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What is it about menopause that leads to deterioration of vaginal health? Most answers revolve around Estrogen levels getting lower but how does the latter lead to the former?
The environment of the vagina has normal bacterial flora, just like the mouth or intestines, that serve certain good purposes. These normal vaginal bacteria keep the tissue healthy and protect against infection. Lactobacilli are the normal bacteria in the vagina. They produce lactic acid which keeps the vagina slightly acidic, preventing bacteria around the anus or other parts of the body from “invading.” However, Lactobacili require a healthy vagina high in Estrogen to thicken the vaginal lining to allow these to survive.
Atrophy, or thinning of tissue, occurs with loss of Estrogen following menopause. The degree of atrophy depends on multiple factors which helps explain a wide variety of symptoms. Up to 50 percent of menopausal women experience symptoms of genital atrophy, and with women living healthy longer, vaginal atrophy symptoms can lead to dramatic effects on quality of life.
What are some symptoms of atrophy?
Vaginal: burning, watery discharge, dryness, uncomfortable intercourse and itching.
Bladder: recurrent UTIs, frequency, urgency, burning with urination and waking at night frequently to urinate.
Bacteria can exist in the bladder in 20 percent of 70-year-old women, and this increases up to 50 percent by age 80. Close to 10 percent of women over the age of 60 will suffer from recurrent UTIs, which is defined as more than 2 UTIs per year. Once Estrogen levels drop, Lactobacilli fail to grow in the vagina, leading to a loss of acidity, which then allows harmful bacteria to propagate in the vagina and lead to infections.
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Can eating yogurt help this problem?
August 18, 2009 - 2:47pmThis Comment
Interesting question- the general consensus in the literature is yes, but there is debate about it.
Fermented milk products contain so-called “probiotic,” or “good” bacteria, including lactobacillus, acidophilus , and bifidobacterium , that compete with Candida in the vagina. Candida is a common yeast found in our colon and in women's vagina. It can overgrow if healthy bacteria are killed (when taking antibiotics) and lead to a yeast infection. The probiotics found in yogurt are thought to counter the growth of Candida. That is consider a desirable effect.
As a sidebar, in a Finnish study conducted of 320 women, researchers found that those who ate three or more servings per week of yogurt–or in some cases, cheeses made from fermented milk–had far fewer fewer UTIs than those who didn’t eat yogurt or ate it only infrequently.
Several studies have found that to cause a significant reduction in the occurrence of yeast infections, people need to consume at least one serving of yogurt per day. In these studies, the yogurt contained acidophilus bacteria, which is generally noted on food labels as containing “live” or “active” cultures.
Half of all women will experience a yeast infection in their lifetime.Women who suffer from repeated infections may want to add yogurt to their regular diets, and have at least one serving daily. Because yeast feeds on sugar, most researchers recommend choosing low sugar or unsweetened yogurts.
P.S. once you have a yeast infection or UTI, you must take antibiotics to treat them- yogurt will do nothing for an active infection, but it can help prevent them.
August 20, 2009 - 6:46amThis Comment