Latest news with #symptoms
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
If Your Body Feels Like It's Falling Apart After 45, It's Not In Your Head—It's A Medical Syndrome
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Of the more than 47 million women in the world who begin the menopause transition each year, more than 70 percent of them will experience musculoskeletal symptoms—and 25 percent will be disabled by them. Those startling stats are based on research by Vonda Wright, MD, an orthopaedic sports surgeon and author of Unbreakable. And yet, many women that Dr. Wright sees in her practice are only aware of more-talked-about symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, and brain fog. The musculoskeletal symptoms—which includes arthritis, tendonitis, and osteopenia, and are linked to the drop in estrogen that happens during menopause—seem to come as a surprise. '[Women] come into my office and, without prompting, they'll say, 'I don't know what's happening, but I feel like I'm falling apart because it's not just one body part, it's multiple body parts,'' Dr. Wright says. Many of these female patients also mention being dismissed by their PCPs and having their issues chalked up to aging. "We are getting older, but that is not the end of the explanation," Dr. Wright says. She hopes that her paper—and giving these symptoms a name—helps to solve this problem: 'If the woman goes into a doctor's office and says, 'my knee hurts, my back hurts. I'm gaining weight'—that is a lot to talk about in 15 minutes. But with the power of nomenclature, a midlife woman who educates herself can say, 'I'm 46, I know my estrogen is going down. I think I have the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause.' And that is something that you can wrap a conversation around versus trying to solve each problem individually.' This approach of using a name to label and identify a health issue has had success in the past. In 2012, a team of experts put forth the term genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) to describe symptoms including genital dryness, pain during sex, and urinary urgency or recurrent urinary tract infections. Like with musculoskeletal symptoms, 'if you go in naming five or six things [related to the genital or urinary organs], it's overwhelming, but if you give a name to it, then we can research it, and then we can talk about it with a common language,' Dr. Wright says. Other experts in the field agree that publicizing a term like this and getting the information out to more women and providers is important: 'Coining this term 'musculoskeletal syndrome' gave patients validity that this is a real thing that happens in menopause,' says Paru David, MD, an internist in Women's Health Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Dr. David sees many patients exhibiting the symptoms of this syndrome. '[They] will tell me 'I became postmenopausal and, overnight, I felt like I became an old lady... everything hurts.'' The good news is that understanding why this happens—and how to fight back—can help you treat or prevent these symptoms altogether. What Musculoskeletal Syndrome Actually Is The symptoms related to this syndrome all have to do with the loss of estrogen that leads to inflammation in the body. 'Estrogen is a potent anti-inflammatory, so without estrogen, we're highly inflamed,' Dr. Wright says. Estrogen sits on the receptors on every tissue in the body, including the musculoskeletal system, which includes tendon, ligament, bone, the discs in your back, cartilage, fat, muscle, and stem cells. Less of the hormone can lead to excruciating pain and loss of motion without an injury or event. Dr. Wright has patients come in knowing something is wrong but insisting nothing happened, exactly, to trigger it. 'As I explore their age and that they're perimenopausal, I know that means their estrogen has declined,' she says. How the Loss of Estogen Impacts the Body Tendons and ligaments: 'The ligaments and tendons become more brittle and are more susceptible to injuries such as tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis, [and] plantar fasciitis,' Dr. Wright says. This weakening of the tendons and ligaments can also lead to tendon tears while lifting weights or playing sports—even if you lifted the same amount of weight you'd done in the past or didn't make any new moves, Dr. David says. Muscle: 'Although it's critical at this time of life to make muscle, we make it less effectively,' Dr. Wright says. In a 2024 systematic review in Muscles, researchers noted that the decline in estrogen during menopause leads to reduced muscle strength in addition to mass, although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can mitigate some of this in addition to resistance training, and certain dietary interventions. (More on those soon.) Bone: Bone is dependent on estrogen for a process known as remodeling. 'Bone is in a consistent state of building and breaking down; every 10 years, we get a whole new skeleton,' Dr. Wright says. 'When the cells that break down bone [are] not controlled, then we have more breakdown than we do building, and that's when we become osteopenic, which is moderate loss of bone density, or osteoporotic, which means weak bone, [which] puts us in much more danger of fracture.' Dr. Wright says her personal 'hill to die on' is the fact that bone health is a lifelong concern. 'Yet none of us pay attention to our bones unless we're looking in the mirror at our gorgeous cheekbones or our clavicles,' she says. 