Hypothyroidism and early menopause
Hypothyroidism and early menopause
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Aging with grace may be one of the many priorities of women. However, this may not be easily achieved given the side effects of menopause. Aside from this kind of truth, women are also hounded by early menopause caused by hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism and early menopause
What is hypothyroidism?
Hypothyroidism is a kind of disease that is caused by the dysfunction in the thyroid gland. This butterfly-shaped endocrine gland can be located in the front of the neck. In the case of men, the thyroid gland can be found just below their Adam’s apple.
The thyroid gland is responsible for the production and secretion of important bodily hormone such as thyroxine. A dysfunction in this organ or hypothyroidism causes one’s body to have less thyroxine. This, in turn, can affect a lot of processes in the human body.
How does hypothyroidism contribute to early menopause?
To set things straight, hypothyroidism is not a gender-exclusive illness. It can affect men, women and even kids. However, a lot of research has shown that the illness is very common to women at their reproductive age, meaning those who are in their early twenties and late thirties.
As hypothyroidism is mainly characterized by the irregularity in the production of hormones, a woman’s monthly cycle is greatly affected. As a matter of fact, hypothyroidism can even cause infertility among women. In most cases, it can also cause early menopause. Since thoraxine is very limited, the process of ovulation is hindered and sometimes, permanently halted, thus, providing women with two scenarios of infertility or menopausal.
What characterizes early menopause?
Women with early menopause are not only hindered from getting pregnant. This situation brought about by hypothyroidism could also bring in some notable changes in the mood and appearance of the patient. For example, a woman who has early menopause tends to experience erratic mood swings. These might range from sheer happiness to unexplained depression. Those who are in early menopause will also experience weight gain brought about by hypothyroidism. Since the ailments affects metabolism, the body will have a hard time breaking down food nutrients and processing them into energy that can be used by the body.
