Menopause Originates In Brain
New researches has been done on menopause and led to the conclusion that menopause starts in the brain.
What is menopause? Menopause is the end of menstruation. If a woman’s period stops for one year, then she is considered menopausal, according to North American Menopausal Society. The best known menopause symptoms are hot flashes, insomnia, vaginal dryness, depression and joint pain.
Menopause caught the attention of doctors, scientists and researchers, because of the multitude of real biochemical changes that take place in a woman’s body when she stops menstruating. Beginning to understand how these changes happen is a big step in trying to find more effective treatment solutions.
Some of the most unpleasant symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and night sweats, have long been believed to originate in the ovaries. But new research challenges that assumption, and instead suggests that menopausal symptoms, at least in part, may begin in the brain.
The idea behind this statement is that hypothalamus and the pituitary gland stop reacting normally to estrogen in some women when they reach menopause.
The hypothalamus and pituitary gland are two parts of the brain that have important roles in integrating the nervous and endocrine system. The pituitary gland releases hormones that control the body’s endocrine system, while the hypothalamus is receiving messages from nerves and integrate that into endocrine gland responses. The hypothalamus is more or less the communication link between the nervous system and the endocrine system. The hypothalamus regulates the secretion of various hormones by controlling the pituitary gland. Doctors believe that pituitary respond to lower estrogen levels, but there is a lack of sensitivity to estrogen in the hypothalamus.
These findings certainly lead the way to further research that will help doctors determine what type of menopause a woman will experience and prescribe her non estrogen medication to reduce menopausal symptoms, as she approaches this stage in her life.