Menopause, by definition, is the final menstrual period. It is a universal and irreversible part of the overall aging process as it involves a woman’s reproductive system. Menopause is diagnosed after 12 months of amenorrhea and is characterized by a myriad of symptoms that include, but are not limited to, changes from regular, predictable menses; vasomotor and urogenital symptoms such as vaginal dryness and dyspareunia; and sleep and mood dysfunction.
Hormonal changes and clinical symptoms occur over a period leading up to and immediately following menopause. This period is frequently termed the climacteric or perimenopause but is increasingly referred to by a more recently coined name, the menopausal transition (MT).The MT characteristically begins years before menopause.
Along with the increase in the number of middle-aged and older individuals, there is a concomitant and continuing rise in the number of women who live most of their lives in a hypoestrogenic state. More and more women can expect to live approximately 79 years and to experience the consequences of gonadal steroid hormone loss.
Although the time spent in menopause (now up to one third of the life cycle) has increased, the average age at which menopause occurs, approximately 50-51 years, has not changed since antiquity. Women from ancient Greece experienced menopause at the same age as modern women do, with the symptomatic transition to menopause usually commencing at approximately age 45.5-47.5 years.Factors that can lower the age of physiologic menopause include the following:
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Smoking
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Hysterectomy
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Oophorectomy
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Fragile X carrier
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Autoimmune disorders
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Living at high altitude
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History of receiving certain chemotherapy medications or undergoing radiotherapy
Source: Medscape.com
Author: PonJola Coney, MD; Chief Editor: Richard Scott Lucidi, MD, FACOG
