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Menopause
(Perimenopause)

Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Menopause Symptoms

Ten Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Menopause

Note: We recommend you print this page to use as a reference for your consultation with your doctor.

  1. Could my symptoms be due to a condition other than menopause? (Be ready with a diary of symptoms - the character, frequency, duration, intensity, triggers, etc.)

  2. What are the medications that I might consider to control my menopause symptoms? Are there lifestyle or other modifications I can make to help alleviate the symptoms?

  3. If I choose to use hormone therapy, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the various routes of administration (pill, patch, cream, vaginal, etc.)?

  4. What are the side effects of hormone therapy, and how does my individual health/family history affect my decision to take hormone therapy? What are the risks?

Read more questions to ask your doctor about menopause.

What is menopause?

Menopause is defined as the state of an absence of menstrual periods for 12 months. The menopausal transition starts with varying menstrual cycle length and ends with the final menstrual period. Perimenopause means "the time around menopause" and is often used to refer to the menopausal transitional period. It is not officially a medical term, but is sometimes used to explain certain aspects of the menopause transition in lay terms. Postmenopause is the entire period of time that comes after the last menstrual period.

Menopause is the time in a woman's life when the function of the ovaries ceases. The ovary (female gonad), is one of a pair of reproductive glands in women. They are located in the pelvis, one on each side of the uterus. Each ovary is about the size and shape of an almond. The ovaries produce eggs (ova) and female hormones such as estrogen. During each monthly menstrual cycle, an egg is released from one ovary. The egg travels from the ovary through a Fallopian tube to the uterus.

The ovaries are the main source of female hormones, which control the development of female body characteristics such as the breasts, body shape, and body hair. The hormones also regulate the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Estrogens also protect the bone. Therefore, a woman can develop osteoporosis (thinning of bone) later in life when her ovaries do not produce adequate estrogen.

Perimenopause is different for each woman. Scientists are still trying to identify all the factors that initiate and influence this transition period.

At what age does a woman typically reach menopause?

The average age of menopause is 51 years old. But there is no way to predict when an individual woman will enter menopause. The age at which a woman starts having menstrual periods is also not related to the age of menopause onset. Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, but menopause may occur as earlier as the 30s or 40s or may not occur until a woman reaches her 60s. As a rough "rule of thumb," women tend to undergo menopause at an age similar to that of their mothers.

Perimenopause, often accompanied by irregularities in the menstrual cycle along with the typical symptoms of early menopause, can begin up to 10 years prior to the last menstrual period.



Next: What conditions can affect the timing of menopause? »

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Menopause - Symptoms Experienced

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Menopause

Menstruation and Menopause

The menstrual cycle is the process by which a woman's body gets ready for the chance of a pregnancy each month. The average menstrual cycle is 28 days from the start of one to the start of the next, but it can range from 21 days to 35 days.

Most menstrual periods last from three to five days. In the United States, most girls start menstruating at age 12, but girls can start menstruating between the ages of 8 and 16.

Menopause is the absence of menstrual periods for 12 months. The menopausal transition begins with varying menstrual cycle lengths and ends with the final menstruation.

Pregnancy and preconception care

Pregnancy is the term used to describe when a woman has a growing fetus inside of her. In most cases, the fetus grows in the uterus.

Human pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, or just more than 9 months, from the start of the last menstrual period to childbirth.

...

Read the Reproductive Health article »











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