Menopause marks the time in a woman's life when the ovaries stop releasing eggs and produce less of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, leading to the cessation of the menstrual cycle. In addition to regulating reproductive cycles, estrogen also affects other areas of the body, including the brain, blood vessels, heart, breast, uterus, vagina, liver, bones, skin and gastrointestinal tract. A lack of estrogen and progesterone creates a hormone imbalance that can result in the symptoms of menopause.
Hot Flashes
The hypothalamus, a specialized area of the brain, regulates body temperature, hunger, moods, sex drive, sleep and thirst as described by MedLine Plus and the National Institutes of Health. Estrogen affects the hypothalamus, and a lack of estrogen causes confusion in this area of the brain. The confused hypothalamus triggers the body to cool itself, even when body temperature remains normal. This cascade of reactions causes the heart to beat faster, blood vessels to dilate and sweat glands to produce more sweat--producing a condition commonly known as a hot flash.
Approximately three out of four women in menopause experience hot flashes, according to MayoClinic.com. The hot flashes may last for a few seconds to several minutes and range from mild to severe. Although most women suffer from mild to moderate hot flashes and can ease them through lifestyle changes, severe hot flashes affect 10 to 15 percent of women and may require medical treatment, according to Breastcancer.org.
Night Sweats
Doctors refer to hot flashes that occur at night as night sweats. Night sweats make the patient sweat so much that their bed clothes and sheets may get drenched. Night sweats are often accompanied by feelings of anxiety or terror.
Vaginal Dryness
Estrogen helps keep the tissues in and around the vagina healthy. Vaginal tissue requires proper lubrication with fluids that seep out of the blood vessels in the vagina. Estrogen helps to maintain the fluid for lubrication, the acidity of the vagina and the elasticity of the vaginal tissue. A decrease in the level of estrogen in the body causes the vaginal tissue to become thin, less elastic and more fragile.
Vaginal dryness promotes an itching and stinging sensation and makes intercourse uncomfortable. Additional symptoms that accompany vaginal dryness include pain and bleeding during intercourse and urinary urgency or frequency. Doctors treat vaginal dryness with estrogen creams; however, these creams still allow synthetic estrogen into the bloodstream and can therefore result in side effects.
