Menopause and Perimenopause. Reference unit

La Menopause and Perimenopause Unit of Women's Barcelona is focused on the comprehensive care of women in menopause to prevent and treat their symptoms, and thus improve the quality of life and good health of our patients.

The head of the Unit, the, the Dr. Montserrat Manubens, A gynecologist, she has more than 30 years of experience in the study of menopause that has made her a benchmark in this specialty, as well as being a member of the board of directors of the AEEM, the Spanish Association for the Study of Menopause.

The team of professionals of the Unit will carry out an individualized assessment of the perimenopausal or menopausal patient to apply the preventive measures or climacteric treatments that best suit the state of health and the symptoms present, and will work together with professionals from other specialties that make up the multidisciplinary space of Women's Barcelona and Unit of Psychology, Nutrition, Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine… To approach the most appropriate treatment in a preventive and comprehensive way. In this line, we also have a team of specialists with extensive experience in the intimate health of women who also have innovative tools and treatments.

What is menopause

La menopause It is the vital physiological stage of women in which the ovaries stop producing eggs and menstrual periods end. It is a retrospective diagnosis, we speak of menopause when a year has passed since the last period and there has been no menstrual bleeding. It usually occurs on average at the age of 50. Depending on the age at which it occurs, it can be:

• Primary ovarian failure (early menopause): Before age 40.
• Early menopause: Between 40 and 45 years old.
• Late menopause: After 55 years.

The climacteric

El climacteric It is the extended period in the life of the woman in which the progressive transition from the reproductive state or fertile period of life to the non-reproductive one occurs and which includes the following phases:

• Perimenopause: It is the period in months or years that precedes menopause. It is usually accompanied by alterations in the cycle.
• Menopause: Definitive cessation of menstruation.
• Postmenopause: Period after menopause. In this phase, complications and symptoms appear due to the lack of hormones that will gradually and gradually establish themselves over the years.

Menopause Clinic

For the diagnosis of menopause, in principle it is not necessary to make hormonal determinations since this is retrospective. Upon finding one year of amenorrhea; but if necessary, we must request: gonadotropins (FSH) and 17 beta estradiol, an analysis that we must repeat after a certain time in order to make the correct diagnosis.

The diagnosis begins with a first consultation between Dr. Manubens and the patient to know in depth the particular symptoms and initiate a series of examinations (gynecological examination, with vaginal cytology and colposcopy, gynecological ultrasound, densitometry ...) to develop the therapeutic guideline that best suits the needs of our patient.

Attention and follow-up

Menopause is a stage of risk for chronic diseases (diabetes, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, thyroid disorders), gynecological (breast and endometrial) and non-gynecological (lung and colon) cancer. Therefore, we are at an ideal time to make prevention and early diagnosis of these pathologies.

The preventive health program to improve the quality of life of postmenopausal women will be based on:

• Promotion of healthy lifestyles.
• Prevention of cardiovascular risk and osteoporosis.
• Early diagnosis of the most frequent cancers in this stage of women.
• Treatment of pathologies linked to hormonal deficits.
• Prevention of chronic pathologies
• First visit

The first contact with the patient is an informative visit explaining the meaning of menopause and the objectives of the measures aimed at avoiding its consequences since, if it is not correctly informed, it will be difficult to follow the indications and advice of the professionals of the Menopause Unit and Perimenopause.

1. Clinical history with family and personal general and gynecological history, assessing risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular.
2. Complete gynecological examination including evaluation of the pelvic floor.
3. Complementary studies: (if you do not have them and the specialist considers them necessary)

• Mammography
• ECO breast
• Gynecological ECO
• DOC on first visit
• Complete analytics

Successive patient visits: They must be individualized, but in general they will be held annually. Sometimes, depending on the treatment, an evaluation at 3-4 months may be necessary to assess the response to it.

As for the subsequent complementary studies, it will depend on the age, the pathology and the treatment.

If you want more information about menopause and how it is approached In Women's, visit this article at our blog.