'But the reality is that without estrogen, we're going to lose 15 to 20 percent of our bone density in the five to seven years surrounding perimenopause and menopause. And if we have not laid down enough bone by the time we're 30, which is very common, then we get to perimenopause and we rapidly start losing bone to the tune of one in two women will develop an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime.' Joints: 'Before age 50, men have a much higher incidence of arthritis usually due to trauma,' Dr. Wright says. But after 50, women are the ones typically experiencing rapid progression of arthritis in the knee and hip, she adds. This is because cartilage—which helps with shock absorption—has estrogen receptors and without estrogen sitting in those receptors, the cartilage starts to break down. That leads to women over 50 dealing with joint pain in their hands, knees, and hips. Similarly, the gel-like cushions between the disks in your spine can break down and cause back pain, which impacts 50 percent of women, Dr. Wright says. Frozen shoulder—when the joint becomes stiff and starts to hurt for no apparent reason—is another condition she often sees in menopausal women. 'The other thing from an inflammatory standpoint that women experience, which I think is often mislabeled as fibromyalgia, is arthralgia, which is total-body pain due to inflammation,' Dr. Wright says. 'It's not one joint. It is your whole body [that] feels inflamed and painful.' How to Know If You Have Musculoskeletal Syndrome There's no quick and easy test for this syndrome. 'You can't really do an x-ray or imaging that confirms and says, 'this is definitely due to the loss of estrogen,'' says Dr. David. Instead you need to work with your provider to put together a full picture. If a woman is postmenopausal and not on hormones and says she cannot exercise the way she has in the past, or that she's dealing with more injuries or pain, and/or other symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats, those would be clear indicators, Dr. David says. Both doctors say that women tend to underreport symptoms—don't be one of them. 'Sometimes patients will say, 'oh, it's just in my mind,' and they're doubting themselves, but then when they come in, I tell them, no, this is a real thing that's happening due to that loss of estrogen,' Dr. David says. 'Don't feel like you can't come to your provider or to a menopause specialist to discuss this, because women need to have these things addressed.' How to Reverse (Or Prevent!) Musculoskeletal Syndrome 'What I want women to do to treat the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause is multifactorial,' Dr. Wright says. Here, all the ways to empower yourself to prevent—and fight—back. 1. Stay educated. 'Number one, you have to be educated,' Dr. Wright notes. For this reason, she and her team decided to pay whatever money was necessary so that the paper on the syndrome would not be placed behind a paywall. 'I encourage people to print the paper, read the paper, print another one, take it to your doctor, [and] give it to five girlfriends so that everybody knows,' she says. 'The more literate you are in midlife, the more powerful you can be to feel better.' 2. Talk to your provider about hormone therapy—asap. "I encourage all of my patients to go on hormone optimization with estradiol [and], if they have a uterus, with micronized progesterone,' Dr. Wright says, adding that sometimes she gives them low-dose testosterone as well. 'Women just want to feel like themselves and do what they've always done, and these three things, I have found in my own life and [in] the women that I serve, can go a long way [in combatting] the root cause of some of the reasons we don't in midlife,' Dr. Wright says. Dr. David's patients, too, tell her they feel much better—they're joints and muscles don't hurt as much, for example—once they're on hormone therapy. That said, hormone optimization is a decision every woman needs to make for herself and with her provider, the doctors agree. But, Dr. Wright says to make that decision sooner rather than later. 'I think we should be making it in the critical decade, which in my book is 35 to 45 when most of us still have our estrogen flowing,' she says. That way, when you start feeling perimenopause, and possibly overwhelmed, you already know what you're going to do and where you're going to get it. 3. Start lifting heavy if you're not already. 'I have a lot of patients that think that they have to go into a gym and do heavy lifting, and I tell them small weights can really help preserve your bone density and probably help with keeping your muscle mass,' Dr. David says. 'Make sure that you're not doing more than what your body can do,' she says. 'Especially if you've had a period of time where you haven't done physical activity, you can't necessarily jump in and begin where you left off. You might have to build back up to that level.' 4. Follow the 80-20 rule of exercise. 'We can stop burning ourselves out with high-intensity interval training every day and do the 80-20 method,' Dr. Wright says. That means that 80 percent of the time, you work at a lower heart rate with activities like brisk walking, cycling, or using the indoor rower. Then, twice a week, you push your heart rate as high as your doctor says is safe for you—but for short (perhaps 30 seconds) periods of time with longer (say, one to two minutes) periods of recovery. Master these six exercises in your 60s for longevity Working at those ends of the spectrum, in addition to heavy lifting, is the key to changing body composition and maintaining muscle. Dr. David adds that stretching regularly is also important to prevent joint injuries. 