Menopause is the end of menstruation. The word comes from the Greek mens, meaning monthly, and pausis, meaning cessation. Menopause is part of a woman's natural aging process when her ovaries produce lower levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone and when she is no longer able to become pregnant.
Unlike a woman’s first menstruation, which starts on a single day, the changes leading up to menopause happen over several years. The average age for menopause is 52. But menopause commonly happens anytime between the ages of 42 and 56.
A woman can say she has begun her menopause when she has not had a period for a full year.
‘Perimenopause’ refers to the several years before menopause when a woman may begin experiencing the first signs of her menopausal transition. But many people use the term ‘menopause’ for both the perimenopausal years as well as the few years following menopause.
Menopause is a natural process that happens to every woman as she grows older, and is not a medical problem, disease or illness. Still, some women may have a hard time because of the changes in hormone levels during menopause.
There are many possible signs of menopause and each woman feels them differently. Most women have no or few menopausal symptoms while some women have many moderate or severe symptoms.
The clearest signs of the start of menopause are irregular periods (when periods come closer together or further apart), and when blood flow becomes lighter or heavier.
Other signs may include some of the following:
Most of the time, these symptoms will lessen or go away after a woman has finished menopause.
Menopause experiences are different among individual women, and also among women in different cultures and in different parts of the world.
Research has shown that women’s experience of menopause can be related to many things, including genetics, diet, lifestyle and social and cultural attitudes toward older women.
For example:
Some scholars wonder if the North American emphasis on youth and lack of respect for older people contributes to a more difficult menopausal transition here.
The typical North American diet, high in saturated fats and sugars, along with our in-active lifestyle and low childbirth rate, may also contribute to the physical complaints common to many North American women at menopause.
"Induced", "sudden" or "surgical" menopause happens when a woman goes through an immediate and premature menopause. This occurs when her ovaries no longer produce the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
This may be caused by:
Women going through induced menopause may have more severe menopausal symptoms, and are usually treated with hormone therapy.
Menopause is one of women’s many important natural life-stages. For some, it is a challenging period of difficult physical and emotional changes. For others, it is a time of personal growth and renewal. And for many women, it is both at the same time. They don't call it "Menopausal Zest" for nothing!
Here are some suggestions to help you enjoy your menopausal years to their fullest:
Reviewed June 2006.
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