title: The urogenital system and the menopause.
abstract: The major cause of urogenital atrophy in menopausal women is estrogen loss. The symptoms are usually progressive in nature and deteriorate with time from the menopausal transition. The most prevalent urogenital symptoms are vaginal dryness, vaginal irritation and itching. The genitourinary syndrome of menopause includes vulvovaginal atrophy and the postmenopausal modifications of the lower urinary tract. Dyspareunia and vaginal bleeding from fragile atrophic skin are common problems. Other urogenital complaints include frequency, nocturia, urgency, stress urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections. Atrophic changes of the vulva, vagina and lower urinary tract can have a large impact on the quality of life of the menopausal woman. However, hormonal and non-hormonal treatments can provide patients with the solution to regain the previous level of function. Therefore, clinicians should sensitively question and examine menopausal women, in order to correctly identify the pattern of changes in urogenital atrophy and manage them appropriately.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Mater Dei Hospital and Department of Anatomy, University of Malta , Malta.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calleja-Agius
authors.affiliation: b * Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Mater Dei Hospital , Malta.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Brincat
mesh_terms: D001284:Atrophy; D004414:Dyspareunia; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D004967:Estrogens / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D052776:Female Urogenital Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006176:Gynecology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000502:physiology; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse; D017698:Postmenopause; D011788:Quality of Life; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections; D014566:Urogenital System / Q000473:pathology; D014621:Vagina / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014623:Vaginal Diseases; D014844:Vulva / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens
keywords: ESTROGEN; GENITOURINARY SYNDROME OF MENOPAUSE; STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE; UROGENITAL ATROPHY