5. Consider working with a physical therapist. If you're experiencing some of these symptoms already, working with a physical therapist can be very beneficial, Dr. Wright says, because they can assess you, understand where you are, understand your limitations, and then prescribe exercises that you can build upon. Dr. David, too, says finding a physical therapist that's educated around menopause can be a wise move during this time of life: 'I do get worried that sometimes patients will say, 'I just need to work out with a personal trainer, and that will really help me,' and they may not understand where you're coming from,' Dr. David says. 'A physical therapist, especially one who understands musculoskeletal syndrome, can understand where these patients are coming from, what they are able to do without harming themselves further, and then build upon that.' 6. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet. 'I prescribe anti-inflammatory nutrition,' says Dr. Wright. The key components of this, she says, are to avoid added sugar and to focus on protein and specifically fiber-rich carbs (e.g., whole fruit instead of fruit juice). 'For bone health, make sure that you're getting enough calcium [and] that you're getting enough vitamin D to help absorb that calcium,' Dr. David adds. The aforementioned 2024 review also notes that omega-3 fatty acids can be effective in supporting muscle health across all life stages. If this list has you feeling overwhelmed, fear not, Dr. Wright says. Just start with one thing. Maybe start by taking two walks this week, then cut back on sugar next week, then layer on protein, and finally, weight lifting. 'You layer on one at a time [and] it simply becomes your lifestyle,' she says. 'It's not a diet. It is not a six-week exercise program. It's just how you live—and all of these things will help your musculoskeletal pain stay in check.' And while the sooner you start some of these lifestyle habits, the better, it's also never too late: 'There is never an age when your body will not respond to the positive stress, the strategic stress, in the form of all the things on this list," Dr. Wright says. You Might Also Like Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
B.C. clinicians underscore gaps in menopause care and celebrate recent progress
Clinicians in Canada are calling for a ramping up of care received by patients with menopause. (Getty Images) As millions of Canadians experience menopause, clinicians in B.C. are flagging opportunities to improve the care patients receive. 'I don't think there are enough resources for not only this, but nothing at all,' said Dr. Ana Teresa Armas Enriquez, a physician in Nanaimo. Armas Enriquez owns Women's Vita Medical Clinic, where she prioritizes menopause care. It can take up to six months for someone experiencing symptoms to get in to see her. 'If you wait for a year, you're actually postmenopausal by the time you come see me,' she said. Menopause is when a patient goes 12 months without their period, typically around the age of 50. Some people start experiencing the hallmark symptoms in their mid-30s, during a transitional phase called perimenopause. While mood changes, sleep disturbances, hot flashes, joint paint, vaginal dryness, and dozens of other symptoms present a challenge, Armas Enriquez said medical intervention isn't always required. In the case of one of her patients who spoke with CTV News, it was. 'It really felt like in one day there was a very rapid, massive change,' said Pam Shaw, who started experiencing symptoms a decade ago. Shaw is one of roughly 10 million Canadians – a quarter of the population – over the age of 40 affected by perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause, according to the Menopause Foundation of Canada. She had hot flashes and insomnia, often waking up 15 times a night. At her job as an instructor at Vancouver Island University, she experienced brain fog and had a hard time keeping up with her 'bright-eyed, bushy-tailed' students. 'In the past, the symptoms of menopause have been treated kind of like a joke – that it's something trivial, not that important, something that women have to endure,' Shaw said. 'I was very fortunate to find a doctor with advanced knowledge on menopausal (and) postmenopausal symptoms and (who) was able to very quickly get me onto a treatment program that worked.' 'Old, outdated information' For the past 10 years, Shaw said her symptoms have been at bay thanks to a low dose of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which replenishes hormones that decline with age. Kassidy Delcaro, a nurse at Women's Vita Medical Clinic, said some clinicians are reluctant to prescribe HRT. 'There is a lot of very old, outdated information about hormone replacement therapy,' said Delcaro, pointing to old studies that link HRT to a serious cancer risk. The Canadian Cancer Society says the risk is low, and using HRT is a personal decision to be made with a clinician. 'There's definitely safe ways of going about it,' said Delcaro, noting there are various risk assessments to consider before prescribing HRT. 'People who are appropriate providers of menopausal care do know those different guidelines.' Next March, the provincial government said it will start covering the cost of HRT for treating menopause symptoms. For care providers, it's a positive step as conversations about menopause become more common. 'Menopause is definitely having a moment,' said B.C. Women's Health Foundation CEO Cally Wesson. 'Not every woman will have a baby, but every woman will go through menopause.' New clinic a first for Western Canada Wesson, Delcaro, Shaw, and Armas Enriquez agree education about menopause symptoms and treatment options needs to expand. 'A lot of times, we hear stories of women going to their primary care physician and not getting the care that they need,' Wesson said. That's unlikely to happen at the Complex Menopause Clinic in Vancouver, which opened earlier this year. It's the first of its kind in Western Canada, offering specialized care to people with severe symptoms. 'It… could become a standard of care that then other health authorities would adapt,' said Wesson. 'The more we get the right information out, not only to the general community but also to physicians, the better.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
