2013). Other symptoms include genitourinary symptoms mostly due to hormonal changes and depression due to psychological distress (Alvis & S, 2013).
The long-term symptoms affect the great percentage of women after menopause period. A study was done in 2002 by WHO indicated that about 7.7 million women develop osteoporosis due to menopause when they reach an age of around 50 year ("Menopause", 2012)s. The same study indicated that about 21.8 millions of women in the USA develop osteopenia of which the number was projected to increase by 10.5 million by the year 2020 ("Menopause", 2012). In Europe and other developed countries, most women die due to cardiovascular diseases when they grow old than men (Nendaz, 2014). What the physicians assume is that the delay in coronary diseases in women has been attributed due to the fact that estrogen has beneficial effects in the circulation before menopaus (Nendaz, 2014)e.
Management of women in menopause should go hand in hand with public health education, awareness and counseling ("Nonhormonal management of menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms", 2015). Psychological assurance has proved to bring better results other than pharmacological medications only. Other than that, the treatment and management should include a well-detailed health history especially menstrual history and review of systems ("Nonhormonal management of menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms", 2015). Most of the symptoms of bleeding and hot rashes are treated by estrogen since the symptoms are primarily brought by hormonal imbalances ("Menopause;Diagnosis and management", 2015). Behavioral techniques like physical exercises and proper diet have also demonstrated great progress ("Menopause;Diagnosis and management", 2015). Patient education on the aggravating factors like smoking, alcoholism and increase intake of caffeine have also led to better improvements ("Menopause;Diagnosis and management", 2015).
The gap in the Knowledge
Due to cultural variations, many misconceptions about the exact trend have been avoided. More research needs to be done to address the issue (Pines, 2013). The causes, specificity of trends and prognosis of treatment and management in various location, races and ethnic communities should be looked into to reduce the occurrence of various symptoms like hot rashes in African women ("Nonhormonal management of menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms", 2015). Other than that, public awareness and counseling of women and community at large should be put on the first level of management other than focusing too much on pharmacological interventions. There are various miscellaneous symptoms which have been associated with menopause period. Most of these symptoms occur in almost all w...