What is Early Menopause?

The period when the ovaries of women lose their function over time and disappear completely is called menopause. With menopause, a number of changes occur in the body. The body goes through some changes because you can no longer be fertile. It manifests itself with small-scale effects.

As we said, some women may experience early menopause. Although there are some factors affecting this condition, we can say that there is a genetic predisposition. And some studies suggesting that early menopause is on the rise today is thought to be due to an increased tendency for women to delay their conception for professional, social, and other reasons.

Although menopause is a phase that every woman will experience, the occurrence of early menopause is a big negative. Especially when it comes to the end of fertility at an early age, the thought of not having a child again is frightening. Today, it can be seen as the biggest misfortune to be experienced for women who are career-oriented and postpone motherhood.

What causes premature menopause?

As we said above, the excessive stress experienced by women who make career planning, working conditions and many other reasons can lead to early menopause. It is a complete irony that motherhood, which was postponed just to prepare a better environment and feel ready, could not be achieved due to these reasons. If we talk about other factors that will cause early menopause;

Autoimmune Diseases

The most common condition of menopause, which occurs as a result of premature depletion of the ovaries, includes the disease pool formed by autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune disease; It is the effort of the human immune system, for unknown reasons, to see its own organs as a threat and to attack these organs and destroy them. If there is this disease in the female body, if the tissue seen as a threat is perceived as the ovaries, their destruction will cause premature menopause.

Surgical removal of the ovaries

If the ovaries need to be removed in any case, the woman experiences early menopause as a result of the removal of both ovaries. In addition, when the ovaries are damaged in other gynecological operations, early menopause is also in question.

Cancer treatments

In women receiving radiotherapy or chemotherapy for cancer treatment, the ovaries may be damaged, leading to early menopause.

family history

One of the main reasons that determine the age of entering menopause is that the woman's mother is related to the age of entering menopause. If there is a possibility of early menopause in the family history, it means that the risk of early menopause will increase at a high rate in other generations.

Chromosomal disorders

In rare chromosomal disorders such as Fragile X Syndrome and Turner Syndrome, the ovaries may be depleted at an early age, leading to early menopause.

Life style

It is not possible to say that smoking and using alcohol cause a situation such as accelerated menopause or living early. In addition, excessive stress, mood swings play a role in early menopause. However, we think that it can pave the way for early menopause with the chain of diseases it creates by including the diseases that arise due to use over time.

How is early menopause treated?

In cases of early menopause, especially in cases caused by autoimmune diseases, spontaneous reversal or reversal with treatment is possible. Since one of the most important disadvantages of having menopause at a young age is the acceleration of bone resorption, necessary precautions should be taken in this regard and bone-sparing treatment should be started as soon as possible.

Classical menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and mental tension also respond to hormone therapy in most cases.

In cases of early menopause, which occurs with the depletion of egg cells, it is impossible for the woman to conceive with her own eggs, since there are no egg cells left. Although in vitro fertilization treatments are the first to come to mind in such cases, pregnancy cannot be achieved in any way in cases where there is no ovaries. Therefore, the only remedy is pregnancy with donor oocyte, that is, egg cells taken from another woman.

Ovarian freezing process

Ovarian cells of women can be frozen and stored in the face of a disease or due to the risks of problems experienced. Especially when the ovaries of the woman fulfill their functions, that is, when they are of good quality and healthy, they are taken by operation and stored for later use. While this process is applied in very special cases, it should be noted that it is a laborious and expensive application.

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