What is Parkinson's Disease? Symptoms explained after Ozzy Osbourne's death
What is Parkinson's Disease? Symptoms explained after Ozzy Osbourne's death What is Parkinson's Disease? Symptoms explained after Ozzy Osbourne's death Ozzy Osbourne died on Tuesday after living with Parkinson's disease for almost six years. News of his death was announced by his family. A statement read: 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. The Black Sabbath singer was diagnosed with the disease in 2019 and spent the last 12 months in 'constant' pain. Nevertheless, Osbourne teamed up with his bandmates one final time for a special concert at Villa Park earlier this month and it was later revealed that the performance raised $190 million for charity. ADVERTISEMENT The epic 'Back to the Beginning' concert at Villa Park in Birmingham saw the singer reunite with his band Black Sabbath to headline a bill that also featured Metallica, Guns N' Roses and a cavalcade of other heavy metal superstars. It was announced before the event, which was live streamed around the world to an audience of 5.8 million, that proceeds would be split between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice. But what is Parkinson's disease, what are the symptoms and can it be treated? What is Parkinson's disease? Parkinson's is a progressive neurological condition caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain that create the chemical dopamine. What are the symptoms? Ozzy Osbourne passed away on Tuesday, July 22 (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) People begin to develop symptoms of Parkinson's when the brain is no longer able to make enough dopamine to adequately control movement. ADVERTISEMENT The three main symptoms are tremor (shaking), slowness of movement and rigidity (muscle stiffness). Subtle changes in a person's walking pattern could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease. Some people develop very small handwriting, a loss in their sense of smell, nerve pain or insomnia. Symptoms usually develop slowly over several years. Can it be treated? There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease. Treatments include drugs such as levodopa, dopamine agonists and monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors. Levodopa is absorbed by the nerve cells in the brain and turned into dopamine. Increasing the levels of dopamine in this way usually cuts down problems with movement. Other therapies include physiotherapy and, in some cases, surgery. What does Parkinson's UK say? Chief executive Caroline Rassell said: 'News of Ozzy Osbourne's death, so soon after his celebratory homecoming show, will come as a shock to so many. ADVERTISEMENT 'By speaking openly about both his diagnosis and life with Parkinson's, Ozzy and all his family helped so many families in the same situation. 'They normalised tough conversations and made others feel less alone with a condition that's on the rise and affecting more people every day. 'All of our heartfelt thoughts are with his family, friends and fans worldwide. His memory and the impact he left on the world will live on in all of them.'
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Measles exposure alert issued for Alberta Children's Hospital emergency room
Alberta Health Services has issued a measles exposure alert for the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary after a person with a confirmed case of measles visited the hospital's emergency department while infectious. The exposure period is between 10:08 a.m. and 2:14 p.m. on July 13. If you were in the emergency department at that time, and you were born after 1969, and you've had fewer than two documented doses of measles vaccine, health officials warn that you may be at risk for developing measles and should self-monitor for symptoms. "Measles is an extremely contagious disease and the virus spreads easily through the air," AHS said in a statement. Symptoms of measles include: Fever of 38.3 C or higher; and Cough, runny nose and/or red eyes; and A rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down to the body and then to the arms and legs. The rash appears red and blotchy on lighter skin colours. On darker skin colours, it can appear purple or darker than the skin around it, or it might be hard to see. "Complications of measles can include ear infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, premature delivery, and rarely death," AHS said in the statement. "Persons who are pregnant, less than five years of age, or have weakened immune systems are at greatest risk." If you do develop symptoms of measles, you are advised to stay home and call the province's measles hotline at 1-844-944-3434 before visiting a hospital, doctor's office or pharmacy. Alberta has seen 1,454 cases of measles so far this year, the most since 1979.
