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