What is Menopause?

To put it very simply, menopause is the stop (pause) of periods (menses). Periods stop because ovaries have run out of eggs, are no longer responding to body's hormonal signals, have been damaged or have been surgically removed. Before the periods stop, one goes through a transition period called pre menopause. This can last on average from two to six years, although some women have it for a shorter amount of time, and others longer. And once your periods have stopped for a year, you're considered as being in menopause.

The average age for women to have completed menopause is age 51 -- which means that most women go through this change between the ages of 47 and 53. Menopause is a natural process for a woman, not an illness. As a woman ages, there will be an expected slowing and ultimately shutdown in the reproductive cycle and system. This is normal.

Menopause is officially defined as beginning twelve months after a woman's last period. At this point a woman is no longer fertile, and she is at once considered post-menopausal. Therefore menopause is more accurately understood as the transition from fertility to infertility, what many women call 'going through menopause.' This transitional period is actually termed 'perimenopause' or pre- menopause.

One of the first signs of decreased hormone production is change in the menstrual cycle. These changes vary greatly from person to person, and so it can be hard to attribute the change to perimenopause except in conjunction with other symptoms. Some women experience a heavier period during this time and others a lighter. Some women experience their periods more frequent, and others with less frequent. Some women begin to spot in between periods, and other women begin missing periods.

As menopause approaches and hormone production begins to diminish, there are certain symptoms that build through perimenopause and persist through post-menopause. The most important of these has to do with a woman's health. With lessening amounts of estrogen a woman looses bone density. Calcium and exercise are important antidotes to this potentially crippling problem. Another tendency is for cholesterol to rise, and this too can be countered with exercise, cognizance and diet. Exercise to maintain ideal body weight is necessary. This will reduces risk of heart disease, colon, lung and bowel cancer, diabetes and lung disease. Exercise improves mental outlook, reduces stress and anxiety. Regular physical exercise helps prevent or relieve many of the Common Discomforts of menopause. Weight bearing exercises, such as walking, stair climbing and jogging can help prevent osteoporosis.