|
HOPE FOR WOMEN WITH EARLY
MENOPAUSE
The majority of women approach menopause around 50. However, today girls in
their teens are experiencing ovarian failure and are having to face devastating
consequences. One in 100 women suffer an early menopause, where the symptoms of
the change of life are underway by the age of 40.
Susan Thomas, from Dorset, is now 33. "I developed absolutely normally
and started having periods when I was 12. But I only ever had two. My doctor
said not to worry and to come back in a few years. At 17 she saw a
gynaecologist. "It was suggested that perhaps I had a tumour", says
Susan. However, tests showed my ovaries had atrophied - they had
shrivelled".
The reasons for early menopause are often unclear, but it means a lifetime
of hormone replacement therapy to protect against osteoporosis and reduce the
risk of heart disease. "It is a worry because of the long-term
implications, such as HRT, weight gain, and the sheer damage to
self-esteem", says Susan. "I was even sent for a pregnancv scan, and
got a bill for £120".
Self-help association, The Daisy Chain, provides support and information,
and broadcasts positive outcomes to initially sad diagnoses like this one.
Susan married in 1987 and, with help from egg donation and hormone injections
gave birth to baby Oliver in 1995.
Liz Griffiths, 33, and also a member of The Daisy Chain, got married two
years ago with every intention of having children as soon as possible. "We
bought a house in Berkshire and even extended it ready for a family", she
says, but things did not go as planned. "I came off the Pill, and within
four weeks had symptoms ranging from day and night sweats to a complete loss of
libido". She had stiff, aching joints and says that she felt 80 years old.
The first GP to see Liz diagnosed a viral infection and prescribed an
antibiotic. After a negative pregnancy test, and no sign of a period, Liz
arranged a consultation with another doctor. "He did a blood test to
screen for two critical hormones and checked my thyroid, which was underactive,
prescribing Thyroxine, but it made no difference and six months later I was
referred to a fertility specialist. The diagnosis was ovarian failure".
Like Susan, Liz now takes HRT, and hopes that she will find a suitable egg
donor.
Dr Gerard Conway, an endocrinologist at the Middlesex Hospital, has made a
study of early menopause: "In simple terms, the ovary is depleted of eggs
and ceases to make oestrogen and progesterone. The causes include pelvic
surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or an abnormal X chromosome. There is
also the possibility of an auto-immune process - the body turns on itself and
destroys the ovaries. A small percentage have a genetic predisposition to early
menopause. Dr Conway is working to achieve a multi-disciplinary approach to the
treatment. "I hope family doctors will always take seriously the absence
of periods in a girl over 14. And in older females a gap of three months or
more should be investigated. High-resolution ultrasound scanning provides
enough information in most cases".
For more information, send a large stamped sae to:
The Daisy Chain Ovarian Failure Support Group
PO Box 230
Barnet
EN5 2BF
|
