Menopausal Disorder
Menopausal Disorder

Menopausal disorder refers to a variety of symptoms caused by a decrease in female sex hormones due to aging. Menopause occurs when menstruation is interrupted for more than a year due to the degeneration of the ovaries and the rapid decrease in female hormone secretion.

The symptoms include abnormality in the menstrual cycle due to deficiency of female sex hormones and atypical uterine bleeding, decreased vaginal discharge, decreased libido, urinary incontinence, etc.

Additionally, musculoskeletal symptoms such as joint pain, lower back pain, and shoulder pain occur.  In the circulatory system, symptoms such as limb numbness, headache, and dizziness are present. On the other hand, the psychological symptoms include anxiety,rustration, and insomnia. The signs in the digestive system include indigestion, heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea.

These menopausal symptoms appear within two years before and after menopause and can last for about 3 to 5 years. However, the degree of difference varies from person to person, and not all patients are treated. About 25% of patients who experience severe symptoms require treatment. Also, about 20% of women have more severe menopausal symptoms, accompanied by hot flushes and anxiety, depression, memory loss, etc. The sleeping disorder could also occur if the symptoms mainly appear at night.

Symptoms of menopausal disorder

During perimenopause, usually, progesterone is decreased first. It can lead to estrogen dominance. In menopause, estrogen dominance gets worse. Even if estrogen is dominant, there is no problem if you have enough serotonin in your body.

When you get stressed, cortisol prevents the absorption of serotonin, leading to serotonin depletion. Melatonin converts into serotonin under the sun. If you do not have enough serotonin, your body can suffer from hypothermia. Our body must maintain a body temperature of 98.6 Fahrenheit to be able to do vital activities.

The sensor of maintaining body temperature is in the hypothalamus, which keeps our body within one or two degrees of 98.6 degrees.

The hypothalamus works with other body temperature-regulating systems, such as the skin, sweat glands, and blood vessels.

If we do not have enough serotonin, our body temperature can drop.

When our body temperature drops, our heart, nervous system, and other organs cannot work correctly, and it is a risk for our body. The sympathetic nerve is activated to prevent it—our body secrets norepinephrine, which promotes heat generation. When norepinephrine is released, the fever rises rapidly, and when the fever goes off, it can get cold sweating, and our body feels cold.

Kynurenine connects to inflammation (viral infection, bacterial infection, autoimmunity, etc.).  If inflammation occurs in our body, serotonin converts to Kynurenine, and Kynurenine produces niacin.

Excessive niacin can lead to hot flushes due to the extension of capillaries.

Therefore, hot flashes are not simply treated with female hormones but need to balance various hormones such as cortisol, serotonin, and thyroid.

Many women experience mood swings during menopause.
During menopause, many women experience roller coaster rides of both physically as well as emotional. Symptoms include hot flashes, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and panic attacks triggered by hormonal changes. These sudden changes in estrogen and progesterone can affect serotonin.
Menopause and Emotional Changes
Emotional changes are common symptoms of menopause.
The symptoms include.
  • Irritability
  • Feelings of sadness
  • Anxiety
  • Mood swing
  • Short memory loss
  • Lack of motivation
  • Aggressiveness
  • Difficulty concentrating
When people are under stress, cortisol, a hormone that responds to stress, is released. Cortisol interferes with the absorption of serotonin.
When the body is under stress, it activates the sympathetic nervous system to fight the threat.  The adrenal glands secrete epinephrine, norepinephrine, and steroid hormones.
Estrogen and norepinephrine act as a feedback mechanism. When estrogen level increases, norepinephrine level decreases.
During menopause, estrogen decreases, and norepinephrine increases.
Increased norepinephrine makes emotional changes such as nervousness, anxiety, and easily irritability.
[Progesterone and Menopause]
Progesterone is a hormone that promotes warming, soothing, anti-inflammatory, and sleeps in women.
Cholesterol makes a hormone called progesterone which is the source of cortisol and sex hormones.
 When progesterone is deficient, the function of the adrenal glands decreases, leading to chronic fatigue syndrome.
With progesterone deficiency, testosterone turns into a hormone called DHT, activated testosterone.
Therefore, when progesterone is insufficient, DHT increases, resulting in hair loss, acne, polycystic ovary syndrome, prostate enlargement, and hirsutism.
What progesterone does in our body makes cortisol, aldosterone, and sex hormones.  During menopause, women become sensitive to stress, and progesterone is depleted due to decreased ovarian function, leading to various symptoms due to progesterone depletion.

