You may be wondering what is the connection between diabetes and menopause? Well, for women who get to that age, it can be very traumatic. Menopause is not necessarily a negative experience. It is sometimes called a “life change” as there are many changes in a woman’s body, both around menopause and afterward.
Menopause marks a major transition into the last third of a woman’s life. It gives women and their health professionals the opportunity to review health risks, plan preventive activities, and establish follow-up strategies. This is especially important in women with diabetes due to increased menopausal cardiovascular risk and those associated with diabetes. The importance of menopause is often not appreciated by women with diabetes or their healthcare professionals, and opportunities to avoid future problems may be missed.
Menopause is a natural process that women go through as the fertile years end and the ovaries stop releasing eggs every month. Menopause is generally defined as the point at which periods stop. Menopause is not an event, but a slow process, often lasting up to 10 years. It begins in their 40s (sometime in their late 30s) and the average age for most women to have their last period is 51, where the female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, begin to decline.
How Menopause Affects Diabetes
As menopause approaches, the ovaries gradually stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Both hormones affect insulin, which is the hormone produced by the pancreas that supplies glucose, which is the life support of all cells in the body.
Lowering estrogen and progesterone levels can:
Increases blood sugar. This will be mainly during perimenopause, where the body can become more resistant to insulin and this causes the blood sugar level to rise.
Lowers blood sugar. This will be during the time you reach menopause. Where estrogen and progesterone levels drop permanently. Where the body can regain its sensitivity to insulin, causing blood sugar levels to drop.
The hormonal fluctuations that characterize menopause can wreak havoc on hard-earned blood glucose control. With less progesterone, there may be increased sensitivity to insulin and with less estrogen, insulin resistance increases, and the lack of these hormones can also cause other changes that can worsen diabetes complications. For example, low estrogen levels increase the risks of cardiovascular disease, which is already higher for people who have diabetes and osteoporosis.
Many symptoms are attributed to menopause, the most common of which are hot flashes, sleep disturbances, night sweats, and decreased ability to think clearly. Both menopause and diabetes produce similar symptoms. Some confuse menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, bad moods, etc. with symptoms of low blood sugar, thus incorrectly assuming that these symptoms are the result of low blood sugar. and begin to consume unnecessary calories, which in turn increases the blood sugar level and adversely causes a rise in blood sugar
Due to diabetes, women experience stronger and more frequent episodes of low blood sugar, especially at night. This can affect your sleep, already interrupted by menopause, associated with hot flashes and night sweats. Such lack of sleep causes fluctuations in blood sugar.
To combat this, women choose to take hormone replacement therapy or HRT. But this will not be possible in the case of women if they are diabetic, since these hormones affect blood sugar. But these doses with HRT are so low and do not cause much effect. In that case, the diabetes medicine must also be adjusted.
Protect the heart
Protects bones from calcium loss that can cause brittle bones.
Eliminating symptoms like hot flashes (which are easy to confuse with hypoglycemia) helps you sleep and think more easily.
Menopause complications
Most women will experience this complication, but the intensity can vary within each woman.
Irregular bleeding
Hot flushes
Vaginal thinning and dryness
Osteoporosis
Heart diseases
Menopause is complete when you have not menstruated for 12 months. Women with type 1 diabetes experience menopause earlier than average. Women with type 2 diabetes can go through menopause later than average if they are above a healthy weight, since estrogen levels do not drop as quickly in overweight women.
This is one of the main problems for many women, as they gain weight and become less active during this time, compounding the difficulties in controlling blood glucose. That is why it is vitally important to plan a nutritious, low-fat diet with calcium supplements if necessary and physical activity. Since these measures will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by keeping cholesterol level low and protecting the bones against the thinning of osteoporosis.
Regular exercise benefits the heart and bones, helps regulate weight, contributes to a sense of general well-being, and improves mood. Sedentary women are much more prone to heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis. They also suffer from chronic back pain, stiffness, insomnia, and irregularities. Depression is also a problem. Therefore, exercise plays an important and beneficial role, as it avoids these problems and also achieves higher levels of HDL cholesterol.
The benefits of regular exercise
o Increases circulation and improves body temperature regulation.
o Improves weight control by increasing basal metabolic rate and lean body mass.
o Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by strengthening the circulatory system, lowering blood pressure and maintaining a healthier blood cholesterol level.
o Increases strength and range of motion.
o Elevate your mood and manage stress.
o Reduces the likelihood of osteoporosis.
Some suggestions that can reduce the discomfort of menopause:
1.Eat well-balanced meals that are the foundation for managing diabetes.
2. Eliminate caffeine, which can help reduce hot flashes.
3. Consume more legumes and soy products, which reduces the discomfort associated with menopause, since these foods contain phytoestrogens (plant estrogens.
4. Last but not least, being physically active can help increase energy levels and give you a mental boost.
Therefore, menopause is an important phase in a woman’s life in which she experiences many physical changes. Your body goes through changes that can affect your social life, your feelings about yourself, and your functioning at work. Until recently, menopause was surrounded by misconceptions and myths, but it comes naturally; step in the aging process. So one must accept menopause and grow old gracefully, because “Like a white candle in a holy place, so is the beautiful beauty of an aged face.”