Where May the Worst Menopause Symptoms Start? Researches proved that menopause does not start in the ovaries There are some irritating symptoms of menopause that have been considered to start in the ovaries. Among such symptoms are hot flash and night tos. Nevertheless, new studies proved another point of view. According to the results of these researches some menopausal symptoms are thought to begin in the brain. The reason of this fact is that the hypothalamus and the hypothesis stop to work properly and their reaction to estrogen in some women becomes abnormal. In this situation a reduced sensitivity to estrogen may be developed. This is the information that was reported by the researchers at the New Jersey Medical School report in the Dec. 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Actually, it is a fresh idea: Menopause is not developing in the ovary, but in the brain, as well," noticed a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women's health at the New Jersey Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Laura Goldsmith. Such studies are able to be the base of other researches, that will aids doctors to make more definite conclusions about the type of menopausal transition in different cases. Using the results of these studies doctors will be able to prescribe their patients non-estrogen treatment that would decrease the unpleasant symptoms which are experienced by women during this stage of their life, said chairman of obstetrics and gynecology and women's health at the New Jersey Medical School, Dr. Gerson Weiss. This research was based on the study made for the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), that was financed by the National Institutes of Health, that examined women's' health as they are interested in the disputable questions of menopause. More than 3,300 women from 42 to 52 years old participated at the start of The SWAN study. The specialists tested the urine samples, which were taken daily, for hormone levels. The samples were collected every day during the full menstrual cycle or 50 days. 840 women were involved in this part of experiment. From this group, the result was that 160 did not ovulate. When the hormone levels of the non-ovulating women were studied deeper, the researchers found out that these women can be divided into three groups. The cases when the levels of estrogen increased were sorted to the first group. The representatives experienced an outbreak of luteinizing hormone (LH) that was to cause ovulation, but didn't manage to do that. According to Weiss, this fact is the evidence of the ovary origin of the problem. The second group were the cases, in which the estrogen levels increased, but without correlating surge in LH. This point indicated that the root of the problem was in the work of the hypothalamus and the hypothesis. The estrogen levels in the third groups were similar early in their cycles, but no increase in estrogen was noticed. Though LH levels didn't increase, they were higher for most of the cycle in comparison with other groups. This fact proved that the cause of the problem is the brain. Moreover, representatives of the third group experienced such unpleasant symptoms as hot flash and night tos more often. SOURCES: Gerson Weiss, M.D., professor and chairman, obstetrics and gynecology and women's health; Laura Goldsmith, Ph.D., professor, obstetrics and gynecology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark; Steven Goldstein, M.D., professor , obstetrics and gynecology, and obstetrician/gynecologist, New York University School of Medicine and Medical Center, New York City; Dec. 22/29, 2004, Journal of the American Medical Association