Insomnia

Osteoporosis is a condition in which the quantitative and qualitative composition of the bone are decreased, and the strength is weakened, and fractures are more likely to occur.
Most of the osteoporosis itself has no symptoms, but if it gets worse, the risk of developing compression fractures of the spine, fractures of the pelvis or femur, etc. Estrogen, a female hormone, plays an essential role in maintaining such bone mineral density. During menopause, due to a rapid decrease in estrogen, osteoporosis progresses rapidly, and about 50% of the bone density is lost after nearly ten years from the time of menopause.  After 65 years of age, women lose calcium from their bones and easily cause fractures even with light external shock.
Risk factors for osteoporosis
 Early menopause or early ovariectomy
 Family history of osteoporosis
 Never experienced pregnancy or childbirth
 Thin and small body frame
 Excessive drinking, smoking, and caffeine intake
 Lack of exercise
 Poor nutrition
Menopausal syndrome Questionnaire
No Symptoms Scoring
Absent Mild Moderate Severe
1 Hot flushes and sweating 0 4 8 12
2 Numbness and tingling on hand or feet 0 2 4 6
3 Sleep problems 0 2 4 6
4 Anxiety, nervousness 0 2 4 6
5 Depression 0 1 2 3
6 Dizziness 0 1 2 3
7 Physical and mental Fatigue 0 1 2 3
8 Joint and muscle pain 0 1 2 3
9 Headache 0 1 2 3
10 Palpitation 0 1 2 3
11 Vaginal Dryness 0 1 2 3

Total  5~10 : mild / 10~15 : Moderate / >15 : Severe

MBR Menopausal Disorders Treatments

During menopause, women run into many problems due to hormonal imbalances.

MBR Acupuncture & Herb help minimize menopausal disorders with excellent therapeutic effects using herbal medicines, acupuncture, and moxibustion as a more natural remedy than synthetic hormones.

MBR Herb

In Chinese medicine, menopause classifies the causes into three types: Kidney Deficiency (腎虛-congenital weakness), liver Qi Stagnation (肝氣鬱), and Heart and Spleen deficiency (心脾兩虛).

Among them, Kidney deficiency is the most. Due to aging, women are depleted of Jing(Kidney essence) and blood, leading to hormonal deficiency.

Herbal medicines can help hormone production and make calm the spirits.

MBR herb can obtain excellent effects in improving menopausal symptoms without side effects.

MBR Acupuncture Treatment

MBR menopausal acupuncture helps regulate the meridians, control autonomic imbalance, harmonize sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves and smooth the circulation of Qi and blood. Additionally, MBR acupuncture treatment improves anxiety, irritability, and depression by coordinating autonomic nerves and mental stability.

TMJ Treatment

The ovaries and adrenal glands produce female hormones.

When menopause, ovarian function declines, and adrenal glands become the primary source of female hormone.

The jaw affects cervical vertebrae 1 and 2 and the torsion of cervical vertebrae 1 and 2 affects the neck structure and circulation of blood to the brain.

HPA axis is the most important axis for regulating hormones in our body. It increases the circulation of blood flow in the brain that regulates the ability of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland to produce hormones. In relation, the female hormones are involved in the production the ovaries and adrenal glands. Treatment of the MBR mandibular joint improves not only the movement but also the imbalance of the human anatomy.

Moxibustion

The moxa treatment warms the cold lower abdomen of postmenopausal women and improves the circulation of Qi and blood in the uterus.

During menopause, the core body temperature decreases, and the body increases the norepinephrine to raise the core body temperature, which causes symptoms such as hot flushes.

Warming the lower abdomen with moxa and tonifying Kidney Yang with MBR herbal medicine prevent a decrease in the core body temperature.

In addition, a study shows moxibustion treatment has an excellent effect on reducing pain caused by osteoporosis and increasing bone density.