Menopause is a certainty that all women alive will must experience. This can be a stage that many women fear while for others it does’nt bother so much. Due to the fact women are so distinctly individual, menopause will not reveal itself the same way in all of them. Some signs of this stage in life are widespread among women. A number of the early signs of menopause show up before the period ceases. Concerning the age of menopause, one cannot point at a specific age and say that it will occur then.

The typical hormonal activity will alter and this can trigger the distinct signs or symptoms. Extreme instances of the symptoms will have to be dealt with and medical attention is worth thinking about for suitable management. When considering the range in years when it happens, you’ll find women in their mid forties in it while for others the mid-fifties. Average menopause age estimates is going to be needed to ensure that you’ll be able to have a rough notion of when menopause begins. Fifty one is the age which is considered the typical age for menopause in women and many will realize, almost all women will experience signs prior to this age.

The age of menopause is the time within a woman’s life when her period is finishing and she is entering a brand new phase of life . A woman is known as being in menopause whenever she’s not had her period for a full year or more, also it usually occurs naturally, generally once you hit forty-five, although this is not at all times the truth.

There are lots of first symptoms of menopause which might be usually very sudden and obvious, together with a difference in periods, menopausal flashes and sweating, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and hair thinning. The initial signs and symptoms of menopause are often menopausal flashes and vaginal dryness, but again this is different from one woman to another, as each circumstance is unique.

A Natural Change Of Life

Menopause is the permanent shutting down of the female reproductive system, a considerable length of time before the end of the lifespan. Menopause occurs in a variety of animals, including humans. It is usually a natural process. The word consists of two Greek words meno (month) and pausis (a halt).

In adult human females who still have a uterus, and who are not pregnant or lactating, post menopause is identified by a permanent (at least one year’s) absence of monthly periods or menstruation.

In human females, menopause usually happens more or less in midlife, signaling the end of the fertile phase of a woman’s life. Menopause is perhaps most easily understood as the opposite process to menarche, the start of the monthly periods. However, menopause in women cannot satisfactorily be defined simply as the permanent “stopping of the monthly periods”, because in reality what is happening to the uterus is quite secondary to the process; it is what is happening to the ovaries that is the crucial factor.

What is menopause
Menopause is derived from the Greek word menos (month) and pause (to stop) refers to the last menstrual period and is generally considered to have occurred after 1 year of amenorrhea. At the age of 45- 50 years:
? The sexual cycles in a female usually become irregular;
? Ovulation fails to occur during many of the cycles.
After a few months to a few years, the cycles cease and the female sex hormones diminish rapidly to almost none at all. Sometimes the phrase the change of life is used and often doctors use the term climacteric.
Whom does menopause affect
Menopause, occurring on an average at the age of 45, is a normal event but it leads to much pathology in excess of that of the normal aging process. The average age of menopause has not changed for centuries. The age of menopause seems unrelated to socioeconomic factors, race, weight or height although severe malnutrition or cigarette smoking may result in an earlier onset.
The real importance of menopause today lies in the increasing longevity of the 20th century woman. With the increased longevity, women will now spend a third of their lives in the postmenopausal state (characterized by estrogen deficiency) attendant to many long-term symptomatic and metabolic complications.
Why does menopause occur
The cause of menopause is burning out of the ovaries. The aging of the ovary begins even before birth when a progressive decline in the number of primordial follicles compresses. The percentage of growing follicles increases substantially at puberty and is maintained throughout reproductive life and declines in the climacteric period (period of time around menopause).
? Natural menopause: Estrogens are produced in sub critical quantities for a short time after menopause, but over a few years falls almost to zero.
? Artificial menopause: Besides natural menopause, loss of ovarian function can also occur in patients receiving pelvic radiation or chemotherapy or those having ovarian failure or bilateral surgical removal of ovaries.
What are the different phases of menopause
Menopause can be divided into three phases:
? Pre-menopause: There is a little disruption of the ovarian function and the menstrual cycle remains regular. Some symptoms may begin to occur in this phase.
? Peri-menopause: This phase represents declining ovarian function with menstrual irregularities and symptoms commonly start or become troublesome during this time.
? Post-menopause: Once there have been no menses for 12 months the post-menopause phase is entered.