In Home Health Care: Menopause Menopause may be a natural part of growing older, but most women do not find the effects of this "change in life" to be pleasant. Sadly, many women who enter menopause do so about the time their parents, in-laws, or other loved ones start to require in-home health care. The National Alliance for Caregiving says that the average age of the female in-home caregiver in the United States is 48-years old. The average American woman enters menopause between 45 and 50-years of age. For women who have started their families later in life, they could find themselves caring for teenagers, aging parents, and a husband in a mid-life crisis, all while entering the joys of menopause. Since several of the symptoms of menopause are irritability, confusion, depression and fatigue, more stress is not what women are needing at this point in their life. …show more content…
There are some things that can be done. Since menopause causes many changes in a woman's body, one of the key's is to try to reverse these changes. Magnesium: Humans do not naturally produce magnesium and women facing menopause are at an increased risk of having a magnesium deficiency. This deficiency may lead to high blood pressure, loss of bone density, and diabetes. In order to increase magnesium, eat plenty of nuts, dark green vegetables (kale, spinach, collard greens), and whole grains. You can also take magnesium supplements, but too much can cause diarrhea or even more severe complications. Estrogen. Many women undergo hormone therapy to increase the estrogen in the body that is lost during menopause. Many doctors recommend trying to regulate your body with natural estrogen sources prior to seeking medicinal support. Popular estrogen aids include pumpkin seeds and red clover
Magnesium is an important element necessary healthy bones and teeth. The use of all muscles, and nerves convert it into energy for daily living. It is also instrumental in maintaining adequate levels of calcium in the blood. Having a therapeutic magnesium level helps prevent cardiovascular disease and reduces the risk of bone loss. The body of the adult human contains about 2000 mEq of Mg. Half of this amount stays within the skeleton and the other half in soft tissues (Wacker and Parisi 1968). The normal concentration in the blood is somewhere in the ranges of 1.7-2.3 mg/dL (Magnesium, 2013)
Medcohealth. Women and Aging: Our lives due change (2002). Retrieved November 18, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.medcohealth.com
Men have been flooded with information about how to fix their testosterone levels, and, usually, it involves supplementation or injection. But, there are long-term complications that come with doing that, including decreasing the body's natural ability to produce testosterone. Moreover, injections and supplements don't address another real issue - estrogen, which can cause decreased muscle, energy, libido, self-confidence, and sleep, along with increased fat, tender breasts, and even hot flashes.
Roberto, K. A., & Jarrott, S. E. (2008, January). Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Life Span Perspective. Family Relations , 100-111.
Women are at a higher threat of developing osteoporosis when their ovaries discontinue producing estrogen. This is due to the fact that estrogen supports maintaining proper calcium levels in bones. “A collapse of bony vertebrae of the spinal column results in loss of height and stooped posture. Hip fractures are a common occurrence.”
Some signs and symptoms of Magnesium deficiency are weight loss and/or anorexia, vertigo, confusion and memory loss, nausea and vomiting, muscle weakness and/or spasms and lethargy. However, these are in no way the only symptoms that are linked to someone having a Magnesium deficiency. This can lead to or cause so many medical issues within the human body such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Tension Headaches, Anxiety States, Insomnia, Cardiovascular Disease, Strokes, Hypertension, Asthma, Constipation and Pre-eclampsia. Magnesium supplements taken orally are commonly prescribed and used by health care professionals to get someone back up to a safe level where it no longer effects them so harshly, if it
Magnesium is best known for its role in preventing and reversing osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition in which the bones become weak and brittle. Magnesium assists the body in absorbing and using calcium. It also affects the various hormones in the body that influence bone density and calcium absorption. Getting plenty of magnesium helps increase
In the United States, an estimated 35-50% of Americans today don’t get enough magnesium in their diet. Diets deficient in magnesium have been associated with health problems like diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerotic vascular disease, colon cancer, and sudden cardiac arrest, the leading cause of death among Americans. It is important to eat enough of this mineral every day. It is assumed we don’t get enough magnesium from our diets because we have started to eat more dairy products containing calcium.
