Premature menopause
This is how women can tell whether they are affected
Younger women can also go through menopause.
© fizkes / Shutterstock.com
In Germany, a woman is on average 51 years old when the menopause sets in. But younger people can also be affected.
Women in their mid-40s have to expect menopause. If the ovaries cease to function before the age of 40, one speaks of “premature menopause” (climacteric praecox). Around one percent of women are according to the German Menopause Society affected by this – 0.3 percent are already in the menopause before the age of 35. But what is the cause of a premature onset and what is the expression of premature menopause? This is what women should know about it.
Menopause and menopause
Menopause is the time shortly before and after your last period, called menopause. On average, women in Germany are 51 years old when menopause occurs. Before the menstrual period ends, the ovaries produce fewer and fewer hormones during the menopause. Ovulation does not occur more often, periods are very irregular – until they stop completely. Once entered, this process cannot be stopped. “Menopause means: the egg supply in the ovaries has been used up,” explains gynecologist Dr. Katrin Schaudig in conversation with the “Apotheken Umschau”.
It is not exactly clear why some women go through menopause earlier. “In 70 percent of the cases we can’t find an explanation,” says Schaudig. Sometimes an autoimmune disease is to blame, in which the immune system is directed against its own egg cells. In rare cases, there is a genetic defect that explains the early decline in hormones.
This is how premature menopause manifests itself
As the German Menopause Society states, 40 to 88 percent of the onset of menopause is genetically determined. That means: Most affected women have had their mother or grandmother struggling with premature menopause. Doctors cannot predict the exact time of menopause. “Of course you can determine the hormonal situation of a woman and make statements about the egg supply in the ultrasound”, says the gynecologist Schaudig. However, no prognosis for the future can be derived from this.
However, there are symptoms that indicate premature menopause. Sleep disorders, missed periods, hot flashes and night sweats, among other things, can occur. Exhaustion and tiredness, vaginal dryness and decreased pleasure are also typical signs. Anyone who suffers from such symptoms and would like a first assessment, can use the menopause test from “Tena”.
Tests and therapies
To be on the safe side, women can do a hormone test with their doctor. Two values in the blood are important: If the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is increased and the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is very low, this indicates the onset of menopause. But this test should also be used with caution. “A test alone is never meaningful, the values can simply fluctuate too much for that,” said Professor Christoph Keck the “pharmacy look around”.
If it turns out that menopause has already begun, this is not the end of the world. There are therapies available to alleviate the symptoms. Hormone therapy is usually used in younger years. The aim is to replace the hormones that the body can no longer produce itself. Those who do not undergo therapy have an increased risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, dementia or Parkinson’s. Treatment usually lasts until normal menopausal age, informed the medical portal “MSD Manual”.
Premature menopause and the desire to have children
As long as women are menstruating, pregnancy is theoretically possible. Ovulation occurs during the menopause, as the ovaries only gradually cease to function properly. It can take months to years for the process to complete – which is why pregnancy is possible during this time. Only with the menopause, i.e. the last menstrual period, is the fertile phase finally over.
However, the likelihood of pregnancy per menstrual cycle, called Fecundability, decreases over the years. According to the German Menopause Society the probability for a 20-year-old is around 60 percent. For a 30-year-old, the uncertainty is only 30 percent, for a 40-year-old it is 1.2 percent. Nevertheless, as a precaution, women who do not want children should continue to use contraception during the menopause.
A German presenter struggled with menopause early on
There are stars who struggled with menopause at an early age – one of them is Sylvie Meis (43). “I came through menopause when I was 31,” the presenter told the magazine “Bunte” in July 2021. This was due to the medication she had to take because of her cancer. That is why “I went through menopause twelve years ago”. She’s already got the hot flashes behind her. “I can no longer get pregnant and I have respected this finality,” admitted the native of the Netherlands. The presenter was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2009.