Does what you eat trigger early menopause?

Some women have certain conceptions built around menopause without any scientific backing. A probable reason for this could be because, to an extent, menopause is the least of the worries of many women; and as a result, most women are complacent about menopausal issues, until they slip into that period when they no longer understand their bodies’ reactions and begin to look for help.

While expressing their thoughts on the meaning of menopause, and the possible cause of early menopause, some women contacted believe that early menopause has a connection with what one eats. For some others, early menopause could be hereditary, and also that it causes some kind of disease.

According to Kate Akus, “menopause is a stage a woman will get and the period will stop. At that stage, you don’t need to expect any baby anymore. For me, it is gene. Maybe the person inherits it from the parents, maybe from the mother, the great grandmother. Another thing that causes early menopause is if a woman doesn’t give birth on time.”

Abigail Adeyemi a lawyer, stated that “what we’re eating may cause early menopause”, and further mentioned excessive use of drugs and the “lack of adequate exercise” to be other triggers of early menopause.

However, Ukah Marcel, a Consultant Gynaecologist, The Breast and Gynae Centre, a subsidiary of Reddington Hospital, put things in proper perspective.

“Menopause just means cessation of menses. And normally, if a woman fails to see her period for 12 consecutive months, it means that she has entered menopause. Every woman is born with a fixed number of eggs in her ovaries. So, as she grows older, the quantities of these eggs continue to reduce, and diminish.” He said.

Asked if what one eats could trigger menopause, Marcel said; “there are factors that trigger early menopause but not necessarily what you eat. Chromosomal abnormalities can trigger early menopause. People with special needs, those that have Down’s syndrome, especially the females, the eggs in their ovaries gets burnt out quite early, unlike somebody with a normal chromosome. For those kind of people, in their 20s or 30s, all their eggs would have burnt out. So that’s one factor that could cause early menopause.

“Another thing is, for those who have treatment for cancerous conditions and had to use either radiation therapy or some toxic drugs called chemotherapy for treatment; that could also affect the ovaries of the women and actually knock them off. And such people are prone to having early menopause. Then some other things that can contribute in hastening it include smoking. All these things have a way of affecting the system. So not necessarily what one eats.” Marcel told Women’s Hub.

He elucidated that “the average age at menopause is 52 years. However, after 45 years, some women will start having the signs of menopause. If a woman before age 40 starts having these signs, it is early or premature menopause.”

According to him, some of the early signs women approaching menopause may witness include the commonest, what is called hot flushes, where they feel warmth or heat envelope them even when the weather isn’t hot. They go through a sudden feeling of warmth or heat, and they could even start sweating even when others don’t feel hot. There could also be excessive night sweating. This explains why some women at some point in their lives prefer lying down on the floor because they want somewhere cool.

“Another thing is sexual dysfunction. Before menopause, with sexual arousal, there is a secretion of fluids that aid intercourse, but with menopause, there is this vaginal dryness because the ovaries are also involved in controlling this secretion and since they are no longer functional, there is a dryness of the vagina. So, sex could be painful.

“Other things they can also experience is issues with urination. Some will complain of going frequently to pass urine. Some will complain of not being able to hold urine. So, there could be frequent passage of urine, pain passing urine, an urgent need to pass urine. Other things include mood swings, depression, and anxiety, there could be issues between the spouses due to the difficulty in sexual relation,” Marcel explained.

Desmond Okon