<- return

What is Menopause?
Menopause is also known as 'the change of life' and scientifically referred to as Climacteric. The term menopause means the cessation of menstruation (“last menstruation”). However, it is commonly used to refer to the period in a woman's life when she passes out of her reproductive years. Menopause usually begins between the ages of 45 and 50 as the ovaries gradually cease to function. The number of follicles in the ovaries decreases. Production of the female sex hormones diminishes. The phase of fertility ends with the last menstruation which usually occurs around the age of 52. Doctors divide the menopause or climacteric into the premenopause, perimenopause and postmenopause. The hormone deficiency during menopause (particularly the estrogen deficiency) can have serious long-term consequences such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

What is Premenopause?
Premenopause is the first phase of menopause covering a period of 5-10 years before the last period. During this phase a woman's menstrual cycles are still regular with only an occasional skipped or late period. This phase typically begins between the ages of 27 and 35. Women may notice their PMS symptoms worsen during this phase as the body's hormone production begins to change.

What is Perimenopause?
Perimenopause [peri means surrounding} is the time 5-15 years before the natural spontaneous end of menstruation. Perimenopause typically occurs between the ages of 35-and 50. Eight percent of women become menopausal prior to age 40 and have their first perimenopausal symptoms as early as their 30’s. Women begin to experience the physical and emotional changes brought on by declining hormone productions.

What is Postmenopause?
Postmenopause is the last phase of menopause. Begins one year after the last period and ends at the age of 65. 

A word about Postmenopausal blues, mood swings. In the past, just about every emotional blip or bout of the blues felt by women in their 40s or 50s was attributed to menopause. Women can become irritable when hot flashes rob them of a good night's sleep, but there is no correlation between menopause and serious depression. Since depression affects one woman in four at some point in life, however, persistent low moods should never be ignored. Other symptoms of depression include insomnia (or sleeping too much), loss of appetite (or eating too much), and feeling helpless, hopeless or worthless. If you experience these symptoms, be sure to talk to your health care provider.