Menopause Flashcards
how do you define menopause?
no menses for 12 consecutive months
what is the most commonly reported symptom of menopause?
abnormal uterine bleeding
- 90% of women
- HMB, or heavy menstrual bleeding, when cycles become closer together/more often and heavier
OR
- cycles becomes farther apart/less often and lighter
what is a complication of abnormal uterine bleeding?
- anemia 2/2 HMB
what are some diagnostics for abnormal uterine bleeding 2/2 menopause?
- pregnancy HCG
- STI testing
- hematological parameters (CBC, LFTs, coagulation profile)
- serum hormone levels (TSH, FSH, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHEAS)
1st line tx for AUB
medical management + hormonal management
medical:
- NSAIDs
- tranexamic acid
- desmopression (if underlying bleeding disorder)
hormonal:
- gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists
- oral progestogens
- contraceptive options (low-dose oral contraceptive pills, depot MPA, and levonorgestrel-releasing IUD
average age of menopause?
50, means women will start noticing hormonal effects in their 40s
most common cause of irregular menses
anovulation - in menopause, women move to permanent anovulation
some other commom s/s of menopause
- vasomotor sx (hot flashes + night sweats)
- genitourinary changes (vulvovaginal atrophy)
- CNS changes (depression, sleep disturbance, decrease in sexual activity)
what are some characteristics of menopausal estrogen supplementation?
- look like low dose birth control because they have progesterone to prevent uninhibited estrogen effect at the endometrium (to prevent endometrial cancer)
- given for a little thermoregulation - not as high dose because not trying to shut down the whole FSH/LH/ovarian system like with birth control
contraindications for estrogen supplementation
- clotting disorders
- uncontrolled HTN
- cardiac disease
- smoking
- highest risk of cardiac effect is within 1st year of estrogen supplementation*
do hormones cause breast cancer?
no, except families with BRCA gene or early FH breast cancer
pathophysiology of endometrial cancer
proliferation of endometrial tissue from uninhibited estrogen effect at endometrium
risk factors for endometrial cancer
- never had kids
- never breastfed
- never birth control
how do we reduce the risk of endometrial cancer
putting on birth control or Mirena IUD
s/s endometrial cancer
AUB