Flax Seed and Climacteric Symptoms – A Review

BACKGROUND Universally every woman faces menopause and feeling of onset of uncomfortable physical, psychological and emotional changes. Many fear about their loss of beauty and sexual life. The word menopause has come from Greek word “Menos” meaning menstruation and “Pause” meaning stopping of the menstrual period. 1 The loss of ovarian follicular activity or the dwindling function of ovaries at the end of reproductive life which leads to permanent cessation of menstruation is known as menopause or climacteric. The period of time when women passes from reproductive to non–reproductive stage is menopause transition. The life after menopause is the stage of postmenopausal period. In majority of women, menopause occurs without any physical or psychological symptoms. But in some of the women there will be marked physical and psychological symptoms. Symptoms of the climacteric are multiple and vague. These climacteric symptoms are due to decrease in oestrogen level and increase in Gonadotrophin level in the body, but the exact mechanism is unknown. The climacteric symptoms are grouped into vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes, night sweats), cardiovascular symptoms and cerebro-vascular effects (hypertension, palpitation, heart disease), neurological & psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, insomnia, irritability, malaise, loss of libido / lethargy), general symptoms (fatigue, headache, general weakness, vertigo, breast tenderness, skin pigmentation, dyspareunia, indigestion or constipation, obesity), physical symptoms / changes (atrophy of secondary sexual characters, atrophy of internal genital organs, osteoporosis, skin becomes thick and coarse, straggling growth of hair).2 KEY WORDS Flax Seed, Climacteric Symptoms, Menopause