Diagnosis of Menopause
If you have bothersome or incapacitating menopause symptoms, or if you have menopause symptoms and are 45 years of age or older, it is important to speak with your healthcare professional.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a brand-new blood test called the PicoAMH Elisa diagnostic test. This examination is performed to evaluate whether a woman has reached menopause or is on the verge of doing so.
Women who exhibit perimenopause symptoms, which can also have detrimental effects on health, may find this new test to be useful. An increased risk of osteoporosis, [5] fractures, heart disease, cognitive decline, vaginal changes, libido loss, and mood swings is linked to early menopause.
A blood test that measures the blood levels of specific hormones, typically FSH and an estrogen variant called estradiol, can also be prescribed by your doctor.
Menopause is often confirmed by persistently raised FSH blood levels of 30 mIU/mL or above and the absence of menstruation for a continuous year. Although they are both costly and unreliable, saliva and over-the-counter (OTC) urine tests are also available.
Because FSH and estrogen levels change daily during perimenopause, the majority of medical professionals will make a diagnosis based on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and menstrual data.
The symptoms you are experiencing and your health history will play a factor on whether your doctor will order additional blood tests to help rule out other underlying conditions that may be responsible for your symptoms.
Additional blood tests commonly used to help confirm menopause include:
- blood lipid profile
- thyroid function tests
- liver function tests
- kidney function tests
- testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, and chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) tests