Menopausal Symptoms can be controlled, the Natural Way, with Vitamin D Thesis

Menopausal Symptoms can be controlled, the Natural Way, with Vitamin D and E - Thesis Example The symptoms can start to show up many years earlier (MedlinePlus). A Gallup poll of menopausal women conducted in 2002 revealed the four major reasons for medical attention as hot flashes (70%), night sweats (68%), mood disturbances (50%), and sleep disturbances (48%) (Utian, 2005). An estimated 75% to 85% of menopausal women experience vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats (Ohayon, 2006; Umland, 2008). The pathophysiology of hot flashes is uncertain but it is widely accepted that a dysfunction of the central thermoregulatory centers e.g., hypothalamus caused by certain factors might lead to hot flashes (Shansfelt et al., 2002). Diminishing level of circulating estrogen as a result of waning ovarian function during menopause is believed to cause a narrowing of the thermoregulatory threshold between sweating and shivering in the hypothalamus, leading to hot flashes (North American Menopause Society, NAMS, 2004; Mayo Clinic, 2009). Also, according to Mayo Clinic (200 9), rather than low estrogen levels alone, it could be the withdrawal of estrogen occurring during menopause that causes hot flashes. This is in agreement with the observation that hot flashes are predominant at the initial stages of menopause and do not usually continue throughout the postmenopausal period despite circulating estrogens being low (Sturdee, 2008). Norepinephrine and serotonin have also been implicated in the complex neuroendocrine pathway controlling the thermoregulatory zone (Shanafelt et al., 2002). Hot flashes involve the sudden onset of uncomfortable sensation of intense warmth beginning in the chest and moving to the neck and face, or spreading throughout the body. Anxiety, palpitations, profuse sweating, and red blotching of the skin are accompanying symptoms. Among the women experiencing hot flashes, the severity was reported as mild by 50% of the women, moderate by about 33% of the subjects, and 15% had severe hot flashes (Ohayon et al., 2006). Hot flashes ca n have an adverse effect on a woman’s work capacity, social well being, sleep pattern besides her general perception of health (Shansfelt et al., 2002). More than 81% of women experiencing severe hot flashes regularly had symptoms of chronic insomnia as well (Ohayon et al., 2006) since hot flashes often occur at night and cause sleep disruption. It has recently been observed by Szmuilowicz and Manson (2011) that menopausal hot flashes could be a good sign for the heart. Their study reviewed medical information gathered from 60,000 women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study and followed for ten years, to determine the relationship between menopause symptoms and cardiovascular events. According to these authors, women who experience severe hot flashes and night sweats may have a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and death. Their study also revealed that women who experienced symptoms at initial stages of menopause had fewer cardiova scular events than those who experienced hot flashes late in menopause or not at all. The results reported by Szmuilowicz and Manson (2011) assume much importance since menopausal symptoms, being the result of instability of the blood vessels in the skin, have been thought to cause other types of vascular problems as well in women suffering from hot flashes. Vaginal atrophy or the thinning of the vaginal lining