The National
5 days ago
- Health
- The National
What is meno-washing? What to look out for in products marketed for menopause
menopause is not one of the most joyous parts of a woman's life. Lasting up to 10 years – with four years the average – it typically begins in a woman's early fifties, but for some, it begins in their thirties or forties, with symptoms wide-ranging and difficult to pinpoint. Indicators include brain fog, hot flushes, night sweats, irregular menstruation, joint pain and thinning hair. And these days, a menopausal woman is likely to be bombarded with myriad products and services all promising to alleviate those symptoms – many with no scientific or medical evidence to back up their claims. Dubbed 'meno-washing', this relatively new trend has seen a boom in the number of products, often everyday items, which are being re-branded as menopausal aids. 'Women should be cautious because the menopause market has exploded with products promising quick fixes, often without robust evidence to back their claims,' says Sara Beattie, positive psychology practitioner and menopause coach. 'Many menopause-branded products fall into the unregulated supplement category, meaning they're not required to prove safety or effectiveness before being sold,' adds Sharon James, menopause coach and co-founder of the GCC Menopause Hub. 'Some brands have taken advantage of the growing awareness around menopause by slapping a 'menopause' label on everyday products, like skincare, snacks and drinks, and increasing the price. This kind of meno-washing plays on women's insecurities and the lack of access to reliable education or guidance.' Supplements and celebrities With a trend report from the Global Wellness Summit projecting the 'business of menopause' will hit $600 billion this year, celebrities have been quick to jump on the menopause bandwagon amid wider public conversations around the time of change in a woman's life. Actresses Naomi Watts and Judy Greer have both launched menopause products and solution companies, Stripes and Wile, respectively, while Halle Berry has co-created 'a three-month, structured menopause programme' through her lifestyle company, Re-spin. 'Given the wide range of products readily available that claim to be menopausal aids, it is natural for women to fall prey to fancy labels and unrealistic claims,' says Dr Mehnaz Abdulla, specialist obstetrics and gynaecology at Aster Clinic, Al Nahda. 'It is important to understand that products marketed as 'natural' or 'herbal' can also have side effects and are usually not studied for adverse effects, as they do not fall under standard pharmaceutical regulations.' She adds: 'Though some may have positive effects in relieving symptoms, it is always best to consult a doctor to determine which supplements are the most suitable and safest.' More research into the products and their side effects is essential, says James, who adds: 'We do need to better understand why we're taking them, what evidence exists behind their use, and whether they're appropriate for our individual health needs. Be aware of how long the trials and studies have been conducted on the product, and who has funded them.' Menopause and skincare Along with supplements, skincare is one of the biggest industries that has pivoted to marketing menopause-specific products. During perimenopause, oestrogen levels decrease, affecting the skin's moisture content, collagen and elasticity, which can lead to wrinkles, sagging and fine lines. It can also affect the skin's ability to heal as quickly. 'Some products that were originally marketed as anti-ageing are now being rebranded with menopause on the label,' says Beattie. 'But just because something targets ageing does not mean it addresses the specific hormonal changes linked to menopause, such as the effects of falling oestrogen on collagen, hydration, or skin barrier function. Anti-ageing and menopause skincare are not the same, and slapping menopause on a product does not turn it into a solution for hormonal changes.' How to avoid falling for meno-washing When it comes to products being marketed as menopause-specific, women are advised to watch out for items that claim to over-deliver and use vague words such as 'balance' or fear-based marketing to drive sales. 'It is virtually impossible for a single supplement or treatment to address all menopause symptoms effectively,' says Beattie. 'Menopause affects multiple systems in the body, hormonal, cognitive, emotional, cardiovascular, skeletal, so symptoms vary widely from person to person. Any product claiming to be a universal solution should raise red flags.' Doctors point out that lifestyle changes and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are the most effective ways to manage the menopausal symptoms, but that each woman's needs are different. 'Menopause is not just a biological change, but an existential transition. Every woman has her own unique story,' says Dr Giuseppe Bellucci, expert in functional nutrition, metabolism, and longevity at Baldan. 'The strategy may involve a combination of tools such as targeted therapy, local remedies, diet, exercise, psychological support if needed, and supplements for individual symptoms. However, these should only be used if supported by studies validating their actual effectiveness.'