Inside the home you have the children- who if are grown- are also under pressure to get an education, job, home of their own, and maybe even pressures to settle down and have a family. This can be added to if the child is still living at home, this can add the social stigma of not being able to make it on their own or provide form themselves. If there are parents living in the home it can be stressful on them having to make the transition from mother or father to being treated as one of the children. They can lose their sense of independence and feel as if they are a burden to the family. As you continue to look in the home you may see a strain on the marriage of the care takers. Questions such as “Why can we take in your mother but mine is getting put in a nursing home” or “your children get to see your parents every day, why can we not go visit mine once in a while?” It’s easy to see how tensions can rise and this situation can become a stressor within the marriage. Another possible side effect of becoming a multi-generation care giver is that it will take up much of your time- especially if there are extenuating circumstances such as an illness. Having to take people back and forth between doctors can use up personal day in a hurry, leaving families to decide if giving up a job is in their best interest. Since the start of the recession, the number of working women 45 to 54 has dropped more than 3.5 percent, a rough one million women, several of them leaving to care for a parent (Searcey, 2014). This, once again, can cause strain on a marriage when you lose one income and the other spouse becomes the primary bread
Middle adulthood is a time in a person’s life where they often faced with many developmental struggles, all of which brings on a tremendous burden to the family main caregivers. In society, the concept of growing old often takes on a different meaning for one’s culture, ethnicity, as well as gender. Dr. Elliot Jaques, a Psychoanalyst, and social scientist coined the term “midlife crisis,” which is the reality that many face during this development stage. It is a time when individual experience situations that will challenge them such as a transition in occupation, lost, sudden sickness or taken on the role of being caregivers to aging parents. Midlife transition affects gender in different ways.
Menopause is a natural function of the female body that every woman will reach during midlife. Many women dread reaching menopause since it has an association of “becoming old”. Some feel that they are no longer of value as they are no longer childbearing. Yet, does it have to be this way? Is it possible, with knowledge and support, that women do not have to suffer all the symptoms that menopause could bring. The symptoms of menopause vary from woman to woman. They include, but are not limited to; hot flashes, sweating, vaginal dryness, fatigue, night sweats, sleep disturbances (waking early or insomnia), depression, irritability, and/or anxiety.
The options available for treatment are actually pretty straightforward. Hormone medications can bring testosterone levels back up to normal, which can help reduce the size of the breast tissue. If this does not have the desired effects, the doctor may recommend surgery for removal of the excess tissue.
This intervention will help improve one’s mood, energy, and overall physical state. There are a lot of hormone replacement therapy clinics in Beverly Hills that specialize in this treatment. These clinics offer customized treatments that will accommodate your wants and needs and prioritize the problems and symptoms that concern you the most.
In a similar case as with the brain, this causes greater sensitivity to slight changes outside of the body. Doctors are also looking at factors like age and race to see if any discrepancies arise across demographics. For example, current research shows that in general younger women affected by menopause are more likely to experience night sweats than older women, with percentages decreasing with age. Similarly, studies have shown that Asian women are the least likely to experience night sweats as a symptom of menopause.
Menopause is the end of menstruation demonstrated by 12 consecutive months of no menstrual cycle due to decreased estrogen production. Perimenopause or “climacteric is the time before the actual cessation” of menses (deWit, 2015). The signs and symptoms that lead to menopause: hot flashes, night sweats because of vasomotor instability brought about by lower levels of estrogen, menstrual irregularity and changes. These changes make the vaginal wall thinner and more delicate potentially causing vaginal pruritus and increased risk for infections. Women entering the first stage of menopause need to be aware of the potential for painful sexual experiences known as dyspareunia. The onset of menopause can also have a negative effect on the psyche of a woman, noting that with the cessation of menses comes the realization that pregnancy is no longer an option. Some women view aging as a sign that they are less attractive, menopause signals the first step in to old age for many. The average age for women to reach menopause is “50 years old, with a range of 45-55 years” (Kee, J., 2012).