By Andrea Cole-Raub, DO

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Strictly speaking, menopause occurs when your menstrual cycle ceases for one year, and it’s one of the few medical conditions that can persist for a year before being diagnosed and treated.

Of course, most of us think of menopause as the stage in a woman’s life when her menstrual periods stop (and other bodily changes occur), as a result of decreasing levels of various hormones. But while most hormones are decreasing, two hormones – cortisol and insulin – may increase during the menopausal years, leading to excess abdominal fat and the slow disappearance of your waistline, among other things.

The average woman is familiar with some menopause symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disturbance, foggy brain and depression. However, these problems may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Menopause is an active in every woman’s life. There are both concrete and cerebral signs and affection that characterize the access of menopause (pre menopause) as able-bodied as column menopausal period.

Before we allocution about these assurance and affection of menopause in details, let’s attending at the three aloft . The date one of menopause is referred to as perimenopause which is characterized by aberrant periods and spotting. Perimenopause sometimes endure for a anon of 2 to 5 years, with that of some women addition up to an added ten years. The additional date of menopause is the menopause proper, while the third date is accepted as the column menopause, characterized by bargain menopause symptoms.

The actual complete analogue of menopause is the abeyance of periods and a akin of FSH hormone in a top range. The boilerplate age of women to accept completed the menopause is 51 years, which agency that if he starts or ends early, aboriginal menopause was found.

The symptoms of menopause are caused by changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. When estrogen drops suddenly, as is seen when the ovaries are removed surgically (called surgical menopause), symptoms can be more severe. Perimenopause begins several years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually produce less estrogen. Currently, hormone replacement therapy (estrogen with or without progestin) is the primary treatment for the symptoms and long-term risks associated with menopause. The work is the latest salvo in a years-long back and forth about memory, menopause, and estrogen. During menopause, the ovaries produce less estrogen than during the reproductive years. As a result, many problems women have with menopause relate to low estrogen levels.