Detecting Menopause - Hormone Levels and Blood Test Explained

Menopause is one of the most feared times during most women's lives, and something that almost every woman begins to worry about as she approaches her forties. During the early forties, some women begin to become preoccupied with looking for the early signs and symptoms of the hormonal shifts that cause menopause, as they focus increasingly on what they perceive to be the end of their life as a fully-functioning woman.

Much of this preoccupation occurs as a result of misinformation, making it all the more critical that every woman understand the methods used for detecting menopause, including the role hormone levels and blood tests play in that process.

If you think that you may be experiencing the first signs of menopause, one way to know for sure is to have your physician test your hormone levels. When menopause approaches, your glands produce less progesterone as they begin the process of shutting down your reproductive capacity. One good method for involves measuring hormone levels to determine if there is an abnormally large amount of estrogen being produced.

When progesterone is not present in sufficient quantity to counteract the effects of estrogen, unexplained weight gains, sleeplessness, and mood swings can result, along with other symptoms. Your physician can use measurements of your hormone levels for not only detecting menopause, but also eliminating the possibility of other ailments.

The best way for detecting menopause is by measuring hormone levels with a blood test. Many times, changes in the menstrual cycle may cause confusion and fear in women during the years preceding the onset of menopause. Measuring hormone levels with a blood test becomes very important for the early detection of a host of hormonal imbalance issues, and deficiencies can be corrected with various forms of hormone replacement. Early signs and symptoms of menopause can often be minimized with these replacement therapies.

The process of detecting menopause by measuring hormone levels with a blood test is relatively simple and it is also one of the least invasive techniques that you can use. The real benefits can be seen in the early detection of menopause and other conditions, and the reduction in the need for painkillers and other medications when menopause is aggressively treated from its onset. Many women find themselves using these medications to treat the very real pain a discomfort that menopausal symptoms can cause. Early hormonal replacement techniques can help to avoid those complications.

For years, it has been commonly assumed that women should just accept the signs and symptoms of menopause, suffer in silence, and wait for the change to pass. By detecting it earlier than ever before through measurements of hormone levels with a blood test, physicians are now able to more aggressively treat the symptoms and provide a better quality of life for their female patients even during the stress of menopause.