Jun 03 2009
Diabetes and The Menopause
You might be thinking “What’s the connection between diabetes and the menopause?” Well, for ladies reaching that certain age, it can be very traumatic – especially when some of the effects experienced can easily be mistaken for those we have to be aware of when managing our diabetes. For a diabetic taking medication, keeping blood sugars at the right level is a balancing act. If sugar levels drop too low, because of not eating enough or at the right times, you suffer a hypoglycemia episode (sometimes called ‘hypo’ for short). For me, this usually manifests itself as shaking; irritability; sweating and a faint-headed feeling.
If you are diabetic and have ever had low-blood sugar you may recognize some of these symptoms, amongst others. A quick ‘glucose fix’ usually settles it within 5-10 minutes. Now, compare that to some of the of starting the menopause; hot flushes [I call them 'power-surges' 
] – similar to the sweats of a hypo; mood swings – akin to the irritability you might experience during a hypo. It’s very easy to confuse the symptoms you are feeling. When I first started the menopause, I frequently confused waking at 2 a.m. in the morning in a cold sweat as a hypo and took a quick sugar boost to settle myself. That pushed my blood sugar levels up when I didn’t need it. Not a good idea!
It was only after visiting my Doctor to talk about these frequent, unexpected hypos I discovered I was starting the menopause (I was in my late 40s, so it was rather unexpected, normally it doesn’t occur until early-to-mid 50s). If you are a lady, with diabetes controlled by , and you are in your early 50s and you start having frequent, unexplained hypos – check your sugar levels before ‘treating the condition’. And get your Doctor to check your symptoms. You may be confusing symptoms of diabetes and the menopause.
If you are male and you lead a lifestyle inactive you probably have at least 3 risk factors associated with heart disease. I know, I know, you feel well, but most people do before they have a heart attack. Unfortunately, most people find they have on heart on the day they are admitted to hospital, and they are lucky! Ladies, do not think this is just something for people to worry (as it had been in the past). Women, as well as men, are more likely to die from heart disease than from any type of cancer.
Menopause comes from two Greek words meaning “month” and “the end” and the medical definition of menopause means exactly the same: the absence of menstruation for twelve months. Menopause can occur between late thirties and the end of 50 years, and not a single woman can avoid this period. Considering that menopause affects a in his life more active stage, it is not surprising that women want to prepare for menopause and avoid discomfort using a wide variety of practice tests menopause.
As a woman, if you are faced with the thinning and loss of hair, you’re probably pretty stressed by it. However, you will not be worrying and causing more hair to drop once you understand some facts about hair loss in . You see, in many cases, women hair loss is a temporary event and, therefore, find a solution to hair loss which is relatively easy. The androgenic alopecia is the inherited form of baldness that affects 50 percent of men and some women after 40. Female hair loss usually begins after menopause, although it may begin earlier. The main reason is that rates of estrogen decline. Trigger hormonal changes hair to be clarified.