If you are like most women, you think that menopause will hit you at about fifty. However, some people experience menopause early, as early as mid twenties. There are four main early menopause causes.
Eating Disorder
One of the main reasons why young people experience what seems to be early menopause is because of an eating disorder. When a woman loses a massive amount of weight through malnutrition, it can cause a halt in the woman’s menstruation. While this is not technically menopause as it can usually be reversed by eating properly and having a healthy body mass index, many people still refer to anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders as early menopause causes.
Cancer Treatments
A real early menopause cause is cancer treatment. Cancer treatments include things like toxic drugs, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. All of these cancer treatments can be early menopause causes because they can cause the ovaries to stop working properly. When this happens, the entire reproductive system is put on hold and menopause begins. Unfortunately, many of these cancer treatments damage the ovaries beyond repair. While an individual may be able to conceive via in vitro fertilization, chances are extremely rare that a natural pregnancy will occur once early menopause has already occurred due to cancer treatments.
Autoimmune Disorders
Another early menopause cause is autoimmune disorders. These disorders can cause your body to attack itself. If the body targets the reproductive system, your own antibodies could be used to attack and kill the ovaries, thereby turning into an early menopause cause. When the ovaries do not work, none of the reproductive system can function properly and your body will begin to fall into menopause. However, some medical advances have been made to help prevent early menopause in autoimmune patients, so talk to your doctor about treatment.
Surgery On The Reproductive System
The single biggest unnatural early menopause cause is surgery on the reproductive system. Many surgeries can be an early menopause cause, including tubal ligation, hysterectomy, and even partial hysterectomies. It is of course obvious that when the ovaries are removed the body will be thrust into early menopause. However, even if the ovaries are not removed they can be damaged in the surgery, leading to early menopause. It is important to talk to the doctor performing your surgery prior to surgery and let him or her know that you do not wish to have your ovaries damaged so that they will take extra precaution. If they are damaged accidentally and you are thrust into early menopause, there is early menopause support out there. Talk to your doctor about local support groups.
